A new report from the Brookings Institute, an influential Washington think tank, confirms what we all know: there's a direct link between family planning and income. The study found, "low-income women are less likely to use contraception and are less likely to have an abortion once pregnant."

When Tampa, Florida nurse Sara Hellwege applied for a job at a local family planning clinic, she matter-of-factly informed her potential employers that she would not be prescribing any hormonal contraception. When the clinic didn't hire her because prescribing birth control was part of the job, she responded by suing.…

Earlier this week, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for a population increase, sharing a 14-point plan dedicated to combating the country's declining birth rate. Critics worry that this move could restrict access to contraception and harm women's rights.

Access to free birth control leads to lower rates of abortions and teen births, according to a new and extensive study from Washington University in St. Louis. (Well, the study is new, but the information is older than Antonin Scalia — we'll get to that in a second.)

A new study confirms the obvious: women use contraception to better achieve their life goals, not because they're lazy, godless sluts.

Cryptozoologists around the world are buzzing with excitement over the discovery of a thought-to-be extinct creature in the Midwestern state of Illinois: a Republican who supports funding Planned Parenthood. In fact, freshman Republican Congressman Bob Dold of Illinois supports Planned Parenthood and reproductive…

Remember yesterday when a federal court ruled that Texas's law designed to exclude Planned Parenthood from its Women's Health Program was unconstitutional? And remember how we were all like, Yay! Good news! Well, turn that upside down frown back upside down — the state of Texas has filed and been granted an emergency…

A new medical study indicates that it's safe for a woman to have an IUD inserted immediately after an abortion or miscarriage. Researchers say it could prevent more than 70,000 unintended pregnancies annually, but there's a non-medical reason that isn't happening: The Hyde Amendment.

In November, experts advising the U.S. government will get together over coffee and muffins to discuss what sorts of birth control should be provided for free under the "ObamaCare" health reform bill. But first: the obligatory fight over morality.

A new blood test that could accurately predict when women will enter menopause may offer new information — but it's not going to solve all of women's family-planning problems.

The birth-control pill is approaching its 50th anniversary, so let's take a moment to reflect on how it's helped with family planning — and how it's also allowed us to maybe wait too long to get started on that stuff.

Among couples who say it's "important" to avoid getting pregnant right now, 43% of men and only 20% of women would be "pleased" with an unplanned pregnancy. Maybe because "unexpected pregnancies tend to put us ladies out a touch." [Sexist]

• This morning, during a Homeland Security Committee hearing, U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said that the number of death threats that have been leveled against Obama are no greater than those received by Bush or Clinton. •

The newspaper China Daily reported today that abortions in China have risen to 13 million a year, from 9 million in 2003, and a crackdown on accessing sex-related material on the Web may increase them even more.

Just a few days after the release of Gallup poll results on Americans' thoughts on unplanned pregnancies and abortion - the LA Times reports that the economy is causing more women to seek the procedure.

"I'd like to think of Planned Parenthood as the LensCrafters of family planning," says Planned Parenthood executive Steve Trombley in a fascinating Wall Street Journal piece on how the 92-year-old nonprofit, long beset by attacks and threats by antiabortion wingnuts, is coming under fire for Starbucksification. (I…