Basic Sciences, Administration & Management, Sexuality, Clinical Medicine

Vaccination Against Pregnancy : Miracle or Menace?

Name: Vaccination Against Pregnancy : Miracle or Menace?
Author: Judith Richter
ISBN: 9781856492812

by Judith Richter

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Overview

The new immunological contraceptives now under development are being hailed as a breakthrough in medical science and a solution to population growth in the South. They work by provoking an auto-immune response which tricks the body into attacking its own reproductive hormones as though they were some kind of infection. But preventing pregnancy is not like fighting a disease. Will these new contraceptives be reliable? Are they safe? Are the results reversible? Does their design encourage coercion and abuse? A public debate is urgently needed, this book argues, before immunological contraceptives become a 'fact of life' for women.

About the Author, Judith Richter

Judith Richter was born in Germany. She is a sociologist specialising in international development and has also qualified as a pharmacist. She has lived and worked in a number of countries. Since 1991 she has worked as a freelance researcher, writer and lecturer, and more recently as a consultant for UN agencies such as UNICEF and WHO. Much of her work over the last fifteen years has centred on the social, political and ethical aspects of communication and democratic decisionmaking, infant feeding, pharmaceutical policies, and contraceptive research. She is also actively involved in various social movements, including Health Action International (HAI) and the Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR). Her previous book was Vaccination Against Pregnancy: Miracle or Menace? (Zed Books, London and Spinifex Press, Australia, 1996).