News

Teenagers and Pregnancy

June 20, 2009

Between 1991 and 2003, increased contraceptive use among sexually active teenagers played an important role in driving down teenage pregnancy rates. Since then, according to a new report from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, contraceptive use by teens has declined while their sexual activity has remained unchanged. This is a worrisome shift — and it has bearing on the coming budget battle in Congress. The report’s authors, Dr. John Santelli, Mark Orr, Laura Lindberg...Read More >

Sotomayor avoids firm answers on key issues

June 18, 2009

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and senators who will vote on her confirmation are engaged in a careful conversation about where she stands on hot-button issues like abortion and gun rights. You probably won't hear any of it, though, since the exchange is taking place in code. Sotomayor is simply following a time-honored tradition: High court nominees work mightily to reassure senators that they won't be radicals seeking to impose an agenda, without revealing how they might rule on key...Read More >

NO CRYSTAL BALL NEEDED: TEENS ARE HEADING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

June 18, 2009

Between 2003 and 2007, the progress made in the 1990s and early 2000s in improving teen contraceptive use and reducing teen pregnancy and childbearing stalled, and may even have reversed among certain groups of teens, according to “Changing Behavior Risk for Pregnancy Among High School Students in the United States, 1991–2007,” by John S. Santelli et al. Between 1991 and 2003, teens’ condom use increased while their use of no contraceptive method declined, leading to a decreased risk of...Read More >

Will Pennsylvania lead the way on comprehensive, post-'abstinence only' sex education?

June 10, 2009

The state of Pennsylvania currently requires parental notification if a school plans to teach about contraception in its sex education curriculum. Fair enough: The policy is a bone thrown to proponents of abstinence-only education, and allows parents an opt-out if, for religious or other reasons, they'd prefer their kids don't get comprehensive education that might help them prevent unwanted pregnancies and slow the spread of sexually transmitted infection. Now a new bill before the state...Read More >