U.S. Women Prefer Sterilization • Lori Berenson Released From Prison

• Out of married U.S. women, only 16% are currently on the pill, compared to 29% in the UK and more than 40% in the Netherlands and France. Surprisingly, sterilization is a much more popular option in America.

1 in 4 married ladies here have had their tubes tied, while most other countries that reported figures have sterilization rates below 10%. These patterns also appear to apply to all women – not just the ones who have tied the knot. • And in other pill-related news, The American Life League and their co-sponsors are holding a “Protest the Pill Day.” Apparently, anti-choicers are mad that our promiscuous ways are destroying the environment. • Lori Berenson, 40, will be released from Peruvian prison, where she has been spent the last 15 years serving out a 20-year sentence for terrorism. Berenson has been granted a reduced sentence for good behavior. She was arrested in 1995 on charges of collaborating with the leftist guerrillas of the MRTA and made the news again in 2001 when she appeared at a second, highly publicized, trial. • Foot-binding has become mainly a thing of the past, save for a few elderly survivors, like Lim Guan Siew. At 93, Lim is one of the few lotus women left alive. She is still forced to buy shoes for her five-inch feet from a local business, which specializes in the tiny slippers. • Yesterday, students at Rikers Island engaged in an inmate cook-off for celebrity judges. The chefs were all part of a culinary program for female inmates. “It changed my attitude and my perspective on life,” said 19-year-old Aisha, spent the last eight-months behind bars. In the end, the competition, which included entrees of sauteed tilapia and barbecued salmon, was declared a tie. • Students from Paramount High school in California have rallied together to support a teacher they claim is being wrongly punished for a student striptease. Three students were suspended after they removed their clothes in a provocative dance, and one teacher has been forced to resign from the school. The students in question claim their stunt was just “harmless fun.” • Yesterday, a 58-year-old transsexual woman lost her battle with the British state-funded health services to have them pay for breast enlargement surgery. She argued that their refusal to fund the procedure was a violation of her human rights, but a High Court judge in London ruled that they have “no duty in either public law or discrimination law to classify all treatment and procedures sought by transsexuals as high priority or core procedures.” • ABC News announced that George Stephanopoulos will interview former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor for Thursday’s edition of Good Morning America. O’Connor is expected to talk about Kagan’s nomination and her thoughts on being the first female appointment to the court. • A recent study revealed that victims of domestic violence pay over $1,200 more than other women in healthcare costs in the first two years after abuse ended and $400 more than non-abused women in the third year. The study, which is the first of its kind, examined the health care costs for women up to 10 years after the abuse had ended. • Recent figures show that at least 25 babies in Britain have died while sleeping with an adult on a sofa in the past two years. According to the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, the couch is the most dangerous place for a baby to sleep – especially when the child is sharing the space with a parent. • A member of the Iraqi security service has come forward to denounce a secret prison that houses children as young as three. “To reach the point of detaining women and their children is unacceptable. A woman’s honor is Iraqi honor,” the anonymous source told Western press. He claims at least six women and eight children were being held at the Muthanna Iraqi Army base. • A recent study found that weight-lifting women who drink two glasses of milk a day before their fitness routine gained more muscle than those who downed energy drinks. Milk, combined with resistance training, has multiple benefits, including increased strength, bone density, and fat loss. • According to some estimates, 40% of court cases in Central Africa are witchcraft prosecutions. In regions where Pygmies make up about a greater portion of the population, witchcraft prosecutions can exceed 50 percent of the case load. Unsurprisingly, prosecuting cases of witchcraft is difficult – as is defending the accused. •