Guide to Birth Control

Analysis: U.S. focus on birth control may raise new concerns

2011-12-11T11:30:15Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A ruling last week on the morning-after pill, as well as government recommendations on new forms of birth control, could have long-lasting effects on women's perceptions of its safety, health experts say.

Last Wednesday, the health secretary for the first time overruled government scientists, refusing to make the morning--after pill available to users of all ages witho...

Analysis: focus on birth control may raise new concerns

2011-12-11T11:30:14Z

Last Wednesday, the health secretary for the first time overruled government scientists, refusing to make the morning--after pill available to users of all ages witho...

FDA advisers stand behind Ortho Evra patch

2011-12-09T14:30:40Z

ADELPHI, Maryland (Reuters) - Drug advisers recommended that the label for Johnson and Johnson's Ortho Evra birth control patch should be simplified to better explain the risk of blood clots.

Advisers to the Reuters) - U.S. drug advisers recommended that the label for Johnson and Johnson's Ortho Evra birth control patch be simplified to better explain the risk of blood clots.

In a 20 to 3 vote with one abstention, advisers to the Reuters) - Drug advisers recommended that the label for Johnson and Johnson's Ortho Evra birth control patch should be simplified to better explain the risk of blood clots.

Advisers to the Reuters) - Nuns should be offered the contraceptive pill, on health grounds, since it would cut their risk of getting cancer, two Australian doctors said on Thursday.

The vow of chastity taken by the world's 95,000 Catholic nuns carries with it an increased risk of breast, ovarian and uterine cancers -- all of which are more common in women who do not have children.

It is a pro...

Democrats worry over access to birth control

2011-11-23T19:31:02Z

Democratic US lawmakers worry President Barack Obama may bow to Catholic groups fighting new rules to expand access to birth control for millions of women, congressional aides confirmed Wednesday.

US media have reported that the lawmakers were pressing Obama to hold the line on requiring employer insurance plans to cover preventive care free of charge, as called for und...

Survey: U.S. doctors disagree on pregnancy start

2011-11-17T22:30:21Z

(Reuters) - Most U.S. doctors believe pregnancy starts when the sperm fertilizes the egg, a survey shows, contradicting the position of a key medical group with a view that could potentially affect U.S. policy and laws regarding contraception and research.

The Reuters) - The Catholic Church's ban on the use of contraception is not to blame for the population boom that is about to tip the world over the seven billion mark because most Catholics ignore it, a UN Population Fund (UNFPA...

Curb soaring population growth? Keep girls in school

2011-10-24T06:30:13Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Former Irish President Mary Robinson was just making polite conversation when she asked an Ethiopian teenager about her wedding day.

The 16-year-old had already been married a year.

"She looked at me with the saddest eyes and said, 'I had to drop out ...

Crowded Earth: how many is too many?

2011-10-23T01:30:07Z

Already straining to host seven billion souls, Earth is set to teem with billions more, and only a revolution in the use of resources can avert an environmental crunch, experts say.

As early as 1798, Thomas Malthus gloomily forecast that our ability to reproduce would quickly outstrip our ability to produce food, leading to mass starvation and a culling of the species.

But an industrial revolution and it...

US forum urges contraception aid for poor countries

2011-10-17T20:31:18Z

Experts in a range of fields including health, demography and climate change, urged Monday a boost of aid for women in developing countries such as Somalia to help them control their fertility.

"The global population is expected to reach the seven-billion mark this year and to hit 10 billion by 2100," noted Mary Robinson, the former Irish president and chair of the <...

Women on Pill 'pick security over sex appeal'

2011-10-12T05:30:48Z

Women who take the Pill tend to choose as partners men who are less attractive and worse in bed but a sounder bet for a long-term relationship, according to an unusual study published.

Probing the effect of contraceptive hormones on mating choice, researchers questioned 2,519 women in the United States, Czech Republic, United States, Czech Republic,

China province cools hopes of 'one-child' policy easing

2011-10-10T04:30:16Z

An official from China's most populous province said there would be no "major" change to population control measures, Chinese media reported, cooling expectations it may ease the one-child policy.

Guangdong in southern China asked Beijing in July for permission to modify the policy and allow couples where just one parent...

Bayer wins end to Yaz contraceptive lawsuit

2011-09-28T13:00:25Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bayer AG won the dismissal on Wednesday of U.S. antitrust claims by Sandoz Inc over Bayer's popular Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills, the final claims in the three-year-old Manhattan...

Qualitest recalls birth control pills: FDA

2011-09-20T09:00:23Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Qualitest Pharmaceuticals is voluntarily recalling several lots of birth control pills because of a packaging error that could leave women at risk for unplanned pregnancy, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.

Select blisters were rotated 180 degrees within the c...

Chinese female condoms too small for S.Africans: report

2011-09-16T14:30:34Z

A South African court has blocked the government from buying 11 million female condoms from China, saying they are too small, a newspaper reported Friday.

The finance ministry had awarded a contract to a firm called Siqamba Medical, which planned to buy the Phoenurse condoms from China, the Beeld newspaper said.

A rival firm, Reuters Health) - Women who get several months' worth of birth control pills at once are more likely to stick with the contraceptive than those who get a shorter-term supply, a new clinical trial suggests.

As it stands, private and public health insurance plans in the U.S. generally limit how many months' worth of birth control pills can be prescribed at a time. The pr...

Feds to fund N.H. family planning after state council refuses

2011-09-09T16:00:29Z

LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - The federal government has committed to taking over family planning services for poor women in much of New Hampshire, in a move that may allow

2011-08-26T16:30:17Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Very few women choose to get an intrauterine device (IUD) inserted soon after giving birth, even though it's one of the most effective methods of long-term contraception, according to a new study. Instead, the research showed, many opt for tubal sterilization -- usually a permanent closure of the fallopian tubes -- including young women who may go on to regret the surge...

Afghanistan fights population growth with birth control

2011-08-23T09:30:17Z

KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan government is trying to curb a booming population by promoting birth control but such efforts have been met with caution from aid groups and opposition from Islamic scholars.

The Ministry of Health warns Afghanistan's population of 30 million will double in as many years, stunting opportunities for economic gr...

Horn of Africa shows family planning need: UN

2011-08-02T09:00:09Z

DAKAR (Reuters) - The Horn of Africa food crisis shows the need to provide the world's poor with better access to family planning as part of efforts to prevent future tragedies, the head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) sa...

US expands no-cost women's health services

2011-08-01T19:30:25Z

Birth control pills, breast-feeding equipment and HIV testing will be covered under US health plans at no cost to women beginning next year, but a religious exemption has some advocates fuming.

The US government on Monday announced the sweeping changes that should save US women hundreds of dollars per year by eliminating partial co-pays and deductible limits on eight preventive care services.

Women's advocates hailed the move as a major advance but expressed disappointment ov...

Federal health department approves free birth control for women

2011-08-01T08:00:26Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. health department on Monday issued a plan to provide women with free preventive health services, including birth control, under the nation's healthcare overhaul, but gave religious institutions the flexibility to opt out.

The guidelines, which the Reuters Health) - Giving women free access to long-term birth control after they've had an abortion may help them avoid a second one, New Zealand researchers suggest.

Of 510 women who'd been offered contraceptives free of charge at an abortion clinic, less than six percent of those who went on to use an intrauterine...

U.S. health body recommends birth control coverage

2011-07-19T11:30:19Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Institute of Medicine recommended eight preventive health services, including birth control, be covered for women at no cost under the country's healthcare overhaul.

The IOM report, commissioned by President Barack Ob...

Planned Parenthood contracts rejected, NH may lose federal funds

2011-07-13T15:30:09Z

LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - New Hampshire may lose over $1 million in federal funds for family planning and women's health after the state's executive council voted to end a $1.8 million contract with six

IUDs, implants advocated for birth control

2011-06-21T10:30:34Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - IUDs and contraceptive skin implants are the most effective type of reversible contraceptive, and should be offered as options to most women seeking birth control, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AC...

Immediate IUD use after abortion found safe

2011-06-08T14:31:03Z

BOSTON (Reuters Health) - Implanting an intrauterine device (IUD) in the womb immediately after an abortion, instead of waiting 2 to 6 weeks, poses few risks to the woman, according to a new study.

Placing the IUD immediately increases the chance -- but only slightly -- that it will fall out within 6 months, the new study of 575 women has concluded.

Switching to immediate insertion "co...

FDA to look at blood clot risk from drospirenone

2011-05-31T15:00:18Z

BANGALORE (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it is reviewing results from two studies that showed there is a higher risk of blood clots in women taking birth control pills containing the compound drospirenone.

The FDA...

U.S. abortion rate down overall but up among poor women: study

2011-05-24T07:00:52Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Abortion rates have inched lower in most groups of U.S. women, but not among poor women, where they are still on the rise, according to a study.

The report, in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, comes as the U.S. federal and state governments begin to make funding cuts that could limit access to family p...

U.S. abortion rate down, but up among poor women

2011-05-23T15:00:19Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Abortion rates have gone down in most groups of U.S. women, but not among poor women, a new study shows. Among the lowest-income women, abortions are still on the rise.

The news about high levels of abortion use by poor women comes as the federal and state governments begin to make funding cuts that could l...

40 arrested in China for child trafficking

2011-05-13T04:30:25Z

Police in China have arrested a gang of 40 people suspected of buying at least 22 children in the nation's southwest and trafficking them to a wealthier region, state press said Friday.

The suspected trafficking ring allegedly bought young children -- 22 of them have so far been recovered -- in impoverished areas of Yunnan province and sold them in coastal

New birth control methods urged for developing world women

2011-05-12T17:30:15Z

New contraceptive methods are needed for developing world women, including one in four in sub-Saharan Africa, whose needs for modern birth control are not being met, a study has found.

A 52-page report by the New York-based Guttmacher Institute urged new methods to reach 148 million women in three regions where there a...

Philippine bishops clash with Aquino over contraception bill

2011-05-10T06:30:14Z

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine Catholic bishops on Tuesday walked out of talks with the government over a planned bill allowing contraception in open opposition to President Benigno Aquino who vowed to push the bill into law.

Aquino pledged last month to push for the enactment of a reproductive health bill in Congress in a bid to lower the maternal death rate in the

China probes child trafficking, adoption link

2011-05-10T03:30:26Z

China has launched a probe into the abduction of children allegedly born in violation of population control policies then trafficked by officials into adoptions worldwide, an official said Tuesday.

The investigation comes after Caixin magazine reported this week that family planning officials in central China's Hunan province had abducted children and sold them into ad...

China province probes sale of "illegal children"

2011-05-10T01:00:03Z

BEIJING (Reuters) - A southern Chinese province has begun investigating a report that officials had seized at least 16 babies born in violation of strict family planning rules, sent them to welfare centers and then sold them abroad for adoption.

The children in Longhui county near Huna...

Porn Industry HIV

2010-12-08T15:32:43Z

Adult film actor Derrick Burts, 24, who tested positive for HIV, reacts during a news conference, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010, in Los Angeles. Burts said he wished he had known more about the risks of contracting sexually transmitted diseases in the industry and is calling for mandatory condom use in porn films. At left is Dr. Shilpa Sayana.(AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Copyrigh...

South Africa Pope Condoms Reaction

2010-11-22T12:48:10Z

A poster that promotes the use of Condoms in South Africa, seen on a building as workers clean windows, in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 22, 2010. Vatican officials insist it's nothing "revolutionary," but to many other people Pope Benedict X...

Female Condoms

2010-07-28T02:00:24Z

A Washington, D.C. Metro bus displays an advertisement for a female condom, in Washington, Monday, July 26, 2010. To encourage their use, community groups are handing out 500,000 of the female condoms, flexible pouches that are wider than a male condom but similar in length, during instruction sessions at beauty salons, barber shops, churches and restaurants. (AP Photo/Drew...

The Pill Turns 50

2010-09-08T13:14:38Z

FILE - In this March 1, 1934 file photo, renowned birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger appeals before a Senate committee for federal birth-control legislation in Washington, D.C. Sanger's legal appeals eventually prompted federal courts to grant physicians the right to give advice about birth-control methods. She began her crusade back in 1912 when she was working on the l...

ABORTION WORLDWIDE

2010-03-31T03:07:43Z

Chart shows worldwide pregnancy rates, abortion rates, and contraception usage. With BC-US-Abortion Worldwide.

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