Fifty years ago this week, the nation celebrated a Supreme Court decision that has since had a profound impact on women’s autonomy in this country. The landmark case, Griswold v. Connecticut, legalized birth control (for married people, at least) and paved the way for all women to have control of the single most important health and financial decision she makes in her lifetime—whether and when to become pregnant.
Month: June 2015
FDA Panel Backs Female Libedo Pill With Safety Conditions
The makers of a pill intended to boost sexual desire in women will try again this week to persuade regulators that the drug warrants approval after two rejections.
First Evidence of How Parents’ Lives Could Change Children’s DNA
For the first time, scientists have discovered a mechanism in humans that could explain how your lifestyle choices may impact your children and grandchildren’s genes.
FDA to Again Consider Drug Aimed at Women’s Sexual Dysfunction
The Food and Drug Administration said that safety concerns outweighed any benefits, and, in 2013, again rejected the drug for approval.The manufacturer, Sprout Pharmaceuticals resubmitted an application for approval in February with additional safety studies.And on Thursday, an advisory committee of the FDA will again examine the risks and rewards of the drug. Their vote could influence the final FDA decision, due in August.
What the Kardashian-Jenner Family Can Teach Us About Another Political Health Issue: Infertility
Back in January 2014, the National Center for Health Statistics published a report detailing most of the three-plus decades that assisted reproductive technologies have been available in the United States. What the team found is that, despite ample evidence that reproductive challenges occur across the population at equal rates, assisted reproductive technology is overwhelmingly the territory of the well-off, the wealthy, the utterly rich and mostly, those who are white.
3 New Fertility Developments That May Make It Easier to Conceive
Fertility procedures have come a long way in the 37 years since Louise Brown, the first test-tube baby, was born. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 percent of babies born each year in the US are conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF), a process in which an egg is fertilized outside the womb and then implanted.
The Promise of Extending IUD Access to All Women Pacific Standard
Half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended. What would happen to this number if most American women had access to a form of birth control that was over 99 percent effective? From 2007-11, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis embarked on a groundbreaking study, the Contraceptive CHOICE project. The study’s goal was to examine what would happen to unintended pregnancy rates in the St. Louis area if clinical providers educated women about all of their birth control options, and offered such options for free.
3 Revolutionary Technologies that Could Make it Possible for Women to Have Babies at any Age
Women in the US are having children later in life than ever before.The average age of a mother giving birth to her first child was 26 in 2013 — a record high, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, that includes plenty of women over 35 and even some over 40.
The First Person Who Ever Saw Sperm Cells Collected Them From His Wife
It’s a bright day in 1677, in the city of Delft, and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is making love to his wife. But moments after he shudders with orgasm, he hurries out of bed to grab his microscope. After all, he’s not just spending time with his wife: he’s running an important scientific experiment at the request of the Royal Society in London.
For Women Even a Small Co-Pay For Contraception Can Be a Big Deal
On May 11 the Obama administration released updated guidance on insurance coverage of contraception. The announcement provides much-needed clarification for insurance plans regulated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).