I was asked to review some books for Social Good Moms.

The books are "Renewable" by Eileen Flanagan and "100 Under $100 - One Hundred Tools for Empowering Global Women".
Of the two, "100 Under $100" was by far my favorite. Not only does it have some great and inspiring information about what women are doing around the world to help themselves, but it has practical suggestions for helping them.
However, there are major inaccuracies in the book as well as well-intentioned but poorly advised programs that are featured.
For example: #21 Non-surgical medical abortions - First of all, do these third world country women know that they are taking the life of their own child? Unlike America where we have 3D and 4D ultrasound and the woman can see the baby, these women have no option for informed consent. Second of all, there is not a 100% guarantee that this method will kill the baby and if not, a surgical abortion will be necessary.
Other concerns include: A warning in 2004 by the manufacturer, Danco Laboratories and the FDA regarding non-surgical medical abortions pill Mifipristone: 1.  "Bacterial infection following use, prolonged vaginal bleeding, and ectopic pregnancy with cases of bacterial infection and sepsis … reported following use of this product. In rare cases, septic shock has been a complication of these infections (which) may be severe and sometimes fatal.” 2. "Vaginal bleeding is a common consequence of mifepristone use. Bleeding or spotting occurs in most women for a period of 9-16 days.... In some cases, bleeding may be prolonged and heavy, potentially leading to life-threatening hypovolemic shock." 3. "the manufacturer notes that reports of ruptured ectopic pregnancy have been received." Ectopic pregnancies can be a potentially life-threatening situation.

#17 Cervical Cancer Vinegar Screening is pure genius, simple, inexpensive and easy to implement. So why promote the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) which has been linked to major adverse effects in 1.7% of girls receiving the vaccine, ranging from Epstein Barre, seizures, severe arthritis, paralysis and even death? Even the chief researcher on this vaccine Dr. Diane Harper has insisted that this is not a cancer drug. Although it protects against 4 of about 100 strains of the HPV virus, all of the strains are potentially cancer-causing, plus there is serious concern that the risks outweigh the benefits of this vaccine especially since cervical cancer is very treatable in the early stages and there is no data on how long the protection lasts http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gardasil-researcher-speaks-out/.

#18 Contraception – The Jadelle Access Program - Jadelle otherwise known as Norplant, dispenses progestin which has been linked to breast and uterine cancer as well as early abortions. 19 out of every 100 woman stop using it because of bleeding problems.  “Known side effects are irregular bleeding, ovarian cysts, blood clots, possible increased risk of gall bladder disease and an increased risk of cancer at the implant site from having a “foreign-body intrusion[s].” None of this information seems to be part of the education process for the poor women in developing countries to which it is dispensed. At least, the program points out that it does not protect against STD’s which can also cause cancer, infertility, painful lifetime warts, pain in various areas of the body, discharge, bleeding, and a host of other ills, not to mention that some are no longer even curable.

What a pity, that such a great effort should be marred by what appears to be a radical agenda. Most of the book though is great and it is really interesting to see the kinds of entrepreneurial activities that women around the world are capable of doing.

I will review "Renewable" in my next post.