Bristol Palin: Telling Mom About The Baby Was "Harder Than Labor"

• In a recent interview, Bristol Palin describes breaking the news about her pregnancy to her mother as being really, really painful. She also has this to say about her role as an advocate for abstinence:

“Abstinence is practical and very realistic for some people, but others don’t choose that path. For me, sex education was in school, and there are always people telling you that there are consequences to sex and blah blah, but you don’t really realize it until you’re in a situation where you are pregnant.” Which is not exactly a compelling argument for abstinence. Birth control, maybe, but certainly not “just say no.” • On June 28, Iceland’s prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir married her long-time partner Jonina Leosdottir. Same-sex marriage only became legal in Iceland on June 12, and Sigurdardottir wasted no time tying the knot with her partner of seven years. • This just in: exercise can help you control your weight. The New York Times reports that biking can help women in their 30s and 40s lose weight and keep it off. They also found that, while biking and brisk walking are both beneficial, slow walking won’t make much of a difference in weight or health. • Many women in Afghanistan’s prisons are serving sentences for “moral crimes” and other “bad behavior.” Women and teens are frequently jailed for running away from home, refusing to marry, or marrying without their family’s wishes. One girl even received a three year sentence after a boy came unannounced to her parents house to propose marriage. “If these women were treated with justice, I don’t think they would be in here,” said one prison director. “They are here because of problems in the family or personal vendettas.” • A study performed on mice found that ovary transplants can extend lifespan by more than 40%. Doctors transplanted ovaries from younger mice into older ones, which “rejuvenated” the rodents. Currently, ovary transplants are used to restore fertility, but researchers hope humans might also benefit from the life-extending properties of younger organs. • Though the European court of human rights recently ruled that states were under no obligation to recognize same-sex marriage, there may be reason to believe they are gearing up to better address issues of equality in the near future. Clive Baldwin writes: “The court did state clearly that the right to marry does not apply only to persons of the opposite sex. The EU charter of fundamental rights – accepted by all EU states – guarantees the right to marry, deliberately excluding any reference to gender. This should mean that in those countries that grant access to marriage for all couples, any distinction between same-sex and heterosexual marriage would be arguable discrimination under the convention.” Here’s hoping. • South Korea’s parliament voted on Tuesday to legalize chemical castration as punishment for convicted pedophiles. The bill has been in the works since 2008, where a 58-year-old man made national news for the rape and assault of an 8-year-old girl. South Korea is the first country in Asia to legalize the use of chemicals to curb sexual desire. • The Vatican said today that they can’t be held legally responsible for the actions of Roman Catholic priest Father Andrew Ronan. Ronan has been accused of molesting boys in the mid-1950s and 60s when he was working as a priest in Ireland and later Chicago. Vatican lawyers claim that, since Ronan wasn’t an employee of the Vatican, Pope Benedict and his crew aren’t responsible for what happened. • The Supreme Court has ruled against a Christian student group that was denied status by their University on the grounds that they were violating the school’s nondiscrimination policy by excluding gay students. The Anti-Defamation League hailed the decision as “a ringing affirmation that public universities have the right to implement and enforce policies that reject discrimination by school clubs.” •