(Jan 27, 2013, JERUSALEM)--Israel was accused yesterday of forcibly injecting
Ethiopian women with a contraceptive drug in a deliberate attempt to cut
the birth rate among poor black immigrants.
"I believe there is a deliberate targeting of these women," said Hedva Eyal, project coordinator at a women's rights research group in Haifa. Ms Eyal and other activists say the birth rate in the Ethiopian community has halved in the past 10 years.
Her group is one of six that asked the Israeli health ministry to clarify the use of the drug Depo-Provera among Ethiopians.In response, the ministry urged gynaecologists "not to renew prescriptions for Depo-Provera for women" of any background if there was concern they might not understand its side effects.
The drug, which is given by injection every three months, is considered by many doctors as a birth-control method of last resort because of problems treating its side effects.The ministry's response did not indicate whether explicit policy guidelines had been authorised or how long government-funded health facilities have been administering the drug to the Ethiopian women, or to how many.
In 2009, Ms Eyal supervised a study that showed 57 per cent of all Depo-Provera users in Israel were Ethiopian although their community comprised less than 2 per cent of the population. Read more from The National »
"I believe there is a deliberate targeting of these women," said Hedva Eyal, project coordinator at a women's rights research group in Haifa. Ms Eyal and other activists say the birth rate in the Ethiopian community has halved in the past 10 years.
Her group is one of six that asked the Israeli health ministry to clarify the use of the drug Depo-Provera among Ethiopians.In response, the ministry urged gynaecologists "not to renew prescriptions for Depo-Provera for women" of any background if there was concern they might not understand its side effects.
The drug, which is given by injection every three months, is considered by many doctors as a birth-control method of last resort because of problems treating its side effects.The ministry's response did not indicate whether explicit policy guidelines had been authorised or how long government-funded health facilities have been administering the drug to the Ethiopian women, or to how many.
In 2009, Ms Eyal supervised a study that showed 57 per cent of all Depo-Provera users in Israel were Ethiopian although their community comprised less than 2 per cent of the population. Read more from The National »
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