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• Women on the Pill Attract Mr. Wrong

  A new study shows that the birth control pill may affect the way women respond to pheromones—making them more likely to choose partners with whom they are not genetically compatible. Previous studies have shown that couples who have different aromatic genetic make-ups are more likely to be faithful and to have children with stronger immune systems. Now, in a study involving 100 women, British researchers have found that women on the pill prefer men whose genetic odors are similar to their own. Read More... Posted Aug 13 2008, 05:40 PM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: marriage, contraception, women, men, pheromones, The Pill, genes, birth control pill, Major Histocompatibility Complex, different, choosing a partner, MCH, compatibility, change attractions, genetic make-up, aromotic molecules, odors, similar, smells, scents, sexual attraction, attraction, faithful

• Caseworker Helps 13-Year-Old Obtain Contraception

  An Australian mother is outraged that the Department of Community Services helped her 13-year-old daughter obtain a prescription for the birth control pill. Judith Meredith, who suffers from a mental illness, volunteered to turn her 13-year-old daughter Lauren over to state care. But she is horrified by what that care entailed. Read More... Posted Jul 09 2008, 01:30 PM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with no comments Filed under: teenagers, australia, contraception, abortion, birth control pills, STDs, The Pill, prescription, judith meredith, docs, lauren ryall, sexually active, south wales, department of community services, unwanted pregnancies, underage sex, teens having sex

• Is Mother Earth Pro-Choice?

  People rarely link sex to global warming. But any activity that occurs 215 million times a day is bound to affect global health. And it’s high time we started talking about it, according to environmentalist and author Robert Engleman, who has a new book called More: Population, Nature, and What Women Want. In an interview with Reuters, Engleman discussed the delicacy of bringing this issue into mainstream dialogue: “[E]ven to bring it up, as an issue, it sounds as though you are telling other people how many children to have, and that is unforgivable as reproduction and having children is so sensitive and so personal.” Read More... Posted Jul 04 2008, 10:30 AM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: contraception, environment, condoms, reproductive freedom, birth rate, nature, climate change, global warming, overpopulation, pro-life, access to reproductive health care, and what women want, more: population, reproductive heath care, population control, save the planet, robert engleman

• History's Most Terrifying Contraceptives

  Contraception is terrifying.  If you look at the failure rates of most commonly used methods, it's no wonder unplanned pregnancy rates in some states (and only those reported as unplanned) are soaring.  The kind of terror Cracked catalogs in their history's scariest contraceptives is a whole other bottle of mercury. Animal intestines get you in the mood?  How about deadly poison?   Read More... Posted Mar 24 2008, 07:01 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with no comments Filed under: contraception, unplanned pregnancy, failure rates

• States Turn Down Abstinence-Only Sex Ed Funds In Favor of Teaching, You Know, Actual Sex Ed

  Federal money for Cold Showers 101 may someday be a thing of the past. More and more states are declaring they will not apply for federal funding for abstinence-only sex education programs, and a couple others have applied but stated they will not stick with the abstinence-only curriculum, therefore rendering themselves ineligible. If you don't think this is a big deal, remember, these states are turning down MONEY--your tax dollars, in fact. That says something. Now why would states say they won't try and get the funds? "The jump in states opting out follows a series of reports questioning the effectiveness of the approach, including one commissioned by Congress that was released earlier this year. In addition, federal health officials reported last week that a 14-year drop in teenage pregnancy rates appeared to have reversed." Great. Oh, but I absolutely loooove the response of supporters of "just say no" sex ed...  Read More... Posted Dec 16 2007, 04:33 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: teens, birth control, sex ed, contraception, teen pregnancy, government, states, abstinence only sex education, STDs, federal funding, tax dollars

• U.S. Teen Pregnancy Rate Hits All-Time Low

  According to a study published in the February issue of Pediatrics (and rehashed here - boy, the KOLD News Team sure have lovely teeth!), the teen pregnancy rate in the U.S hit an all-time low in 2005, with a rate of 40.4 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19. This was, according to statisticians working on the report, the lowest the rate's been in the 65 years "for which we have consistent data". So "all-time" could be construed as (hang on, need to do some subtraction - when I took this job, I was told there'd be no math, goddammit) "dating back to 1942, as far as we can tell". The average age of a U.S. bride from 1950 to 1972 was about 20, so by "teen", does the survey mean "unwed teen"? I'm pretty sure there were a lot of pregnant teens in, say, the early 1800's; 'course, they were all married by the time they were 16. Ah - even I'm bored with the direction I'm taking this post. Back to the point. Read More... Posted Feb 06 2007, 09:37 AM by JasonAvant with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: pregnancy, teenagers, babies, marriage, birth control, contraception, abstinence-education, teen pregnancy

• Still Feel Like A Teenager? Maybe This Is Why

  As it turns out, "older women" (that's anybody over the age of 20) are just as irresponsible about contraception as teenagers are.  Woot!  Findings from this small study performed by doctors in a Glasgow hospital, and appearing in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, report that "the proportion of older women who had used no contraception at all was roughly similar to the percentage of teenagers [failing to use contraception]", with a whopping 51% of "older women" seeking abortion in this study having used no contraception.  Way to go! And to what do the Scottish doctors attribute this widespread sexual irresponsibility?  It turns out we are "human beings, who can get carried away in the passion of the moment and not use contraception."  Well, yeah.  (I'm glad to know I'm human; what a relief).  Which may explain the presence of one of my children.  But I'm not telling which one. How about you?  Ever forego contraception "just this once"?  Or do you routinely play pregnancy roulette?  Or are you consistently conscientious? Posted Jan 22 2007, 12:26 PM by Karen Murphy with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: pregnancy, teenagers, moms, British medicine, contraception