831 



those now in use. Research is in progi-ess toward development of a 

 contraceptive injection that would be good for six months. Since the 

 people in developing countries have become more familiar with inocu- 

 lations, a reliable injectable contraceptive might find wider acceptance 

 among them than the methods now in use. Research with dramatic 

 possibilities is being conducted on what is known as the cylastic (or 

 silastic) implant, a tiny .cushion of absorbent plastic, superficiallv 

 implanted in a muscle and releasing a measured dose of hormone which 

 would prevent conception for a very long period of time, perhaps as 

 much as 20 years. Conception could occur, should a couple desire a 

 child, by i-emoving the cushion, or perhaps by taking estrogen. One of 

 the most promising lines of investigation now underway has to do with 

 prostaglandins — fatty acid compounds occurring naturally in the body. 

 They may be used once a month for fertility control, and may be 

 administered orally, or by injection, or intra vaginally.^°^ Another lino 

 of investigation is concentrating on the "morning-after pill," which 

 would be taken for three days after intercourse and would prevent 

 implantation of the ovum in the endometrium (membrane lining the 

 uterus). 



Whether any of this research will bear fruit in time to benefit the 

 developing countries is uncertain. The Food and Drug Administration 

 (FDA) requires 10 years of testing of chemical contraceptives on 

 monkeys. There are clinical trials involving large numbers of human 

 subjects with follow-up laboratory testing. Because this research is so 

 sophisticated, it can be done only in those countries that are scientific- 

 ally advanced, and under less pressure to limit births. Obviously, it 

 also takes considerable time. According to Carl Djerassi, before any 

 developing country will accept a contraceptive agent for wide use it 

 must have been approved by the FDA in this country or an equivalent 

 European authority. If the safety of a particular contraceptive is 

 questioned in any developed country, the latter takes both political and 

 moral risks if it encourages a developing country to use the agent in 

 question. The answer that Djerassi envisions to the entire problem of 

 developing new chemical methods of contraception is for independent 

 bodies of experts to act as "final courts of scientific appeal," with au- 

 thority that supersedes that of government regulatory agencies. Such 

 a body would be chosen in this country by the National Academy of 

 Sciences, and internationally by the World Health Organization. He 

 believes that a solution of this nature will compel the advanced coun- 

 tries, particularly the U.S., "to take a global rather than a parochial 

 view of novel contraceptive approaches." He also foresees that such 

 a solution will force the pace in the development of new approaches, 

 a pace which at present is far too leisurely, given the enormity of the 

 problem.^"* 



ABORTION 



One of the oldest forms of birth control, but one which has tradi- 

 tionally been subject to social disapproval, is abortion. To abort a 

 fetus is to terminate a pregnancy in its early stages by one of several 



'0^ Jan Palmer. "Ugandan Presses Prostaglandin Research," War on Hunger. A.I.D. 

 Washington (September, 1971), page 3. 



^"*Carl Djerasst. "Progress for the Development of Chemical Birth-control Agents." 

 Science (Oct. 24, 1969), pages 469, 473. 



