• The suspects range in age from 15 to 21 and included a 17-year-old boy who turned himself in and a former Richmond High School student. Richmond, California Police Lt. Mark Gagan said, "These suspects are monsters. And, I don't understand how this many people capable of such atrocious behavior could be in one place at one time." • A lawyer for Susan Finkelstein, the Phillies fan accused of offering sex for World Series tickets, said her post on Craigslist saying she'd get "creative" with payment, "was a variation of 'will work for food.' It doesn't mean she was a prostitute.'" Attorney William Brennan denied an undercover police officer's claim that she offered him sex for tickets and added, "You're talking about a 43-year-old woman who was overcome by Phillies fever. All she was looking to do was take her husband to a World Series game. You know that Madonna movie Desperately Seeking Susan? This was Susan Desperately Seeking.'" • Edward Ates of Florida testified in court today that he couldn't have killed his son-in-law because he is too fat to commit the crime. Paul Duncsak, who was in a child custody dispute with Ates daughter, was shot in his home in 2006. Ates says he weighed 285 lbs at the time and wouldn't have had the energy needed to climb and descend the staircase where prosecutors say the killer was perched when he shot Duncsak. • A Utah judge has sentenced 21-year-old Leo Harrison to prison for accepting $150 from a pregnant girl to help her kill her fetus. Harrison was facing 21 years in prison for pleading guilty to second-degree felony attempted murder, but the judge sentenced him on a charge of third-degree "attempted killing of an unborn child" under Utah's anti-abortion statute, which means he could serve up to 20 years in prison.The woman, who gave birth to a healthy baby, pleaded no contest to second-degree felony criminal solicitation to commit murder for paying Harrison to assault her. • Using forceps if a woman is having difficulty during the "pushing" stage of labor has fallen out of favor, but a new study found that trying forceps instead of immediately performing a C-section does not raise the risks to the baby in most cases. A study of 3,200 women who had an unplanned C-section found that when cases in which there was already a problem with the fetal heart rate were excluded, the rate of complications were the same whether forceps were tried before a C-section or not. • While many Indian women are acting as surrogate mothers, more than half a million Indian women die every year due to pregnancy complications, despite government programs guaranteeing free obstetric care. According to Human Rights Watch, India is doing a poor job of monitoring how maternal health programs are implemented. UNICEF estimates that for every maternal death, there are 20 to 30 cases of other complications including obstetric fistulae, uterine prolapse, infertility, vaginal scarring, and sepsis. • A Spanish study of contraceptive use by 11,000 women from 14 European countries found that after condoms, the pill is the most popular contraceptive method. IUDs are the most popular long-acting contraceptive, but only 10% of women surveyed use them and most are over 30 years old. • Scientists at the Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante, Spain say they've figured out the secret behind Mona Lisa's smile. They say the smile depends on what cells in the retina pick up the image. Sometimes the image is transmitted to the brain on one channel and you see the smile and sometimes another channel takes over and you won't see it. • In a session on grieving during The Women's Conference in California, Maria Shriver said she's been telling people she's OK since her mother's death two months ago but, "the real truth is that I'm not fine... The real truth is that my mother's death has brought me to my knees. I had feared this my entire life... She was my hero, my role model, my very best friend. I spoke to her every single day of my life. I tried really hard when I grew up to make her proud of me." • According to a UC Irvine study, 30 percent of Americans have a gene variant that is linked to performing 20 percent worse on a driving test than people without it. Previous studies have found that in people with a BDNF gene variant, which supports communication among brain cells, a smaller portion of the brain is stimulated when doing a task than in people with a normal BDNF gene. • Check out Live Science's guide to everything you always wanted to know about constipation but were afraid to ask here. (Paging Tracie Egan.) • Accused murderer Drew Peterson is suing JP Morgan Chase because he says the company violated truth-in-lending laws by cutting off his home-equity credit line in May. He says he is now unable to post bond and pay his lawyers, and said if his accounts remain frozen he'll ask the court to approve taxpayer money to fund his defense. • Germany's Lutheran Church Margot Kaessman is one of only two women to serve as bishop in Germany's Protestant church. • Indiana University researchers studied workplace politics at an urban elementary school and found that people who are targets of gossip are negatively evaluated during formal work meetings, but gossip can be derailed by changing the subject, targeting someone else for criticism, or by pre-emptive comments that are positive. "When you're sitting in that business meeting, be attentive to when the talk drifts away from the official task at hand to people who aren't present," said sociologist Tim Hallett. "Be aware that what is going on is a form of politics... that can be a weapon to undermine people who aren't present. But it also can be a gift. If people are talking positively it can be a way to enhance someone's reputation." • Sasha and Malia Obama were given the H1N1 vaccine last week after it was made available for D.C. schoolchildren. The President and First Lady still haven't been vaccinated. • Sarah Palin has responded to Levi Johnston's claim on CBS' Early Show that she repeatedly referred to her son Trig as "retarded" saying, "Trig is our 'blessed little angel' who knows it and is lovingly called that every day of his life. Even the thought that anyone would refer to Trig by any disparaging name is sickening and sad... Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies — those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention." • Rep. Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat, says it was inappropriate for him to call Federal Reserve advisor Linda Robertson a "K Street whore." "I offer my sincere apology," Grayson said in a statement. "I did not intend to use a term that is often, and correctly, seen as disrespectful of women." • The Australian Sex Party has nominated Marianna Leishman (a.k.a. Zahra Stardust), for a December election to fill a vacant seat in the Australian House of Representatives. Leishman is a feminist writer/pole dance instructor who has worked at the United Nations and has a law degree. She said in a statement, "In an area that claims 50 years of conservative representation from white, heterosexual, able-bodied, suited, male protagonists, the Australian Sex Party is excited to provide a modern, outward looking female candidate." On her agenda is legalizing gay marriage and abortion, examining child sex abuse in religious institutions, and pushing for more sex education in schools. •

The protesters in the clip above (a longer version of which is available at Feministing) are at Family Planning Health Services in Wausau, Wisconsin, which doesn't provide abortions and is legally barred from even making referrals for them. This doesn't seem to matter to the anti-choicers lined up outside, who believe not only that emergency contraception is abortion, but apparently that all contraception should be illegal. The kid with the orange hair who thinks "condoms encourage women to be used" is pretty upsetting, but he's also very young. As he talked, I started to wonder about the adults standing around him, many with their spouses — did they really never use contraception? Then the lady in the minivan said she was pregnant with her twelfth child, and I got my answer.

It seems unlikely that all protesters affiliated with "40 Days for Life," a nationwide movement that started in Texas in 2004, are against all contraception in all circumstances. But they do have one thing in common — at least according to UPI.com, the antiabortion movement has realized that Roe V. Wade won't be overturned. So they're turning their attention elsewhere — to government funding for abortion, and, apparently, to family planning clinics that don't even do abortions. William Saletan says the antiabortion movement is now "playing defense." But their tactics — including harassing patients arriving at the Wausau clinic to pick up prescriptions — are pretty offensive.

Anti-Abortionists Begin '40 Days For Life' [UPI.com]
For Some, Pro-Life Also Means Anti-Contraception [Feministing]

When Klonick felt done with the Pill for a variety of reasons, she, too, went shopping for something that would give her equal contraceptive control with as little hassle as possible.

That was my question when, after eight years and more than a dozen different incarnations of oral contraceptives, I decided to go back to the drawing board. I had never been good at taking the pill every day, and while my doctor suggested the patch and the ring, both were still under patent, making them more expensive than my monthly grocery bill. I needed something cheap, un-mess-up-able, and, ideally, hormone-free. So I did what any modern girl would do: I Googled. And thus began my research into the IUD and its mercurial history in the U.S. market.

Notably, her gynecologist didn't suggest an IUD — a relatively common experience for childless women our age. One reason is its association with infertility, stemming from a specific device no longer on the market and a lack of STD testing protocols prior to insertion."The major reason why women in the United States aren't using IUDs and doctors aren't recommending them is due to the erroneous belief that they're highly dangerous," says Dr. Katharine O'Connell, a gynecologist at Columbia University who specializes in contraception.

Many in my mother's generation remember the IUD's heyday, when the contraceptive was linked to the horrors of pelvic infection, hysterectomy, and possible death. That negative rap stems from a particular device known as the Dalkon Shield. Heavily marketed in the early 1970s, it was the most popular model in the United States until a number of deaths from septic miscarriages caused the manufacturer to halt sales.

A study at the time linked the shield and other IUDs to pelvic inflammatory disease, and lawsuits were promptly filed.

But, Klonick points out, research since (as well as the experience of women in other countries) has shown those beliefs to be invalid.

Eventually, stateside science caught up to the IUD witch hunt. In the early 1990s, a study in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology challenged the validity of the research that had condemned the IUD. It's now generally understood that the problems in the 1970s were due largely to the Dalkon Shield's faulty design, which made users more susceptible to infection, as well as a lack of testing for sexually transmitted diseases before insertion, says O'Connell.

One thing Klonick doesn't mention — though it's important, as it comes up often at my gynecological exams — is that routine STD-testing, rigorous condom use (outside of a committed monogamous and STD-tested relationship) is still important for IUD users, as there is evidence that women with IUDs who contract (or have) particularly chlamydia are at increased risk for Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, which can cause infertility. This, too, is one reason that gynecologists often don't recommend IUDs for women outside of monogamous relationships.

On top of that, as with too many women's health issues, medical schools seemingly ignore teaching students about IUDs.

Many medical schools limit their classes on contraception to one lecture, says O'Connell, leaving insertion and removal of an IUD to be taught during rotation, if it's taught at all.

This lack of training can leave many doctors feeling uncomfortable recommending the once-controversial devices to their patients, which might explain why only 58 percent of family-planning clinics in the United States offer the IUD.

Some doctors are also not keen to recommend IUDs to patients who've never had children, in case they are unknowingly infertile and might later sue alleging their infertility is the fault of the doctor and the IUD.

Certain doctors who do know how to insert and remove an IUD still refuse to recommend it to childless patients because of the device's checkered history.I experienced this with the first two doctors I visited. Though recent scholarship shows that the risk of an IUD creating infertility is almost nonexistent, some doctors prefer to insert them in patients already known to be fertile-so the IUD (and the doctor) can't be blamed for any future infertility.

Although my gynecologist at the time I chose an IUD was both knowledgeable and willing to provide me with one (possibly due to her medical training outside of the United States), we actually drew up and notarized an agreement that if I did later turn out to be infertile, I wouldn't sue her — without it, she would not have agreed to do the procedure.

While Klonick may have had an easy insertion — she doesn't say — she brings up the discomfort only in passing.

Though the insertion hurt and her periods were heavier and more crampy for a few months afterward, she describes it as a "very small price to pay for the peace of mind, money, and time" she saves with the IUD.

While I agree with the sentiment that it was worth it, I would like to highlight something: having the IUD inserted was exceedingly unpleasant. If you are squeamish about your vagina or your cervix (you have to check for the presence of the string once a month), or you are a wimp about pain and discomfort or pain or discomfort in your genitals is triggering to you in some way, having an IUD put in might not be a good idea for you (despite it being good for Klonick, her friend and I).

The Best Birth Control [Slate]

Related: Appropriate Use of the Intrauterine Device [American Academy of Family Physicians]

Earlier: My IUD: How I Learned To Stop Pill-Popping & Love My Cramps

[Image via Liz Henry]

That rate of Latinas who get pregnant in their teens, by the way, is 53%, which is more than twice the national average. But lest one think — as, undoubtedly, some right-wing commentator will comment — that this is what they all want, it's important to note that their ambitions (and those of their parents) look much like the rest of America's.

The survey also found that 84 percent of Latino teens and 91 percent of Latino parents believe that graduating from college or university or having a promising career is the most important goal for a teen's future.

So where is the disconnect coming from? The survey hints that it stems, in part, from conflicting messages about sex and contraception.

Although nearly half of the Latino teens surveyed said their parents influenced their decisions about sex, and three-quarters had gotten The Talk, only half of those that got the talk heard anything about contraception. The survey had two other interesting results.

The survey also found that:

• 74 percent of Latino teens believe that parents send one message about sex to their sons and a different message altogether to their daughters, possibly related to the Latino value of machismo.
• Latino teens believe that the most common reason teens do not use contraception is that they are afraid their parents might find out.

They don't want their parents to know they've sexually active... so they eschew contraception and, instead, risk pregnancy. Somehow, I'm guessing those "birds and the bees" talks are less than comprehensive in areas other than strictly comprehension.

Survey Delves Into High Birth Rate For Young Latinas [CNN]

It seems no matter how you advertise the morning after pill (or how many times it's explained that it's not the abortion pill) conservative groups are going to freak out, at least as evidenced by this Plan B commercial.

The reasons we like the commercial, which AdRants spotted, are probably the same reasons that parents were disturbed. The animated ad shows a woman waking up with a loser musician boy and the words, "the 'condom split' one" flash on the screen. While riding the bus with a screaming baby, the woman thinks, "the 'I'm not ready for that' one." Upon arriving at the pharmacy, the woman is greeted by a sassy bespecled woman who gladly sells her, "the 'only over the counter' one," Levonelle One Step.

Brand Republic reports that one mom complained, "This trivialises a very important issue. Something as important as pregnancy should not be devalued for profit." It's true that the pink-toned animation makes the situation less horrifying than in some other unplanned-pregnancy related ads, and we're not sure what's up with the chirpy song with the lyrics, "no way to explain it, nothing I could say." But, for a 30 second commercial, the fact that the woman is troubled by the possibility that she's pregnant and her reasons for not wanting a child are pretty clear: the condom broke, her partner is flakey, and she knows she's not capable of caring for a fussy baby.

One father said, "Even though it was shown after 9pm my teenage daughters were watching. The worst thing is it makes it seem normal to go and get this pill. We've crossed a moral line with this." Apparently knowing about the existence of this legal form of contraception, and that a pharmacist should sell it to you over the counter with no judgment, is encouraging Britain's teen girls to have wanton protected sex with grody rockers. If the dad is really that concerned, he could always talk to his girls about his feelings on safe sex and abstinence. But, it's probably better that they don't have that talk, thus increasing the chances that his daughter will bring home that sketchy dude and tell dad he's "the one."

It's Not Prince Charming You Need; It's A Really Good Plan B. [AdRants]
'Moral Line Crossed' As Parents Jam Phones With Morning-After Pill Complaints [Brand Republic]

Earlier: Plan B's Advertising Pleases Us, Pisses Off Conservatives

The study, which was published in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, followed 1,045 healthy Chinese men between the ages of 20 and 45, according to EurekAlert. Every man had fathered a child in the two years before the study and their female partners did not have fertility problems.

For thirty months, the men were injected with 500mg of testosterone undecanoate in tea seed oil once a month. The treatment was 99 percent effective at preventing pregnancy, and after the study ended all but two of the men had their fertility levels return to normal.

"For couples who can not, or prefer not to use only female-oriented contraception, options have been limited to vasectomy, condom and withdrawal," said Dr. Yi-Qun Gu, MD, of the National Research Institute for Family Planning in Beijing, China. "Our study shows a male hormonal contraceptive regimen may be a potential, novel and workable alternative."Gu said more testing was needed to determine the long-term effects of the injections on men's hearts and prostate glands, reports The Telegraph.

Scientists have been trying to develop a male Pill for almost two decades, but progress has been slow. Last month, in a study published in American Journal of Human Genetics, researchers said they had identified a gene called CATSPER1 that allows sperm cells to dig into the egg to fertilize it, according to iT Wire. Scientists theorized that a drug that targeted healthy versions of the gene could lead to an effective male Pill. However, large pharmaceutical companies have been reluctant to perform large trials and many people believe that women wouldn't trust men to take the pill.

Injectable Testosterone May Provide Effective Male Contraception [EurekAlert]
Hopes For A 'Male Pill' Could Be Resurrected [The Telegraph]
Male Birth Control Pill Closer With CATSPER1 [iTWire]

Earlier: Would You Trust A Guy Who Said, "It's OK, I'm On The Pill?"
Why Is There No Sperm-Killing Birth Control Pill?

Taylor caught conservative Robert Stacy McCain mid-masturbatory fantasy envisioning the consequences of a world in which a 17-year-old woman can get Plan B without a prescription:

Plan B - the drug that allows guys to breathe a sigh of relief the morning after using some chick for selfish pleasure-will now be available to 17-year-olds without a prescription.

Who cares that she's not even old enough to buy a pack of cigarettes legally? Get her drunk on wine coolers, get what you want, then the next morning, take her to CVS to get Plan B and make sure there's no chance the slut will show up in a few months talking child support payments and DNA tests.

So guys, if you screw a 17-year-old and "forget" to use a condom, remember: Nothing says "thanks a lot, you cheap whore" like the gift of Plan B!

Gross. In Robert Stacy McCain's world, women (and certainly those of the age of 17) have no sexual autonomy and the men who engage in sexual intercourse with them have no interest in them as people, no feelings for them as partners and no thought of protecting them (or themselves). On behalf of my high school boyfriend, fuck this guy.

Taylor's response, I'll admit, is somewhat more eloquent than mine.

While I'm never one to say inflammatory things, it seems that part of the reason that some women get abortions (which Plan B is not, mind you) is because of the overwhelming and disproportionate social shaming that comes with getting pregnant the "wrong" way. Women as baby-carriers must be virtuous, pure; to interfere with that image is to abandon their responsibility of stopping Raging Penis Monsters from getting in their panties. It turns a biological state into an ethical duty in the worst manner possible, either making a woman a bitch who ain't shit but a ho and/or trick, or into a shining Republican Christian beacon of responsible fertility and excellence in leadership, potentially up for Regional Vagina Manager of the Year.

Taylor hits the nail on the head. In the eyes of many Republicans, women who mistakenly get pregnant are stupid whores or out for the cash money (see also: welfare queens and pregnant teenagers) and those who "successfully" manage their fertility by not engaging in too much sex or contraception are to be commended.

Luckily, for the drunken 17-year-old sluts of Mr. McCain's fantasies, today's Onion presents Plan C.

Reduces the chance of aborting pregnancy after unprotected sex (i.e., if a regular birth control method succeeds and you have a sudden dramatic change of heart). Not intended to replace responsible choices in life.

It's always scary when The Onion's parodies sound a little too similar to real Republican ideas.

A Little Bit Weird About Sex, Just Saying [Pandagon]
Morning After Morning After Pill Re-Impregnates Guilt-Ridden Women [The Onion]

The price of birth control at family planning clinics and college health centers shot up following the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, a federal law designed to save taxpayers money on Medicaid reimbursements for drugs reports U.S. News and World Report. The bill dissuaded drug companies from offering discounts to clinics, and for the past two years many women have been paying up to 10 times more each month for contraception.

Most clinics began offering cheaper generic versions of birth control pills, but there's no generic version of NuvaRing or the patch. Some colleges stopped offering hormonal contraceptives because they could not afford to keep a supply.

The "Affordable Birth Control Act," which was passed by the Senate earlier this week, was signed into law as part of the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. It allows pharmaceutical companies to offer the discounts again at no cost to taxpayers, but there's no guarantee that they will reduce their prices. When asked if it would cut prices, a spokeswoman for Schering-Plough, which makes NuvaRing, said, "We're looking into it. It's something we would definitely like to support." Even if companies do decide to offer discounts again, the cheaper birth control probably won't be available to students until next year because clinics still need to renegotiate their contracts with drug companies and sell off their old supplies.

Planned Parenthood issued a statement praising Congress for passing the bill, saying, "We applaud Congress for righting a wrong that has restricted access to basic but critical preventive health care services, and left millions of women at risk of unintended pregnancy." Planned Parenthood and several other women's health groups have been lobbying Congress to reverse the 2005 bill, organizing petition drives and meeting with members of Congress.

As part of the campaign, Planned Parenthood organized a meeting between Senator Harry Reid and Nonie Wainwright, a University of Nevada graduate affected by the bill. Wainwright wrote a blog post last week about the meeting, saying, "It was a little intimidating to talk to a U.S. senator about birth control, but Sen. Reid was great." Wainwright explained that, in addition to preventing pregnancy, as a competitive swimmer, birth control helps her regulate her cycle and compete year round. In 2006 her monthly prescription went from $15 a month to $50. "I recall having to decide between paying for groceries or for birth control - decisions no male athlete would ever have to make," she said.

Cheap Birth Control (Once Again) For College Women [U.S. News And World Report]
Spending Bill Reduces Cost Of Birth Control Pills On Campus [U.S. News and World Report]
Planned Parenthood Press Release [Planned Parenthood]
Nonie Wainwright's Blog [RH Reality Check]

The study, which was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, followed 703 women using depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DPMA), oral contraception (desogestrel), or nonhormonal contraception (bilateral tubal ligation, condom or abstinence) for three years. DPMA users who switched to another method were followed for an additional two years. After analyzing the subjects' body weight and body mass, researchers found that DMPA users were more than twice as likely as the other women to become obese. "One concern is DMPA's link to increased abdominal fat, a known component of metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes," said lead author Abbey Berenson, M.D. The amount of weight gain on DMPA did slow down over time. Users of the shot who switched to non-hormonal control lost nearly four pounds over the next two years, but those who switched to oral contraception gained an additional four pounds. [EurekAlert]

[Image via Flickr.]

No, for real, Slaughter's Prevention First Act which may actually see the President's desk this year is utterly shocking for what it proposes in this area:

(a) In General- The Secretary of Health and Human Services may make grants to eligible States to conduct sex education programs, including programs that provide education on both abstinence and contraception for the prevention of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

(b) Requirements for Sex Education Programs- For purposes of this title, a sex education program is a program that—

(1) is age-appropriate and medically accurate;

(2) stresses the value of abstinence while not ignoring those young people who have had or are having sexual intercourse;

(3) provides information about the health benefits and side effects of all contraceptive and barrier methods used—

(A) as a means to prevent pregnancy; and

(B) to reduce the risk of contracting sexually transmitted disease, including HIV/AIDS;

(4) encourages family communication between parent and child about sexuality;

(5) teaches young people the skills to make responsible decisions about sexuality, including how to avoid unwanted verbal, physical, and sexual advances and how to avoid making verbal, physical, and sexual advances that are not wanted by the other party;

(6) teaches young people how alcohol and drug use can affect responsible decision making; and

(7) does not teach or promote religion;

(c) Additional Activities- In carrying out a program of sex education, a State may expend a grant under subsection (a) to carry out educational and motivational activities that help young people—

(1) gain knowledge about the physical, emotional, biological, and hormonal changes of adolescence and subsequent stages of human maturation;

(2) develop the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure and protect their sexual and reproductive health from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease, including HIV/AIDS throughout their lifespan;

(3) gain knowledge about the specific involvement and responsibility of males in sexual decision making;

(4) develop healthy attitudes and values about adolescent growth and development, body image, racial and ethnic diversity, and other related subjects;

(5) develop and practice healthy life skills, including goal-setting, decision making, negotiation, communication, and stress management;

(6) develop healthy relationships, including skills to prevent dating and sexual violence;

(7) promote self-esteem and positive interpersonal skills focusing on relationship dynamics, including friendships, dating, romantic involvement, marriage and family interactions; and

(8) prepare for the adult world by focusing on educational and career success, including developing skills for employment, job seeking, independent living, financial self-sufficiency, and workplace productivity.

The damnable liberals are seeking to pass a law that requires states give medically accurate information to kids! That acknowledges abstinence! That teaches that men and boys have responsibilities to not pressure women and girls! That encourages parental involvement! That doesn't promote religion! It's like they're trying to destroy the very fabric of our society!

[Use this page to email your Congress member about H.R. 463 and this page to email your Senators about Harry Reid's companion bill, S. 21.]

Just Say No [The Economist]

Related: H.R. 463: The Prevention First Act of 2009 [Library of Congress]
S. 21: The Prevention First Act [Library of Congress]

Berrill writes that "feminists who grew up in the 1960s have more recently claimed that it was a "misogynist tyrant in disguise", urging women to be ever more available for male pleasure, and pumping their bodies full of chemicals." It's not a new argument (and, to be clear, it's not Berrill's), but it does imply that men are the ones who enjoy sex, while women just want to cuddle and hold hands until they're ready to make babies.

Things get stranger when Berrill discusses the Pill's effect on women's sexuality. He writes:

Young single women have always had sex – statistics show that in 1875, 40 per cent of brides were pregnant on their wedding day. What changed with the advent of the Pill was that they were able to enjoy sex for the first time.

Uh, what? This is almost as silly as Ali G's claim that "people has been reading books for millions of years, but thanks to new technology, now they is able to write them as well." Sure, lessening the fear of pregnancy helps many women enjoy sex more than they would have otherwise. But we weren't aware that no woman had ever liked sex until 1961!

Berrill says the consequences of the Pill include "delayed childbearing, the huge increase in women going out to work, an obsession with perfect sex, and the rise in infertility have led some to question whether it has increased or diminished human happiness." It's debatable whether the Pill has turned us into a society of sex-perfectionists — or whether it has really led to lower fertility except where it was, um, supposed to. But the Pill has affected women's sex lives, both by letting them control their reproduction and, possibly, by lowering their libidos. So has the Pill made humanity happier? Or have its side effects outweighed its benefits?

How Britain Learnt To Love The Pill [The Independent]

Just to refresh everyone's memory, here is what the leaked memo said: "The Department proposes to define abortion as 'any of the various procedures — including the prescription and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action — that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation.'"

Leavitt doesn't refute the idea that this is what the Bush Administration's HHS department believes, he merely says, in a blog post on the HHS website, that "the issue I asked to be addressed in this regulation is not abortion or contraceptives." He prefaces that with the sentence, "The Bush Administration has consistently supported the unborn." That reminds me of Beetlejuice when they continuously refer to the "undead," as a race of people. His language is appalling. He's calling them "unborn" like you'd refer to "the Jews" or "the Chinese." They're a bunch of frickin cells, dude. They're not a group of people.

Leavitt wants to ensure that medical practitioners have the right "to practice according to their conscience, and patients should be able to choose a doctor who has beliefs like his or hers." I made a similar point with the original post on the HHS memo, but what if I were diabetic and all the doctors at the hospital in my small town thought that giving me insulin was disrupting God's plan for me? The same thing can go for birth control, because, as many Jezebel commenters pointed out, birth control has many non-sex-related uses, like regulating fibroids.

Katha Pollitt put in her two cents on the Bush administration's "Stealth Assault On Reproductive Rights" on the Nation's website earlier this week. Mike Leavitt's "respect for moral beliefs only goes one way. A Catholic hospital has no corresponding obligation to hire pro-choice workers or accommodate their moral beliefs by permitting them to offer emergency contraception to rape victims or hand out condoms to the HIV positive," Pollitt raged. "A 'crisis pregnancy center' would not have to hire pro-choice counselors who would tell women that abortion would not really give them breast cancer or leave them sterile. Only anti-choicers, apparently, have moral beliefs that entitle them to jobs they refuse to actually perform."

Pollitt provides a link to more info and how to help make sure our reproductive rights are upheld, and I'll do the same. Also provided with this post is a picture of Mike Leavitt's thin-lipped, smug little face, (above) so that you can fantasize about kicking him in the nards. That's one kind of religiously sanctioned birth control I can get behind!

HHS Chief Denies New Rule To Attack Contraception [Reuters]
Stealth Assault On Reproductive Rights [The Nation]
Fight Bush's Proposed Anti-Birth Control Regulations! [Reproductive Health Reality check]

Earlier: Bush Administration Memo Tries To Define Birth Control As Abortion

• Also awesome: Wallace and Gromit will appear in a new video game by Telltale Games, in which players can pilot either Wallace or Gromit through "zany entrepreneurial schemes." "We're certainly going for the clay look with this," says Telltale Games CEO. • Barred from competing in 1950 on suspicion of being a man, Dutch track star Foekje Dillema was actually a very rare "mosaic" of female and male chromosomes. • Over 50 dissident Catholic groups signed a letter to the Pope asking him to reconsider Catholicism's contraception ban. Vatican's response: this is ""paid propaganda in favor of the use of contraceptives." • Her mom called her "plain," and Meryl Streep overshadowed her in drama school, but Sigourney Weaver still grew up to be "the first woman action hero" and to give this funny, articulate interview to the Telegraph. • If you put all your money in Crocs, you're in trouble: shares of the company plummeted today. One doomsayer predicts that "with the weak economy, consumers may not be interested in new Crocs this year.'' Hey, a girl can hope! • Sound of Music news: Baron von Trapp's daughter Maria returns to her old family home for the first time since she fled the Nazis in the '30s. Of the movie, she says: all that singing really happened, but her dad was way nicer than Christopher Plummer. • Fewer men are attending church these days, prompting churches to organize 'beast feasts,' where men eat meat they hunted themselves. If they're Catholic, maybe they'd prefer some condoms. •