The Daily Star, AFP, January 28, 2013
Picture taken on January 2, 2013 in Lille of third-generation contraceptive pills. AFP PHOTO PHILIPPE HUGUEN |
JERUSALEM:
Israel's health ministry has warned that immigrants must not be given
contraceptives without their proper consent, after allegations that Ethiopian
women were coerced into taking contraceptive jabs.
The
allegations surfaced in December, when an investigative news programme looking
into the declining birth rate of Ethiopian immigrants to Israel uncovered
claims that would-be migrants were told they would be refused entry to the
Jewish state if they did not take Depo Provera contraceptive injections.
The
Association for Civil Rights in Israel followed up on the allegations with the
health ministry, which this week released a carefully-worded response, warning
that contraceptives should not be administered without explicit consent.
The
ministry says it is issuing the letter "without taking a position or
determining facts regarding the claims that have arisen in this regard."
But it
requests doctors "not to renew prescriptions for Depo Provera for women of
Ethiopian origin or other women about whom for whatever reason there is concern
that they did not understand the implications of the treatment."
It asks
doctors to determine with patients "why contraception is being used in
general and this one in particular, and if she is asking of her own free will
to prevent pregnancy, and if she understands the side-effects."
"Of
course this should be done in a culturally appropriate way and if necessary
through Ethiopian intermediaries or through medical translation services,"
it adds.
While the
letter contains no admission that Depo Provera was administered without
consent, ACRI said it considered the ministry's response an important
acknowledgement.
"The
way that ACRI regards this letter from the ministry of health is as an
important recognition that the phenomenon was indeed occurring," ACRI
spokesman Marc Grey told AFP.
According
to Israeli media, the birth rate among Israel's Ethiopian immigrant population
has fallen by nearly 20 percent in the past decade.
One woman
interviewed in the original December television investigation said Ethiopians
awaiting transfer to Israel were told those who refused the contraceptive shots
would be denied entry, as well as aid and medical care.
"We
were afraid... We didn't have a choice. Without them and their aid, we couldn't
leave there," Haaretz newspaper quoted the woman as saying.
More than
120,000 Jews of Ethiopian origin live in Israel.
For
centuries, Jews in Ethiopia were largely cut off from other Jewish communities,
and Israel's religious authorities only belatedly recognised them as members of
the faith.
The move
sparked two waves of immigration to Israel, in 1984 and 1991, but Ethiopian
immigrants have struggled to integrate into Israeli society, despite massive
government aid.
“… No person shall be forced into marriage against his or her will. No woman shall be forced to bear or not bear children, against her will. No person shall be forced to hold or not hold views or worship in a manner contrary to his or her choice. Nothing vital to existence shall be withheld from another if it is within the community’s power to give. …”
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“… No person shall be forced into marriage against his or her will. No woman shall be forced to bear or not bear children, against her will. No person shall be forced to hold or not hold views or worship in a manner contrary to his or her choice. Nothing vital to existence shall be withheld from another if it is within the community’s power to give. …”
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