* The doctor who tried to save the life of Neda Agha Soltan claims to have identified her killer. • Audio tapes of Silvio Berlusconi talking to escort Patrizia D'Addario have hit the Internet. In one conversation, Berlusconi tells D'Addario to wait for him in "Putin's bed." • A new book claims the Bush twins tried to lose their Secret Service detail whenever possible, and that Secret Service agents had to take a drunk Henry Hager (now Jenna's husband) to the hospital in 2005. • A witness in evangelist Tony Alamo's sex-crimes trial may have set the prosecution back by misidentifying Alamo and contradicting her own sister, allegedly one of his victims. • Researchers have found that birth control pills are less effective in obese women not because the hormones concentrate in fat tissue, but because they take longer to reach the necessary levels in the blood. • A doctor who has advised UNICEF and the World Health Organization says breast-feeding doesn't actually protect babies from disease, but that women who breast-feed tend to have healthier lifestyles. • Young British men are more likely to commit violent acts if they live with their parents, perhaps because they "have fewer responsibilities and more disposable income to spend on alcohol." • But drinking can be good for you — if it makes you pass out in a yoga position. • A House spending bill passed Thursday allows the use of local funds to pay for abortions in DC. • And Randall Terry of Operation Rescue, totally failing to learn anything from George Tiller's death, says that if the new health-care reform bill includes coverage for abortion, "history will hold those in power responsible for the violent convulsions that follow." •

When she arrives at the center with her boyfriend, the staff give Duran hot tea and paperwork — which states, in fine print, that said staff are not actual healthcare professionals. Then a "counselor" and the Director of the center take her to a "white, isolated room" where she tells them she thinks she may be pregnant. Here's what happens next:

Quite suddenly I became keenly aware of a distinct pressure being placed on me by both women. It felt like a two-on-one tag team and I was their prey. The Director kept saying I was at the right place because other clinics do not provide the same "facts" that they do about abortion. She kept calling me "sweetie," as she told me abortion just complicates matters for women. She claimed abortion causes women psychological harm and she forcefully stated that abortion would not be the right choice for me.

Then the staff tests her urine (in a Dixie cup), finds that she's not pregnant, and refuses to give her any information about birth control pills or condoms. Instead, they offer her literature on abstinence, and ask if she feels "empowered." "No," she says.

All this would be okay if the crisis pregnancy center Duran visited accurately billed itself as an anti-abortion, abstinence-only facility. Instead, its brochure offers "pregnancy options counseling," and its mission statement trumpets the "empowerment" that Duran most certainly did not feel. This center and others of its ilk feel that it's acceptable to trick women who may be in difficult situations by promising one thing and delivering another. Rather than letting women make their own decisions with all the information in front of them, they instead use subterfuge to artificially limit women's options. Clearly crisis pregnancy centers aren't very confident in the power of their anti-abortion message if they think women need to be essentially trapped into hearing it. Duran's experience reveals the deep distrust of women that exists in many sectors of the anti-abortion movement. It also exposes crisis pregnancy centers — many of which receive federal funding and referrals from campus health centers — for the dishonest and disempowering places they really are.

Exposing Fake Women's Health Clinics: My Visit to a Local Crisis Pregnancy Center [Huffington Post]

Bristol, appearing on GMA this morning, said she isn't "quite sure" how her personal experience conflicts with her new abstinence-only message. What she was sure about is that "abstinence is the only way you can effectively, 100% [...] prevent pregnancy." Is this a reversal of her earlier (and, frankly, more consistent with her own experience) position that abstinence is unrealistic? Not according to Bristol, who claimed she never said such a thing:

Bristol said her earlier words on abstinence were "taken out of context," and GMA's Chris Cuomo didn't press the issue, which is unsurprising in an interview padded with softball questions about Levi Johnston and Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impersonation. Today's Matt Lauer, who interviewed Bristol later in the morning, wasn't much better — in his sit-down with Bristol and, weirdly, her dad, he mentioned Bristol's earlier "unrealistic" statement but didn't actually ask her to explain her change of heart:

It was a little icky to watch Lauer ask Todd Palin, on the couch with his daughter and grandson, if he knew Bristol and Levi were having sex — at the same time, it was disappointing that Lauer let Todd totally sidestep the question. The weirdest part of the interview, however, was Todd and Bristol's different characterizations of Bristol's pregnancy. Bristol, holding Tripp, asked teens to "learn from my [slight pause] example." Todd went ahead and calls it a "mistake." Which goes to show that, as Lauer hinted, having a Teen Ambassador promote abstinence with her baby on her lap is kind of a strange choice. But The Candie's Foundation, whose "celebrity messages" include "Be Sexy: It Doesn't Mean You Have to Have Sex" and which counts among its spokespeople Jenny McCarthy of toilet ad and vaccine-hating fame, is no stranger to strange choices.

Update: On The Early Show, Levi Johnston disagreed with Bristol's new position, saying, "I don't just think telling young kids, you can't have sex, it's not going to work. It's not realistic."

Related: Bristol Palin Campaigns Against Teen Pregnancy [MSNBC]
The Candie's Foundation: History [Official Site]

Slaughter, who is sponsoring the act along with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado, aims to shift the focus from a "no sex, no pregnancy" mentality to a much more realistic teaching method that encourages young people to make safe, responsible choices. "We believe the amount of money that goes into [abstinence-only education] would be so much better used on things to prevent unwanted pregnancies," Slaughter says, "I think we'll have enough votes to deal with it." Currently, about 176 million dollars is spent on abstinence-only education, and studies have shown that the programs simply don't work.

The Prevention First Act would push for realistic, open education, with the mentality that teens need more that the words "don't" in order to properly prepare themselves, mentally and physically, for sexual activity. Contraception, medically accurate information, would be discussed, providing kids with realistic options. The act also seeks to improve public awareness of emergency contraception, ensure that rape victims are provided with proper information and emergency contraception options, and to force insurance companies to provide women with proper coverage regarding contraception.

According to Slaughter, a compromise, where in abstinence-only education is also offered to kids, would be unacceptable. "We can't have both, because abstinence-only doesn't work," Slaughter says.

Sarah Brown of The National Coalition to Prevent Teen And Unplanned Pregnancy agrees, and notes that in such tough economic times, the country can't afford to keep spending millions and millions of dollars on programs that have been proven to be ineffective. "In a highly constrained fiscal environment, it's critical to focus precious dollars on programs that have evidence of good effects," Brown says, "When you look at the best science, the abstinence-only programs come up short."

The Prevention First Act [NARAL]
Future Of Abstinence-Only Funding Is In Limbo [AP]
Teens Take Virginity Pledges, And Then Have Sex [Alternet]
Teen Pregnancy Rates Rise In 26 States

The latest report shows a significant increase in teen birthrate for 26 states in 2006, the most recent year for which data are available. Mississippi's birth rate soared 60 percent higher than the nation's average, with Texas and New Mexico close behind with 50 percent higher rates of pregnancy. Some experts have blamed increased federal funding for abstinence-only education, which seems like a no-brainer. This is the first significant spike in teen pregnancy in 15 years. [MSNBC & USA Today]

According to a non-profit website called The Institute For Youth Development, the state of Illinois is required by law to teach sex ed about HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, but it is not required to teach about abstinence or contraception.

Even though the junior high brass isn't budging — they have no plans to revise their abstinence-only curriculum — the girls' parents are supportive. Vic Shoemaker, Tori's dad, told reporters: "I'm realistic, I'd like to see them not do it at all before they get married, but look at all the teenagers coming up pregnant."

Controversial T-Shirts In Metro East [KMOV]
Sex Shirts Lead To Suspension[CNN]
State Sex Education Requirements [Institute For Youth Development]