All Around News Round-Up

Everyone is going nuts that Giuliani donates to Planned Parenthood. Some are asking if this means that the GOP is becoming more flexible on abortion. Certainly, in recent history the Republican party has been an outspoken critic of choice (in terms of your vagina, not the market). Nonetheless, the traditional Republican view is for a small government and self-sufficient individuals who make their own decisions. There are many Republicans who are pro-choice, just not the ones running for President (except for Giuliani).

There's other news, especially about disabled kids. The NYT has a story on pre-natal testing for Down's Syndrome. The article reports that 90% of women who are told their fetus has Down's Syndrome abort. A movement has started to de-stigmatize Down's Syndrome, and explain that children and adults with Down's can live fairly normal and productive lives.

As I posted earlier, the young girl whose parents had her physical development halted due to her severe retardation and that the surgery to sterilize and stunt Ashley was a violation of the law. (Who will be the first small-government Republican to offer "Ashely's Law" - a federal law prohibiting this type of surgery?).

It seems that the US has higher birth rates than other developed countries - even non-Hispanic white women in the US have more children than their counterparts in Canada. This article points out the fact that we have a lack of pro-natalist laws (laws that would encourage people to have kids, like paid maternity leave), but instead attributes the high birth rate to our values.

Virginia is experiencing a surge in syphilis (there is also a rise in syphilis among gay and bi men); another use for embryonic stem cells discovered;
veterans are getting paid by the government for contracting STDs while in service;
wealthy Chinese are having more than one child;

Fucked up story of the week: Hiring a hit man to kill a baby.
Also in the same article, five youths made a brief appearance in a Soweto court to face charges of raping, stabbing and stoning to death 14-year-old Thato Radebe, whose body was found on waste land.

Bush has threatened to veto any bill that loosens restrictions on abortion. Most importantly, this affects USAID funding. One of the big problems with the global gag rule is that it needlessly separates treatment. For example, a pregnant woman with HIV cannot go to a full-service women's clinic that does abortions for her health care (like a Planned Parenthood).

Slate goes over the no-"period" pill and comes to the conclusion that it will lower a woman's risk of endometrial cancer. Not ovulating also reduces the risk of ovarian cancer. The article also mentions a study that debunks the previous studies about breast feeding leading to lower rates of obesity. Slate also reviews a book on the social problems of IVF. On another site, a book about the cultural history of impotence. Speaking of Slate, there's been a lot of talk regarding Saletan, one of Slate's reporters. Also, a book review on the meaning of "virginity."

Oh, and speaking of fertility, women can freeze tissue from their ovaries to use later - this will extend her fertility. And the "designer babies" that are free from the breast cancer genes.
Male births on the decline in the US and Japan.

The economist (and the Times) talk about duck penises this week. The economist focuses on duck rape, the Times on the range of physical reproductive organs.

Kaiser tells us that the Missouri parental consent law was upheld and points us to a Reuters article on abortion in Brazil.

RHRealityCheck fills us in on everything, including that abortion clinic threat in Austin (the cops arrested a suspect), second trimester abortions in the UK, and the Advocates for Youth ad campaign lambasting ab-only ed. Similarly, I think this is old, but I saw these French HIV ads.

Women who have c-sections have future placenta problems. Texas will not require the HPV Vaccine, Muslims have their own Dr. Ruth, there are semi-identical twins, paralyzed men can father children, the British health system is going to cover a patch that boosts women's sex drives, an article on the word "slut," the Texas Senate has approved a bill that would force a woman to see an ultrasound before having an abortion (Georgia is doing the same thing), girls are being taught about their cycles, and some people are upset.

Guttmacher has it's first quarter round-up of state legislative trends with respect to abortion. Romney talks about Giuliani's position on abortion. A woman keeps her dying son on life support while the doctors fight to remove it, as allowed under Texas law (thanks to then governor George W. Bush). Guttmacher also has a report on post-partum contraceptive use in Mexico.

Remember that guy who contracted with his girlfriend to have sex with the girlfriend's daughter? He was convicted.