CANADA Coalition condemns approval of dangerous contraceptive By KERRY McCUAIG A hastily formed coalition of consumer, wom- en’s and health groups has come together to pre- vent the Department of Health and Welfare from approving a controversial drug for contraceptive use in Canada. Depo-Provera, manufactured by the U.S.-based Upjohn Company, has been banned for use in the United States for the past 20 years. However under federal regulations the company can manufacture and distribute the drug outside the country. Kit Holmwood, of the Canadian Coalition on Depo-Provera, told the Tribune in a telephone interview, that the studies released by Upjohn (it S not made all its research public) were incon- Clusive. “It claims to have studied 10 million women but Only for a one-year period. DES, thalidimide, even the pill have shown the side effects from these ae often show up only after long period,” she aid. A report issued this September by the depart- Ment referred to Depo-Provera as a ‘‘highly effec- tive contraceptive ... with fewer known risks of adverse side effects’? than other contraceptives. But its opponents disagree. Upjohn’s own re- Search points to tumors in female test dogs, Supporting independent studies which have found links to cancer. Other side effects include pro- longed infertility even after use is stopped, a ces- Sation of menstration or very heavy continuous bleeding, headaches, nausea, weight gain, severe depression, brittle bones, and decreased sex drive. Upjohn ‘Privately’ Confident Upjohn spokesperson, Dr. Douglas Squires feels Confident the drug will meet Canadian government approval. He attributed its ban in the U.S. to public Pressure but notes ‘‘we do things in a more private Way in Canada.”’ Holmwood, head of the National Action Com- Mittee on the Status of Women’s health and safety Committee, wants that privacy broken. They have - Written to Health Minister Jake Epp demanding Public hearings as a prerequisite to the drug’s ap- Proval. The coalition has also threatened to seek a Court injunction to stop the drug’s use. Although not approved as a contraceptive in Canada, a loophole in the law allows doctors to Prescribe thé drug if they believe the benefit out- Weighs the risk. Until now it has been used on teenaged girls in group homes and on the mentally retarded in Ontario. Holmwood finds this application appalling. “‘It is doubtful those teenagers are aware of the full implications of the drug’s use. Mentally retarded women have no means of making an informed de- cision. They are being used as guinea pigs’. A spokesperson for the group, Rights for the Mentally Retarded, also condemned the drug. Pointing to severe mood changes, depression and violence amongst users who had no previous his- tory of anti-social behavior. Dr. Ian Henderson, who heads the department’s human prescription drug branch hotly defends its use. ‘‘We’ve decided that Depo-Provera is safe enough for teenaged women in Jamaica. How can we say that it is not safe for Canadian teenagers?” He said the job of Health and Welfare is to now ‘educate women that the fact they have stopped menstrating is a natural side effect of this drug and that it is not unhealthy’’. ‘Stupid and Chauvinistic’ Holmwood, characterized Henderson’s re- marks as ‘‘very stupid and chauvinistic. Who is this man to tell women they don’t want to menstruate. Women look upon menstration as a normal part of their life cycle. We have to remember that Depo- Provera is a hormone and with all hormones the side-effects can be quite dangerous.” Depo-Provera is used as a contraceptive in 80 countries, the majority of them in the developing world. The apartheid state of South Africa has pushed it as a contraceptive but restricts its use to Black women only. Yussuf Saloojee, Canadian representative for the African National Congress, told the Tribune he was ‘‘shocked’”’ to see the drug considered for approval in Canada. ‘Depo-Provera has been utilized by the government and corporate sector in South Africa as a control on the Black population. It is one of many instruments of repression against our people. Canadians should open their eyes and see that a drug which has been banned for use in the United States but deemed appropriate for dumping on the third world is now making its way into Canada. Do U.S. companies now see Canada as a third world dumping ground? Perhaps this will open the door to greater solidarity between Canadians and the oppressed peoples of South Africa.” ~ No peace in Northern Ireland until British leave — Devlin By ED MCDONALD TORONTO — The Anglo-Irish agreement known as the Hills- rough Accord, signed recently I Belfast, will not work, Berna- dette Devlin told an overflow To- Tonto audience, Nov. 22, as long 48 Britain still carries through acts Of repression against the people, cts for which Britain has been found guilty by the international court. Devlin, well-known Irish Nationalist and former Member of liament for Mid-Ulster, spoke at a meeting at the Ontario Col- lege of Art, sponsored by the Irish teedom Association and the Trish-Canadian Political Educa- Honal Association. In 1969, when She was 22, Devlin was jailed by he British just a week after her Te-election as a member of the British parliament. In January 1981 she was shot and seriously Wounded by a Protestant para- Military group who burst into her home. While making the point of the need for religious tolerance, De- vlin stressed that the problems were political and social. She cited the case of the Bogside dis- trict in Belfast, where unemployment is between 70 and 75 per cent. (It was as a result of a confrontation at Bogside that she had been earlier charged and jailed.) : In her chronological pees she at one point took the au ience to the oats of the Civil Rights Movement of 1968, which saw massive outpourings of people calling for jobs and decent hous- ing, only to be confronted in 1970 with internment without trial, tor- tures, total confinement, cul- minating in the hunger strikes of 1980, in which 10 prisoners died. Special Powers Act “Tt is not surprising,’” she said, “that John Vorster, then South African minister of justice, intro- ducing a new coercion bill in the South African parliament in 1973, commented that he ‘‘would be - willing to exchange all the legis- lation of that sort for one clause of the Northern Ireland Special Powers Act”’. Devlin walked her audience through 800 years of Irish histroy, dealing with such matters as relig- ion, demands for national self- determination, exploitation and repression. She called attention to the election of 1918 where 85.13 per cent of the people voted for independence and freedom from English rule. Britain’s South Africa In response to questions from the audience, specifically dealing with the role of the military, De- vlin made the point that her people are outnumbered ten to one; we won’t beat them. She drew parallels with the struggles in South Africa and Nicaragua. ‘*What is needed is a change of attitude of the people’’ (to work toward unity), she said, ‘‘and the need for international support.” Referring to the six counties of Northern Ireland as_ Britain’s South Africa, she said, ‘‘The Brits have been here too long,’ and cal- led on them rhetorically: ‘‘For God’s sake get out!’ Youth need united voice for peace TORONTO — The proximity of two major events, a Canadian one — the formation Nov. 9-10 of the Canadian Peace Alliance, and an international one — the Geneva summit meeting between U.S. Presi- dent Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev, helped to raise a new awareness in the quest for peace and disarmament. At the time of the Canadian Peace Alliance founding convention in Toronto, young people from British Columbia to the Maritimes got together to exchange experiences in youth peace activities and to plana method of communication over the coming year. ‘“We needed to discuss a youthful style of work in the peace move- ment if we are going to involve young people, particularly high school students,’ said Cathy Plowman of the Winnipeg Co-ordinating Com- mittee for Disarmament Youth Committee. ‘‘Giving them leaflets is not enough,”’ she added. Special Role for Youth Noting that many young people are active generally in the peace movement, the Working Group on Youth agreed “‘that Canadian youth, as a group, has a special role and also special interests in the Canadian Peace Alliance.” The diverse representatives in the meeting called for a “‘youth voi- ce’’ to be present at the regional and local levels to “‘foster commu- nication and networking among youth groups’ and that a Youth Corner be set up in any regular Alliance newsletter. Said Corey Vermey of the Young Communist League, ““There is a real urgency, especially with Reagan’s Star Wars plans, to bring more and more people, particularly young people, into the peace movement. I think the youth workshop and the report coming out of it will help to stimulate the growth of the peace movement among young people all over Canada. This Alliance conference has been a real boost for all who have attended,” he added. Other groups in the meeting of youth included the University of British Columbia Students for Peace and Mutual Disarmament, the Union of Youth of the Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ (Dukobors), Ploughshares Youth in Newfoundland, and the Mon- treal-North Committee for Peace. Summit Vigil Fresh from its participation in the Alliance founding, the Toronto Association for Peace, on the evening of Nov. 19, mounted a candle- light vigil at the Peace Garden in city hall square. The occasion was the opening day of the Geneva summit, and TAP expressed its hope for a successful summit in step with “Canadians of all walks of life and with people the world over who look with hope to the . . . positive outcome (of the summit to) strengthen the cause of peace and disarmament. ‘The most urgent issue,’ TAP said, “‘is preventing Star Wars and the militarization of space,’ because its end result would be an uncon- trollable arms race and an increased nuclear threat. The peace group emphasized the need for Canadians to demand that the Mulroney government speak up for detente, not confrontation. ‘The threat of Canada’s increased integration into the Star Wars program, particularly through NORAD, must be prevented,’’ TAP urged. The organization called for Canadian Government support for ‘‘arms control and arms reduction based on parity and equality of security, as the path leading to a world without wars.”’ PACIFIC TRIBUNE, DECEMBER 4, 1985 e 5