Politics:
RedState is debating if Reagan could have possibly been pro-choice. George H. W. Bush (41) was pro-choice before he really made it big on the national scene, electing, instead, to embrace the party line (sound familiar?).
Maternal, Fetal and Newborn Health:
The plastic used in feeding tubes, etc., can be dangerous for a newborn, so hospitals are planning to phase out its use. Women who are breastfeeding should watch it with the codeine.
New screening is non-invasive way to find healthy embryos for IVF.
A hospital in the UK is short on midwives, since they're all out on maternity leave.
CNN gives you 5 ways to avoid a c-section.
More on freezing ovaries to help women with cancer.
Foreign:
Russians encouraged to procreate, and given a day off to do so!
The Anglican Church in Nigeria is encouraging couples to get an HIV test before marriage.
Did we already cover the FGM death in Egypt?
Also, since we know that circumcision helps prevent the spread of HIV, the U.S. government's anti-AIDS program will fund circumcisions (male).
The Chinese are having a lot of unsafe sex, which is fueling the AIDS crisis.
Indonesia is considering virginity tests on female high school students. [Ed. Feministing tells us they've decided not to.]
Amnesty International is no longer abortion-neutral. This is causing some problems with the Vatican, and, I'm sure, other groups.
Health:
RU-486 is safe. Here's what pisses me off: some abortion clinics are not. Seriously, not only is this a clear health and patient safety issue, but it makes me look like an asshole.
Testosterone patch increases woman's libido. This patch, Intrinsia (made by P&G) is approved for use in Europe, and has side effects including acne and facial hair, although these are downplayed in all the US publications I've read about Intrinsia. In the meantime, a study shows that the elderly have active sex lives.
Obesity --> truancy --> teen pregnancy. I would think that obesity may also be related to teen pregnancies for other reasons. One, girls who are fatter develop earlier, as estrogen is fat-soluble. They are then physically more mature without having the accompanying mental maturity. Two, social issues regarding being fat and being liked. Third, behavioral issues that may have induced poor eating habits (bad decision making) or lack of impulse control I could easily see also leading to bad decision making or lack of impulse control when it comes to sex. But I'm just speculating here. Anyone know?
So I'm moderately obsessed with this issue, and I'm really glad that a study shows that women with lupus have higher rates of cervical cancer (that's kind of what it says). I mean, it makes total sense that women with autoimmune diseases couldn't fight off HPV as well as others, and that they would have higher rates of abnormal paps and cervical cancer. Right, and I've been talking about this for a few years, and saying that women with autoimmune diseases may need different screening for cervical cancer than the average woman, and maybe they should just be tested for HPV and if the test is positive then do a pap more often and I don't know exactly what my treatment protocol suggestion is, but I'm psyched regardless.
Feministe appears to be down right now, but there was this great catch they made about the mainstream press not correcting some anti's assertion that birth control doesn't work, among other falsehoods.
Gender Stuff:
Women find that wearing the veil limits job choice.
Some careers are male dominated, and some are female dominated, but the gender wage gap is decreasing.
Scientists have created male mice that have two X chromosomes.
Slate has in interesting article about how TV is showing rural Indian women about empowerment, inadvertently. Slate also has a cool slideshow of the exericise of the right to vote in honor of the 19th Amendment.
The New York Times asks: Is there anything good about men? Mostly, it goes on to say that men take risks to be chosen for reproduction, and that women don't because they need to stay home to take care of the babies and they're pretty much assured reproduction (and survival of their genetics).
Other news:
Iraqi women are taking up prostitution.
Rare identical quadruplets born in Canada.
Only 38% of Americans think pre-marital sex is wrong, yet, 90% of Americans engage in such behavior.
Those sneaky PP folks are opening up a clinic in Denver.
Law Students for Choice is now Law Students for Reproductive Justice.
Apparently the singletons are getting a raw deal (seriously, Forbes?)
Sanitary pad lawsuit. This goes back to something from the other day about skipping periods, etc, and I dug around a bit and there's apparently not a whole lot of data on historical sales of menstrual products, and even if there were I bet a lot of stuff that was used was not sold and wouldn't be captured in that data, and that as these products became more of a market item the use of the Pill was burgeoning, and women were having more menstrual cycles b/c they weren't having children as often, so I don't think there's any data on periods that I want.
And the animal story: it's too hot and dry to get it on in Utah.
[Ed. because I am listening to the new Northern State CD and I'm digging a lot of it. Just FYI.]
