Roundup: Abortion Pill May Limit Infection

Jul 9, 2009, 11:11am

Amy Dempsey

Abortion Pill May Limit Infection; Sex Education Options Now Available in North Carolina; The Abortion Debate in Health Care Reform

Abortion Pill May Limit Infection
The New York Times
reported Wednesday that research conducted by Planned Parenthood found
that medication abortion resulted in fewer infections when taken
orally, instead of vaginally.

1.1 million women have taken the regimen of pills that induce abortion
since 2000, when the treatment was first approved by the Food and Drug
Administration. The bill only works for early pregnancies, up to 63
days, and account for a small portion of the one million abortions
performed each year, according to the article.

The treatment consists of two pills. After the first pill is taken, a
second pill is taken two days later. The FDA originally required both
pills be taken orally, but later studies found that when given
vaginally, the second pill worked better, as reported by the NYT.

Planned Parenthood’s study found that when pills were taken orally, and with antibiotics, infections occurred less frequently.

The article said:

"The study is the first to gauge the effects of changes made by Planned
Parenthood and some other abortion providers in 2006, when serious
infections and a handful of deaths were linked to the pills.
Researchers suspected that putting pills into the vagina was somehow
contributing to infections. Planned Parenthood found that after the
combined changes were made – switching from the vaginal to the buccal
route and routinely giving antibiotics – infection rates dropped
considerably, to 0.06 per 1,000 abortions, from 0.93 per 1,000."

Sex Education Options Now Available in North Carolina
Sex education classes were previously banned in North Carolina, but
when school starts again in August, students in Cherokee County will be
required to learn about contraception methods and sexually transmitted
infections, according to a CherokeeScout.com article.

The new standards will teach both abstinence-until-marriage and
FDA-approved contraceptive methods, starting in seventh grade and
continuing through ninth grade, the article said.

Despite
providing information about contraception and STD prevention, the new
education standards are sticking to the idea that heterosexuality is
ideal and safer than homosexual relationships.

The article also said:

"The ideal that heterosexual relationships are
healthier and safer than homosexual ones has been a mainstay in
abstinence programs. West said the regional belief system, specifically
in Cherokee County, coincides with the message of heterosexual
relationships being taught as the best situation to stay STD-free.

‘It’s a good thing to teach to kids in our area. It is what we believe here,’ State Rep. Roger West (R), said."

The Abortion Debate in Health Care Reform
The abortion issue is one of many when it comes to health care reform, according to a Time.com article.
For the past thirty years, government-subsidized health coverage would
not pay for abortion procedures (federal funding for abortion was
prohibited by the Hyde Amendment), but there the idea of health care
reform has reopened the discussion, the article
said. Yet if anti-choice provisions are adopted, they may have more
sweeping impacts on health care options than Hyde does now.

The
article explains:

"If an explicit ban on abortion coverage were imposed, say sources
involved in writing the legislation on Capitol Hill, it could have much
further-reaching implications than the Hyde Amendment ever did. It
could, in fact, have the effect of denying abortion coverage to women
who now receive it under their private insurance plans. Nearly 90% of
insurers cover abortion procedures, according to a 2002 survey by the
Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization whose statistics are
relied upon by both sides of the abortion debate.

But some legislators would force any private plan subsidized by the government to exclude funding for abortion care."

OTHER NEWS TO NOTE:

July 8: PharmaTimes: Bayer submits NDA for new contraceptive Qlaira

July 8: Optimum Population Blog: Scant knowledge of contraception in third world

July 9: Las Vegas Review-Journal: PUBLIC HEALTH INVESTIGATION: LV doctor suspicious

July 8: BeliefNet: Francis Collins on Abortion: Obama’s Pick for NIH and His "Devout" Views on Terminating Down Syndrome Children

July 8: Fallible Blogma: Pro-life Exceptions: Is late-term abortion ever necessary?

July 9: AP: Analysis: Sotomayor record thin on executive power

July 8: SmartBrief: Hologic gets FDA approval for birth control system

July 8: Kansas City Star: Shifting movement stings for anti-abortion leader

July 8: LifeNews: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal Signs Pro-Life Bill With Abortion Conscience Claus

July 8: Feminists for Choice: How To Talk Choice With Your Pro-Life Mom

July 9: Washington Examiner: House panel OKs D.C. budget without abortion, pot amendments