Data released today show that the teen pregnancy rate is down 42 percent from its 1990 high with rates declining among all racial and ethnic and age groups. Researchers credit young people—and their effective contraceptive use—with these declines.
NCJW and our colleagues in the faith community understand that this is an issue of religious liberty -- although there are differing religious views on the use of contraception, it should be up to women to decide on whether and when to use contraception based on their own beliefs and needs.
Although Georgetown’s student health insurance doesn’t cover contraception, it does cover birth control pills when they’re prescribed for medical reasons other than preventing pregnancy. But barriers to access illustrate the consequences for women’s health when university administrators dictate which reasons for a birth control prescription are the “right” reasons.
On January 25, the mayor of Los Angeles signed regulation that requires the use of condoms by all performers in adult movies filmed within the city’s borders. Public health advocates have unsurprisingly celebrated the regulation, but there are some reasons why the ordinance may not be as effective as one might hope.
While the UN is still celebrating International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, Tostan, a global rights and health organization, and others are enjoying “International Female Genital Cutting Abandonment Day.” The difference in phrasing is subtle, but the significance is huge.
Global coverage of women's rights abuses in Afghanistan is critical to raising awareness and changing this reality. But what is being done on the ground and at the policy level? What is the good news? The picture is often larger, and more complex, than we see.
