Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health articles from January 2003

Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health archives from January 2003

Cairo agreement stands, despite U.S. opposition. (F Y I).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... At a conference held in Bangkok in December 2002 to develop ways to implement the program of action adopted in Cairo at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, Asian and European delegations overwhelmingly rejected U.S....

Government for the people. (F Y I).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... With Japan's total fertility rate below replacement level, women marrying later than they did in the past or not at all, and the population rapidly aging and shrinking, the government has taken innovative steps to avoid demographic disaster....

Is sex depressing? (F Y I).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Massachusetts teenagers surveyed in 1992 were more likely to be stressed or depressed if they were sexually active and did not use contraceptives than if they were not having sex. (1) Some 35% of youth in a statewide sample of 2,224 ninth and...

What the British don't know could hurt them. (F Y I).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A third of 18-24-year-old men and women in the United Kingdom believe that HIV is curable, according to results of a survey by the leading HIV/AIDS charity there. (1) With the number of HIV diagnoses in their country climbing annually, nearly...

Another early abortion option. (F Y I).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Many clinicians do not perform surgical abortions during the first six weeks of pregnancy because research in the 1970s documented a higher failure rate at that early stage than later in the first trimester. However, evidence from three Planned...

Going to the chapel. (F Y I).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... After declining steadily for decades, the number of 15-19-year-olds in the United States who are married rose sharply between 1990 and 2000--from 598,000 to 891,000. (1) The proportion of teenagers who are married is small (5%), but it, too,...

Need information? Don't ask the government (F Y I).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... There was a time when anyone who wanted information on the association between abortion and breast cancer risk (the latest evidence suggests that there is none) or effective ways to reduce teenagers' levels of sexual activity could find that...

New cervical cancer screening guidelines. (F Y I).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The American Cancer Society has issued new guidelines on who should be tested for cervical cancer and how frequently. (1) The society recommends that screening begin about three years after a woman becomes sexually active or, to ensure that...

Catholic hospitals offer limited access to emergency pills. (F Y I).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Only 5% of Catholic hospital emergency rooms provide emergency contraceptive pills to any woman who requests them, and 55% do not provide the method under any circumstances, according to results of a survey conducted in August 2002. (1) Nearly...

Abortion incidence and services in the United States in 2000. (Articles).
January 1, 2003... Induced abortion, one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in the United States, is experienced by a substantial proportion of American women. More than one-fifth of all pregnancies end in abortion, (1) a reflection of the fact...

The accessibility of abortion services in the United States, 2001. (Articles).
January 1, 2003... Unintended pregnancies and induced abortions are common and occur among women of all social and economic groups. (1) Yet the availability and accessibility of abortion services have long been a concern for reproductive health professionals, as...

The public health impact of legal abortion: 30 years later. (Comment).
January 1, 2003... Before the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, data on abortion in the United States were scarce. In 1955, experts had estimated, on the basis of qualitative assumptions, that 200,000-1,200,000 illegal abortions were performed each year. (1) Despite...

Roe v. Wade at 30: what are the prospects for abortion provision? (Viewpoints).
January 1, 2003... At the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, it is time for the inevitable stocktaking by the prochoice movement. But rather than celebrating such a landmark anniversary, many in the movement appear grimly relieved that abortion is still legal at...

Reflections of a provider before and since Roe: from the Voices of Choice archive. (Viewpoints).
January 1, 2003... Voices of Choice: Physicians Who Provided Abortions Prior to Roe v. Wade is a multimedia project documenting the experiences of U.S. physicians who provided illegal and legal abortions before Roe v. Wade. It was created by Physicians for...

Abortion: teaching why as well as how. (Viewpoints).
January 1, 2003... As clinicians, scientists and educators, we are not accustomed to talking about our values and the spiritual aspects of what we do--particularly as regards offering and teaching about abortion care. Many of us feel shy about expressing personal...

Beyond apocalypse and apology: a moral defense of abortion. (Viewpoints).
January 1, 2003... The movement to preserve and advance reproductive freedom is suffering the consequences of a great victory. The establishment of the constitutional right to abortion in Roe v. Wade was a monumental step that changed the lives of American women....

Convincing new providers to offer medical abortion: what will it take? (Viewpoints).
January 1, 2003... Less than one year after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Mifeprex (mifepristone), commonly known as the "abortion pill," an article in the Los Angeles Times (1) predicted a bleak future for the drug in the United States. The...

Improving women's sexual assertiveness. (Letters).
January 1, 2003... I was very interested in the article by Vaughn I. Rickert and colleagues, "Is Lack of Sexual Assertiveness Among Adolescent and Young Adult Women a Cause for Concern?" [2002, 34(4): 178-183]. This question could get to the heart of challenges...

Timing, amount of teenage alcohol or marijuana use may make future risky sex more likely. (Digests).
January 1, 2003... Specific patterns of substance use during adolescence can predict risky sexual behavior in young adulthood. Researchers in Seattle base this conclusion on their analysis of data from a longitudinal study of urban youths. (1) For example,...

Complication rate is lower for surgical than medical second-trimester abortion. (Digests).
January 1, 2003... Dilation and evacuation (D&E) is safer than medical abortion for second-trimester pregnancy termination, and among medical methods, misoprostol is safer than others. (1) A retrospective cohort study of women who had a second-trimester abortion...

High proportions of college men using condoms report errors and problems. (Digests).
January 1, 2003... Errors and problems associated with condom use are common among single, male college students, a cross-sectional survey shows. (1) Sizable proportions of college men who had used condoms in the three months before the survey reported that they...

Despite having received relevant education, youth lack knowledge of STDs. (Digests).
January 1, 2003... Adolescents lack specific knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) other than HIV, even if they have received relevant sexuality education. (1) Nearly all adolescents (97%) canvassed in waiting areas at an urban pediatric hospital...

Youngest mothers' infants have greatly elevated risk of dying by age one. (Digests).
January 1, 2003... Healthy infants who survive their first month of life and who are born to adolescent mothers are at greater risk of dying within their first year than are comparable infants whose mothers are aged 23-29. (1) National data for 1996 and 1997...

Contraceptive ring found safe, effective; most users would recommend it. (Digests).
January 1, 2003... A self-administered monthly vaginal ring (NuvaRing) is an effective and reliable combined hormonal contraceptive that is well tolerated and accepted by users, according to a study by its manufacturer. (1) During the yearlong study, involving...

Availability of emergency contraception through student health centers is growing, but gaps remain. (Digests).
January 1, 2003... Obtaining emergency contraception on college and university campuses may be getting easier, but the method is still not universally available on campus, according to results of a 1999 survey of student health centers. (1) Half of participating...

Mothers exert more influence on timing of first intercourse among daughters than among sons. (Digests).
January 1, 2003... Mothers' influence on when their children initiate sexual intercourse appears to be greater for daughters than for sons, according to an analysis of longitudinal data from matched pairs of adolescents and their mothers. (1) Five maternal...

Pill use protects against ovarian cancer; hormone therapy increase risk. (Digests).
January 1, 2003... Oral contraceptive use provides clear, long-term protection against epithelial ovarian cancer, according to results from a Swedish case-control study. (1) Analyses contrasting 655 women with ovarian cancer and 3,899 controls revealed that...