Tag: birth control

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Women with migraine with aura advised of contraception risk

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Certain types of modern contraception could be risky for women who have migraines with aura, a new study has found.

According to research unveiled at this year’s meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, these females are more likely to experience deep vein thrombosis and other blood clot complications. Women have therefore been urged to bear this in mind when deciding how to proceed with family planning.

Dr Shivang Joshi, a specialist at Brigham and Women’s Falkner Hospital in Boston, commented: “Women who have migraine with aura should be sure to include this information in their medical history and talk to their doctors about the possible risks of newer contraceptives, given their condition.”

The study also showed that migraine with aura is second only to high blood pressure as the biggest cause of heart attacks and strokes. Read full article.

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Oklahoma City doctor says emergency contraception not abortion

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There’s a difference between the drugs that induce a medical abortion and those used in emergency contraception, or the morning-after pill, an Oklahoma City doctor said this past week.

“Emergency contraception, first and foremost, is not an abortifacient,” Dr. Andrea Palmer, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Lakeside Women’s Hospital, said. “It is not going to dislodge or disrupt an already implanted pregnancy. It’s not something that is going to cause an implanted pregnancy to no longer be implanted or to abort.”

Whether emergency contraceptive pills can cause abortions has been a contentious fight since the pills first came onto the market.

Emergency contraceptive pills have been around since the 1970s, according to a study published in the Association for Voluntary Surgical Contraception journal. Plan B and ella are two examples of emergency contraceptive pills currently available in the U.S.  Read full article.

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Planned Parenthood goes beyond “pro-choice”

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Planned-ParenthoodWith a new campaign released today, Planned Parenthood has quietly signaled a move away from the “pro-choice” label.

The women’s health provider has long been the target of conservative chest-pounding (and budget slashing), and their latest video “Not In Her Shoes” is their first effort to get past the divisive rhetoric:

Most things in life aren’t simple. And that includes abortion. It’s personal. It can be complicated. And for many people, it’s not a black and white issue. So why do people try to label it like it is? Pro-choice? Pro-life? The truth is these labels limit the conversation and simply don’t reflect how people actually feel about abortion.

A majority of Americans believe abortion should remain safe and legal. Many just don’t use the words pro-choice. They don’t necessarily identify as pro-life either. Truth is, they just don’t want to be labeled.

What they want is for a woman to have access to safe and legal abortion, if and when she needs it. Read full article.

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Could New Skyla Intrauterine Contraception Help Women Reach for the Stars?

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IUDIt’s evident that contraception, when used correctly and consistently, helps women and couples avoid pregnancy until they’re ready to become parents. Contraception has helped millions of women (and men) stay in school, achieve personal and professional life goals, and plan for healthy pregnancies.

Now, a new contraceptive intrauterine system (IUS), Skyla, will be added to the array of options a woman can choose from to prevent pregnancy.

Skyla is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved hormonal IUS, like Mirena, but smaller. You could think of it as Mirena’s little sister—both developed by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals. Both release the progestin levonorgestrel and both are over 99 percent effective at preventing pregnancy. Unlike Mirena, Skyla contains less levonorgestrel and only lasts up to three years whereas Mirena lasts for five.

And, because Skyla is smaller, it can fit into the uterus of women who have not carried a pregnancy to term. This means that younger women, who are less likely to have given birth, have another contraceptive method to choose from.

Historically, young women have relied on birth control pills for contraception, but many have become pregnant while using them. Pills, when used consistently and correctly, are 99 percent effective but are only 91 percent effective with typical use. Skyla and other IUDs are 99 percent effective and leave little room for user error. Read full article.

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Judge rules for Domino’s Farms in contraception coverage case

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Detroit — The founder of Domino’s Pizza won’t be subject to a new federal health care law requiring contraception coverage for employees while a lawsuit he filed challenging the new mandate is pending, a judge has ruled.

U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff on Thursday granted an emergency motion by Tom Monaghan to temporarily halt the enforcement of the federal Health and Human Services mandate.

Monaghan, a devout Roman Catholic, and the Domino’s Farms Corp. sued the federal government, alleging the law violates their rights and asking the court to strike it down.

“It was the best case scenario for us,” said Erin Mersino of the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center, the lead attorney on Monaghan’s case. “It was a favorable opinion, and we are very happy for our clients.”

The lawsuit is among 11 others nationwide challenging the new mandate that became law in August.

Zatkoff’s ruling halts enforcement of the mandate against Monaghan and his property management company, of which he is the sole owner and shareholder.

Domino’s Farms Corp. manages an office complex owned by Monaghan and is not affiliated with Domino’s Pizza. Monaghan sold the pizza company in 1998.

If any of the courts rule the preventative care provision in the federal health care act is unconstitutional, it would not eliminate the law, but force Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to retool it. Read full article.

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5 Reasons Teens Need Free Access to Contraception (Just Ask the French)

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Girls between the ages of 15 and 18 in France will be able to get birth control free of charge, and without parental notification, starting in January 2013.

The free consultation and contraception, which can take place at the family doctor’s office, will be covered by the state and not a girl’s insurance, meaning that she will be protected by a further layer of privacy. By doing this, the government hopes to increase contraception use and reduce the teen pregnancy rate, which they believe is due to ignorance, taboo and a lack of access to contraception.

Under current rules, most teenagers can get absolute anonymity with a doctor, but have to pay for the visit in cash without submitting a claim to get the money back. Read full article.

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Religious organizations win, lose in contraception mandate cases

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Two church-affiliated schools scored a victory and a Christian-owned chain store was handed a costly defeat this week in their separate ongoing legal battle against the Obama administration’s contraception mandate.

On Thursday, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld a lower court ruling that denied a request by arts and crafts chain store Hobby Lobby to temporarily block enforcement of the mandate. The denial could cost the company up to $1.3 million in daily fines if it doesn’t provide a controversial contraceptive drug through its employees’ insurance plan.

That ruling comes two days after the Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., reinstated the lawsuits filed by Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina andWheaton College in Illinois and ordered the government to make good on its promise to draft new rules that could resolve the legal standoff between church-owned schools and hospitals and the Obama administration.

The ruling “turned a page here by adding a new level of supervision to hold the government responsible for the promise it made,” said Kyle Duncan, general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents the two church-affiliated schools. Read full article.

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Department of Justice: Put a hold on contraception suits

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There’s no reason to try legal challenges to the contraception mandate brought by religious employers who are now protected from it until HHS decides how it will try to accommodate them, government lawyers told federal appellate court judges Friday.

Arguing in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Department of Justice attorney Adam Jed said Health and Human Services will release a proposed rule on the contraception accommodation in the first three months of 2013 and finalize it by August before the safe-harbor protection expires. Since that rule is on the way, there is no cause for cases to move forward now, he said.

Two religious colleges, Wheaton and Belmont Abbey, are appealing lower-court rulings that dismissed their suits as premature because they are protected by their safe-harbor status.

But their attorney, Kyle Duncan, argued that the case should go forward because those provisions won’t block private lawsuits that could be brought as soon as Jan. 1 under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. He also said the contraception policy remains an affront to their First Amendment rights. Read full article.

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50 Reasons HHS Should Reverse its Decision on Emergency Contraception

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Here is a $12 billion problem we really can actually go a long way towards eliminating.

There are 62 million American women of childbearing age, 43 million of whom are “at risk” for unintended pregnancy. Women manage their fertility for an average of 30 years. “At risk”—like an unplanned pregnancy is something that just happens to you, out of your control. NOT. These pregnancies have consequences for all of us. Someone needs to introduce the Purity Bear to the $12 billion dollars worth of consequences. And that’s a conservative estimate.

Most girls and women (some of whom are part of a couple…) don’t get pregnant if they don’t want to when they have access to safe, affordable birth control, including emergency contraception. There are no medical or scientific reasons why girls and women need prescriptions for methods relevant to their needs. Just religious, shame-based ones based on stereotypes, control and fear. We should be scheduling birth control biotechnologies the way we do vaccines and they should not require prescriptions. That or we should start requiring prescriptions for condoms. Exactly how long do you think that option would fly with the Pecker Patrol?

The most obvious and immediate issue is the fact that emergency contraception, Plan B, is not available without a prescription and should be. The longer term issue is why American women are ill-informed about and therefore not using long-acting forms of reversible contraception. Read full article.

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University Of Washington Researchers Develop Dissolving Condom

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A new, discreet condom has been developed that prevents pregnancy and protects against sexually transmitted diseases by dissolving inside of the body and releasing preventative drugs after use.

Researchers at the University of Washington developed the condom from tiny microfibers where strength, solubility and shape can all be adjusted for best personal use. Published in the Public Library of Science’s “PLoS One” journal, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave the researchers nearly $1 million to pursue the new “electrospinning” technology.

The “electrospinning” method uses an electric field to charge fluid through air to create the very fine, nanometer-sized fibers.

“Our dream is to create a product women can use to protect themselves from HIV infection and unintended pregnancy,” wrote corresponding author Kim Woodrow, a UW assistant professor of bioengineering. “We have the drugs to do that. It’s really about delivering them in a way that makes them more potent, and allows a woman to want to use it.” Read full article.