Kaiser Updates

A Chinese official on Thursday denied that forced late-term abortions are common in the country and said that the country is against the practice, the AFP/Today Online reports. China's Vice Health Minister Jiang Zuojun at a news conference said, "Regarding the abortion of eight-month-old fetuses, this is definitely something the Chinese government is opposed to," adding, "We do not allow the abortion of elderly fetuses, such as eight-month fetuses. ... Even if there are such cases, they are isolated cases." The policy seeks to keep the country's population -- now 1.3 billion -- at around 1.7 billion by 2050. Ethnic minorities and farmers are the only groups legally exempt from the rule. Imprisoned Human Rights activist Chen recorded testimony from men and women in communities in and around China's Linyi province who have experienced forced abortions and sterilizations, as well as had family members captured and tortured after they tried to hide or run from authorities. He was attempting to bring a class-action lawsuit against the Chinese government for alleged human rights abuses associated with the enforcement. Chen in September 2005 was placed under house arrest for speaking with journalists, government officials and other advocates about the one-child policy. Chinese police formally arrested Chen in June for his attempts to challenge the policy. Jiang said, "We need to continue to pursue the national family planning policy," adding that it had prevented about 300 million births.

The Illinois Legislature's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules on Tuesday approved a rule that would require each of Illinois' 2,700 pharmacies to post a sign informing customers that pharmacists are required to dispense prescriptions for emergency contraception, the AP/Belleville News Democrat reports. Another rule, which was proposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) and approved in August 2005 by the joint committee, requires pharmacies to dispense EC if they stock any FDA-approved contraceptive or risk losing their licenses. If any prescribed contraceptive is out of stock, pharmacies must provide an alternative, order the drug, make arrangements for another local pharmacy to fill the order or return the prescription to the customer. The rule allows pharmacies to opt not to sell any contraceptives. The signs that will be hung in accordance with the new rule will include information on the state's EC-related policies, as well as a toll-free phone number and a state Web site where people can file complaints and obtain more information on the state's policies, the Chicago Tribune reports. The Web site links to a letter addressed to "Illinois women" from Blagojevich, in which he promotes his efforts to increase access to contraceptives and his prescription drug coverage plan, I-SaveRx. "Women will now be armed with the information they need to make sure that pharmacies are respecting their right to get the medication their doctors prescribe for them," Blagojevich said in a statement.

Latino adolescents who are given a culturally specific HIV prevention and sex education course are less likely to have intercourse and more likely to use condoms than Latinos who do not receive the course, according to a study published in the August 2006 issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, CQ HealthBeat reports. More than 85% of the participants in the study -- which was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research -- were Puerto Rican, nearly 50% were not born in the mainland U.S., and more than 40% reported having sexual intercourse at least once (NIH release, 8/7).

The proportion of U.S. teenagers who are sexually experienced has decreased "significantly," while condom use has increased, according to a report published in the Aug. 11 edition of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the Washington Times reports. Nancy Brener of CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health and colleagues used data from eight national Youth Risk Behavior Surveys conducted by CDC. The report finds that the proportion of high school students who are sexually experienced decreased by 13% from 1991 to 2005. The researchers also found that the proportion of respondents who had four or more sexual partners had decreased by 24%. In addition, the report finds that among sexually active students, condom use during their most recent sexual act increased by 36% from 46.2% in 1991 to 62.8% in 2005. The researchers also found that the proportion of black teens who are sexually experienced decreased from 81.4% in 1991 to 60.8% in 2001 but has "leveled off" at 67.6% in 2005. "Efforts need to be intensified among black students, who are more likely than white and Hispanic students to report HIV-related sexual risk behaviors," according to a CDC release. The prevalence of sexual experience among Latino students did not significantly decrease between 1991 and 2005, the report finds. The report finds that in 1991, 53.1% of Latino teens reported ever having had sexual intercourse, compared with 51.0% in 2005. In 1991, 16.8% of Latino teens reported having had more than four sexual partners compared with 15.9 in 2005, according to the report.

The XVI International AIDS Conference program is available online.
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The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 4-3 that two Planned Parenthood affiliates are not required to repay $918,000 in state family planning grants that violated a state prohibition on funding for affiliates of abortion providers, the AP/Kansas City Star reports. The state Supreme Court in April heard arguments in an appeal of a lower court ruling that required the Planned Parenthood affiliates to repay the grants. In the case, Missouri resident Daniel Shipley said that $668,850 in family planning grants for fiscal years 2000 and 2003 given to Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region violated a state law that prohibits any state money from going to groups that provide abortion services. The law also bans state funding for any organization with shared resources or a name similar to that of an abortion provider. In 2004, the state Legislature voted to stop all funding of family planning grants.