Planned Parenthood Bans Dalkon Shield

Planned Parenthood Bans Dalkon Shield

The national medical committee of Planned Parenthood has directed all of its 700 affiliated birth control clinics to stop prescribing an intrauterine device (IUD) known as the Dalkon Shield. Planned Parenthood also directed its clinics to call in all women who are currently using the IUD to warn them of potential risk to their health if they become pregnant, and offer them a substitute contraceptive.

The action follows the disclosure by the manufacturer of the contraceptive device, A.H. Robins Company of Richmond, Virginia, that four women have died from septic abortions in mid-pregnancy when the Dalkon Shield was in place. A septic abortion is a miscarriage caused by an infection in the uterus. An added 32 women had also suffered from septic abortions that were not fatal.

With a pregnancy rate of 5.1%, as reported in one Planned Parenthood study, 30,000 to 80,000 pregnancies occur every year for each 1 million users. According to the company, 2.2 million women have been fitted with Dalkon Shields.

The company warned that women who become pregnant while wearing the Shield would be well advised to either have the device removed promptly if the pregnancy is to continue or to have an abortion. It also recommended that doctors perform a pregnancy test on every Shield-wearer who misses a menstrual period. Ann Arbor Planned Parenthood is located on North Main, their phone number is 769-8530.

LNS