Abortion Laws Revisited in Ireland

NY Times

DUBLIN — Abortion is back on the agenda in Ireland after a European Court of Human Rights ruling last year found the state in violation of its own Constitution on the matter. Ireland’s abortion laws are the strictest in Europe, but the Irish government may be about to address the previously unapproachable: whether to loosen restrictions on ending a pregnancy.

Will the ‘girl effect’ really help to combat poverty?

Girls sell coffee in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Photograph: Alamy

Many development organisations see empowering girls – and enabling them to delay childbearing – as a powerful means to tackle poverty, but the evidence so far doesn’t bear this out.

The call to invest in adolescent girls has been sweeping the development field in recent years. Among the supporters of this policy are key stakeholders such as the UK Department for International Development (DfID), the World Bank and several UN agencies.

Teen Pregnancies Hit New Low, But Disparities Remain

teenschoolbag

Teen pregnancies are at their lowest rate in nearly 40 years, according to the latest data from the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization focused on sexual and reproductive health.

The report shows that about 7 percent of U.S. teen girls between the ages of 15 to 19 were pregnant in 2008 — a decline from the high of more than 11 percent in 1990. Abortions among teen girls fell from a peak of more than 4 percent in 1988 to about 1.8 percent in 2008, the latest year for which data are available.

Ministers tell councils to push contraceptive jabs and implants

The Telegraph Girls as young as 13 will be pressed to have contraceptive jabs under Government plans to “urgently” bring down teenage pregnancy rates. By Julie Henry, Education Correspondent 8:12PM GMT 15 Nov 2008 Ministers have ordered council and health chief executives to increase the uptake of “long-acting” contraception in teen pregnancy “hot spots”. The Continue Reading …

13 Yr. Old Girls Get Contraceptive Implants at School

Health chiefs have defended sexual health services going into schools, saying teenage pregnancies had dropped by 22 per cent as a result Photo: Alamy

Girls as young as 13 have been fitted with contraceptive implants at school without their parents knowing
and has caused a backlash from parents who weren’t aware that their daughters had been fitted with the 4cm device, which sits under the skin.
It is currently unknown exactly how many youngsters have taken part in the scheme.

Reproductive Coercion

Society for Menstrual Cycle Research

re: Cycles

July 29th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling

In our May 28 “Saturday Surfing” round-up of recommended reading, we highlighted Lynn Harris’ essay for The Nation about new research on “reproductive coercion”: the alarming frequency with which young men try to get their partners pregnant, often by sabotaging birth control methods.

When Teen Pregnancy Is No Accident

The Nation
Lynn Harris
May 24, 2010

Leyla W. couldn’t figure out where her birth control pills kept going. One day a few tablets would be missing; the next, the whole container. Her then-boyfriend shrugged and said he hadn’t seen them. She believed him—until she found them in his drawer. When she confronted him, he hit her. “That was his way of shutting me up,” says Leyla, who is in her mid-20s and living in Northern California. (For her safety, Leyla wishes to withhold her last name and hometown.)

It’s an emergency! Pregnancies out of Wedlock

the star online

Malaysia

April 25, 2010

By Dr MILTON LUM

Statistics show that there are more pregnancies outside of wedlock, and hence more babies born out of wedlock. with its subsequent consequences. This article seeks to empower the young, their parents, and everyone who care about them to prevent unintended pregnancies following unprotected sexual intercourse.

What Is Morning Sickness? What Causes Morning Sickness?

Medical News Today

Morning sickness, also known as nausea gravidarum, nausea/vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) , emesis gravidarum or pregnancy sickness is a condition that affects over 50% of all pregnant females. The woman feels nauseous, sometimes vomits and is often tired. Women who use hormonal contraception or HRT (hormone replacement therapy) may also have morning sickness symptoms.

Gaps found in young people’s sex knowledge

CNN
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
December 15, 2009 12:03 a.m. EST

(CNN) — Most sexually active unmarried young adults believe pregnancy should be planned, but about half do not use contraception regularly, according to a study published Tuesday.

The survey of 1,800 people age 18 to 29 was conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

“What is surprising is just how wide the gap is between single young adults’ intentions and behavior on this very important issue,” said Bill Albert, chief program officer at the organization.