A recent engineering graduate from Tulane University is attempting to make his millions by turning his senior project into a business.Ben Cappiello is seeking to “better” the lives of women around the world by improving the delivery system for the controversial contraceptive/abortifacient intrauterine device, commonly called the “IUD.” Unfortunately, like so many problems our world faces today, the medical flaws and dangers inherent to IUDs cannot be fixed a gun.
Today, well-documented shortcomings and dangerous side effects of the IUD include device expulsion, pregnancy complications, ectopic (tubal) pregnancies, pelvic inflammatory disease, uterine perforations, migration of the device into the abdomen, becoming embedded in the uterus, and potential for behavior as an abortifacient. Two types of IUDs are currently available in the United States, the Copper T and Mirena.
Both types of IUDs alter the environment of a woman’s uterus to be hostile to sperm, egg, and a developing human zygote, if conception occurs, by releasing either small amounts of copper (in the case of the Copper T) or progestin (in the case of Mirena). This is partially accomplished by causing a thinning of the uterine lining (endometrium). This prevents developing human zygotes from implanting in the mother’s uterus and continuing their development, causing a very early abortion.
Now, before you rush to judgement and say, Planned Parenthood said an IUD just prevents a “fertilized egg” from implanting, it’s not an abortion! Google that term – fertilized egg. You’ll find that a fertilized egg is just another term for human zygote – when egg and sperm have united and created a living, whole, distinct human person with a completely unique genetic code.
Medical studies document that, although pregnancy while using an IUD is unlikely, when a woman does conceive despite the now-hostile environment of her IUD-inhabited uterus, the chance of an ectopic pregnancy increases significantly. Ectopic pregnancies (or “tubal” pregnancies, so called for occurring in the fallopian tubes rather than the uterus), can cause, “internal bleeding, infertility and even death.” Ectopic pregnancies result in the death of the pre-born child (often through direct chemical or surgical abortions) and frequently threaten the life of the mother.
In June, an ABC news affiliate in Cleveland reported:
Currently, there are more than 300 lawsuits pending where women suffering serious harm from Mirena IUDs are suing for the pain they have suffered, time they have lost at work, and the immense costs of surgeries to recover IUDs “wandering” through their bodies and to repair the physical injuries which resulted. Several cases have even been documented where a second IUD was placed inside a woman after the first perforated the uterine wall and began migrating into the abdomen or other organs.
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!
Additionally, medical studies have documented: “The IUD is not considered safe for women if they have not first given birth to at least one child, have a history of or had breast cancer, or have multiple sexual partners.” Mirena’s own marketing confirms these dangers.
With the IUD already fundamentally flawed on many biological levels, it is clear a flashy (or terrifying) new device, a gun, for inserting these devices into a woman’s uterus will not improve women’s health. While improving the method of placement may mitigate some health hazards of IUDs it does not address the underlying dangers. Cappiello’s gun will only encourage wider proliferation of an already dangerous device.
But just how common do the creators of this new IUD gun hope to make their devices? “We’re trying to really democratize IUD insertion, so that everyone can do them, anywhere,” Cappiello said of his invention. “All you have to do is squeeze this lever.“
