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Set aside the fraught question of when human life begins. The new debate: When does pregnancy begin?

The Bush Administration has ignited a furor with a proposed definition of pregnancy that has the effect of classifying some of the most widely used methods of contraception as abortion.
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A draft regulation, still being revised and debated, treats most birth-control pills and intrauterine devices as abortion because they can work by preventing fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus. The regulation considers that destroying “the life of a human being.”

Many medical groups disagree. They hold that pregnancy isn’t established until several days after conception, when the fertilized egg has grown to a cluster of several dozen cells and burrowed into the uterine wall. Anything that disrupts that process, in their view, is contraception.

The draft regulation, circulating within the Department of Health and Human Services, would have no immediate effect on the legality of the pill or the IUD if implemented because abortion is legal. But opponents fear it would undercut dozens of state laws designed to promote easy access to these methods of birth control, used by more than 12 million women a year.

Dozens of Congressional Democrats — including presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama — have signed letters of protest blistering the proposal. His Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, declined to comment.
A RIGHT OF CONSCIENCE

Who should be allowed to exercise the right of conscience? Read opinions on both sides of the debate, on WSJ.com’s Front Lines.

Administration supporters say the left’s concerns are overblown and very few women would have real difficulty getting birth control. Still, some on the religious right are hoping the regulation would create some obstacles.

If the draft regulation were to prompt some insurance companies to drop coverage for prescription birth control, “that would be fantastic,” said Tom McClusky, a strategist with the conservative Family Research Council.
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The draft could still be revised or rejected. Or the administration could enact it at any point; no congressional approval is needed. (The next president could just as easily reverse it.)

Legal challenges would likely hold up the regulation’s enforcement, but even so, the religious right — a key Republican constituency in this election season — could claim an important victory as their views would be embedded in federal law.

The regulation’s stated purpose is to improve enforcement of existing federal laws that protect some medical professionals’ right to refuse to participate or assist in abortion.

In a lengthy preamble entitled “The Problem,” the draft argues that state laws too often coerce health-care workers into providing services they find immoral.

Among the laws considered coercive: Requirements that emergency rooms offer rape victims the morning-after pill, insurance plans cover contraception as part of prescription-drug benefits, and pharmacists fill prescriptions for birth control. The draft regulation would weaken these laws by expanding the right of conscientious objection.

The White House said the administration “has an obligation to enforce” that right and is “exploring a number of options.”

If the regulation is enacted, insurers, hospitals, HMOs and other institutions could claim that a law requiring them to dispense contraception or subsidize an IUD discriminated against their religious convictions. State and local governments would have to certify in writing that they don’t practice such discrimination. Those who didn’t comply could lose federal funding or be sued for damages.

The draft also extends the conscience objection to most staff members and volunteers working for health-care providers. So, for instance, an employer couldn’t punish a clinic receptionist for refusing to make appointments for patients seeking birth-control pills.

“It’s pernicious,” said Janet Crepps, an attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights. “A few individuals could mess up the whole system.”

Barr Pharmaceuticals, which makes oral contraceptives, took issue with the idea that its products cause abortions and added that “an individual’s conscience should not prevent the timely dispensing of these products.”

With its expansive definitions, the draft bolsters a key goal of the religious right: to give single-cell fertilized eggs full rights by defining them as legal people — or, as some activists put it, “the tiniest boys and girls.”

As long as Roe v. Wade remains in effect and abortion remains legal, that goal can’t be fully realized. But in recent years, abortion opponents have scored notable successes. For instance: Several states now define a fertilized egg as a legal person — an “unborn child” — for purposes of fetal homicide laws, which allow criminal prosecution when a woman miscarries as a result of an assault.

In South Dakota, abortion doctors must tell patients — whatever their stage of pregnancy — that they will be “terminating the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being” with whom they have an “existing relationship.” In Colorado, voters this fall will weigh a state constitutional amendment that would confer full personhood on fertilized eggs, as well as embryos and fetuses. And embryonic stem-cell research is restricted through a variety of state and federal policies.

Even if the draft is never implemented, activists on both sides consider it a potential momentum shift.

“You keep striking away and framing the issue the way you want to frame it,” said David DeWolf, a law professor at Gonzaga University who has advised anti-abortion groups. “That’s the political strategy.”

– John D. McKinnon, Laura Meckler and Sarah Rubenstein contributed to this article.
–Source: Wall Street Journal

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More U.S. women are availing themselves of contraceptives services, such as birth control pill prescriptions, according to a new national survey.

From 1995 to 2002, the percentage of American women who said they received contraceptive services rose from 36 percent to 41 percent, according to Jennifer J. Frost, a senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute in New York City, and author of the survey report published in the October issue of theAmerican Journal of Public Health.

Overall, the percentage of women receiving all sexual and reproductive health care services –including not only birth control but also such services as STD testing and Pap tests — remained constant at 74 percent, the survey found.

While the survey findings are encouraging, Frost said, “There’s room for improvement.”

She examined the 1995 and 2002 National Survey of Family Growth to detect patterns and trends in the use of sexual and reproductive health care services. The surveys involved in-home questionnaires of women ages 15 to 44 who were asked if they had received 13 specific services in the past 12 months.

While 76 percent of the respondents said they got services mostly from private health care providers, about one-fourth said they went to a public clinic or other public facility. And those who went to the publicly funded clinics got a broader range of services, according to the survey.

Behind the finding that women overall received more contraceptive services may be another trend, Frost said: That fewer women may be resorting to sterilization, so they need to return to the doctor for birth control pills and other contraceptive options.

The publicly funded clinics, she said, “are filling a big need for low-income women and providing a really important service.”

“There are still a lot of women not getting all the services they need,” Frost added, citing counseling or advice about contraception as an example.

Dr. Vanessa Cullins, vice president for medical affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the survey’s findings “highlight changes that hopefully will become trends.”

Specifically, she was talking about the finding that most women received services from private doctors. “This suggests that private providers are beginning to focus on the contraceptive needs of women,” she said.

Private health-care providers should take notes from public clinics, Cullins said. “Since the advent of Title X (a federal program established in 1970 under President Richard Nixon to fund family planning and preventive health services), publicly funded clinics have always focused on contraceptive access, pregnancy testing, and STD-related care.”

More information

To learn more about contraception, visit the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc.

SOURCES: Jennifer J. Frost, DrPH, senior research associate, the Guttmacher Institute, New York City; Vanessa Cullins, M.D., vice president for medical affairs, Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., Washington, D.C.; October 2008,American Journal of Public Health

HealthDay Reporter
Washington Post

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A new study from England suggests that birth control pills may interfere women’s ability to detect a compatible mate. In addition to all the obvious things that women find attractive (muscles, eye color, brains), we apparently are influenced by smell of the pheromone variety, according to this article on MSNBC.com

According to researchers at the University of Newcastle, women pick men differently when they are on the pill. The hormones in the pill cause our bodies to mimick a pregnant state, when or sense of smell is altered and mate selection (in theory) should be a moot point. Left to our own devices, women tend to pick men with dissimilar pheromone makeup, or MHC, off the pill; we pick more similar men while on it.

Past studies have suggested couples with dissimilar MHC genes are more satisfied and more likely to be faithful to a mate. And the opposite is also true with matchng-MHC couples showing less satisfaction and more wandering eyes.

Mind boggling isn’t it?

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Another safety measure condom manufacturers must meet is the airburst test. Here, the condom is inflated until it bursts. By doing this, researchers can measure how much pressure and volume of air it can withstand before breaking.

The airburst test is routinely done in Canada, Australia and in several European countries. In general, condoms should be able to withstand a minimum volume of 15 liters of air and a minimum pressure of 0.9 kilopascal (roughly 0.13 pounds per square inch).

To minimize “accidents” with condom use, what can you do? First, familiarize yourself on how to use the condom. You’re less likely to get into trouble if you know the proper way of inserting it. Here are some tips from Health Alert:

Carefully open the package so the condom does not tear. Do not unroll the condom before putting it on.

If the penis is not circumcised, pull the foreskin back. Squeeze the tip of the condom and put it on the end of the erect penis.

Continue squeezing the tip while unrolling the condom until it covers the entire penis. (Squeezing the tip expels air. If there is trapped air, there are higher chances of the condom bursting during intercourse.)

Always put the condom on before entering the partner. (This is because even pre-ejaculate may contain HIV, the virus which causes AIDS.)

After ejaculation, hold the rim of the condom and pull the penis and condom out before the penis gets out.

After withdrawal, slide the condom off the penis without spilling the semen.

Properly dispose of the condom. Do not re-use.

Most condoms are made of latex while a few are fashioned from lab intestine. What’s the difference?

For those who are allergic to latex or rubber, skin condoms (as those made from lamb cecum are called) are a better alternative. They are at least 10 times stronger than latex condoms and users claim they have a more “natural” feeling.

But these condoms also have certain shortcomings. First, they are not as effective as latex condoms in preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). When used properly, latex condoms are about 100 percent effective in protecting both the user and partner from venereal disease, including AIDS.

This was confirmed by the World Health Organization which examined numerous studies on the condom’s impact on HIV. In one study among Kenyan prostitutes, those who used condoms never acquired AIDS. Those who didn’t got the disease. Other studies show that condom users, in general, lessen by more than half their risk of contracting HIV than non-users.

In the modern era, there are a number of so-called “tricks” that a woman or a couple can do to prevent pregnancy. However, a decent understanding of how the menstrual cycle and conception works will help a person comprehend and distinguish the myths from the real effective birth control strategies.

Women have been trying to prevent themselves from having children for centuries, with most societies tolerating or accepting such practices. The fact is, ancient methods of birth control have been in use even during periods that were thought to be controlled by conservatism, religious extremism, and plain ignorance about scientific principles of human reproduction. Some of these actually work while others simply don’t. Surprisingly, in this day and age, many people still think these traditional birth control methods are effective. There are also those who prefer to see these folk methods as myths until science backs up the claims about the supposed effectiveness of these methods. This sort of skepticism is a positive thing, since birth control that doesn’t work is essentially useless. However, there are times when that same skepticism doesn’t seem to quite apply to more modern birth control myths. While some of them might have a degree of scientific data to back them up, quite a number of birth control urban legends are just that: legends.

One of the most prominent among these stories involves carbonated drinks. Usually, the stories list things like Coca-Cola or Sprite, though most any carbonated soda drink will do. As a pseudo-testament to the prevailing popularity of this story, it was referenced in the Anne Rice erotic novel “Belinda” and actually put through a scientific test on the Discovery Channel show “Mythbusters.” The stories generally say that the use of these drinks as a contraceptive involves shaking the cans and spraying it into the vaginal cavity, where the acidic content will theoretically kill sperm cells. Sadly, as scientific testing has proved, this method doesn’t exactly work.

In a similar vein to the above, another idea that people have had over the years is that rinsing out the sperm can work. This is a fairly flexible myth, taking on a variety of forms in different areas. In some cases, there are as many ways to rinse out the sperm as there are people telling the story. These include taking a shower or bath immediately after, using a liquid to rinse out the sperm from the vagina (some variations of the carbonated drink myth involve this), and having the woman urinate. While some experts say that showering or bathing after sex could have a psychological effect, preventing conception using this tactic is nothing more than a myth.

Other people believe that it is impossible for a woman to get pregnant if she does not experience orgasm. If the media is to be believed, that would mean that most women in the US can never get pregnant. The fact is, experiencing an orgasm or any sexual stimulation at all, really is completely and utterly unnecessary to achieve pregnancy. This myth is often connected to the one that states that certain positions during sex prevent pregnancy. Both are ridiculous when it comes down to it, though the latter has some more outrageous claims. A particularly outrageous one claims that having intercourse standing up, in a closet, during a full moon is the best possible birth control. Sadly, according to statistics, there are some people out there that believe this.

The “withdrawal” method, which involves having the man “pull out” before achieving orgasm, can also be categorized as a myth. The release of sperm does not always accompany the male orgasm, with some men being able to release semen into the woman repeatedly without achieving orgasm. Even if the male orgasm is accompanied by the release of sperm, there are other factors that make this tactic highly dubious in the best of circumstances. For one thing, most males release a small amount of fluid prior to orgasm that contains some sperm. Also, even if the fluid is released outside the body, if the sperm manage to make it into the vagina, then there is still a chance of pregnancy. Consider that these cells are very microscopic and the fluid may be difficult to differentiate from vaginal secretions during sex. Make a microscopic mistake - and you’ve got yourself a situation.

Despite widespread misinformation about emergency contraception — the so-called morning-after pill — only 3% of women’s doctors discuss Plan B with them.

The finding comes from data collected during face-to-face interviews with 7,643 women aged 15 to 44. The interviews were conducted in 2002, when emergency contraception was available only by prescription. Yet only 3% of women said their doctors discussed the issue with them.

Even when women saw a gynecologist for a Pap test or pelvic exam, only 4% received emergency-contraception counseling, find University of Pittsburgh researchers Megan L. Kavanaugh, DrPH, and Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD.

With a 7-2 vote, the administrative committee at Portland, Maine’s King Middle School decided Wednesday to allow the city-run public health clinic housed at the school to dispense birth control pills to sexually active students.

The decision was made after the clinic made the request to serve high-school-aged students who were still attending middle school. A survey performed by the clinic last year revealed a very small number of students, aged 14 and 15, reported being sexually active.

But the resulting uproar has more to do with the fact that the school is also attended by 11-year-olds who could presumably get the contraception, and that the clinic is bound by confidentiality laws, so that a minor child might be able to obtain birth control pills without her parents’ knowledge.

“We are dealing with children,” said former school nurse Diane Miller at a public meeting. “I am just horrified at the suggestion.”

Others feel that while it’s not ideal for young teenagers to be sexually active, it’s better to have them taking birth control pills than becoming parents.

Portland’s district coordinator of school nurses Amanda Rowe told reporters, “I see students every day whose lives could be ruined by an unwanted pregnancy who are having sexual intercourse and who need protection.”

The decision was prompted in part by the incidence of seven pregnancies among middle-school students over the past four years. King Middle School serves a large percentage of economically disadvantaged students, who are statistically more likely to face problems such as early sexual intercourse and teenage pregnancy.

Sarah Thompson, a member of the committee who voted to approve the plan, and also the mother of an eighth-grader at the King school, told reporters, “I know I’ve done my job as a parent. But there may be a time when she doesn’t feel comfortable coming to me—not all these kids have a strong parental advocate at home.”

Another parent present at a subsequent committee meeting agreed. “I’d rather see a health center here and a kid be able to get birth control in a health center than see a pregnant 12-year-old,” said middle-school parent Gail Kesich.

Some parents feel the issue is not that it’s birth control, but that a health clinic anywhere could dispense medications to their children without their knowledge.

The clinic does require a parental consent form for their children to visit the health center, but once signed, the form does not permit the clinic to inform parents about what their children are doing there. According to state privacy laws, they are not allowed to, even if the patients are minors.

But something needs to be done, say proponents, to protect the kids who are sexually active. Mike McCarthy, King’s school principal, told the press, “We have to, in some cases, protect kids from risky behavior, that in some cases they are not talking to their parents about.

In old days, very few people knew about “Birth Control” and they hardly needed it. But today, when we are running with time in this competitive world, people understand the importance of having one or two children and a small family (and some couples plan for late parenthood); the idea of family planning and birth control has taken an important face. Methods like family planning, birth control need special attention.

There are various methods which both men and women can follow to avoid unwanted pregnancy. It is very much of importance to understand that the success of birth control method that you use, totally depends on how better u follow the necessary instructions and how careful you are. It is also important to know that birth control methods do avoid pregnancy, but do not assure protection from Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). Before enjoying your sexual life, you must understand how to use birth control methods properly, for this you can consult your health consultant. Do not feel embarrassed to ask your health consultant any question that you have regarding the use of birth control methods, how to follow, effectiveness of particular method etc.

Once you decide to use a birth control method, the first step to achieve success in birth control is to learn to control yourself. Many people cannot control themselves and they commit mistake before even thinking of to use birth control method. The second most important step in avoiding pregnancy is that both the partners should agree on the terms that birth control method needs to be followed and they need to play their roles accordingly.

Let’s discuss some birth control methods we can use:

Use of Condom: Condoms are used commonly to avoid unwanted pregnancy and they also provide protection against STDs at some extent. If a condom is used in order to avoid pregnancy, make it sure that it is a latex condom, as latex condoms are effective in avoiding pregnancy (because of their thickness they provide more protection). There are male and female condoms available in market; you can choose any of them as per your choice.

Abstinence During Fertility Period: During the menstrual cycle periods, it becomes unsafe for women to have sex, as women become more fertile during these days. It is very important to avoid any such situation when women are susceptible to get pregnant. If in case any woman who is in her fertility period wants to have sex, then she should use a proper contraception such as condoms, birth control pills etc.

Use of Birth Control Pills: Birth control pills help in preventing pregnancy, if taken properly. The birth control pills contain hormones estrogen and progestin, which help in avoiding pregnancy. The birth control pills block the eggs which are released from ovaries. The birth control pills are very effective if taken as per directions before sexual intercourse.

Hormone Injections: In this method of birth control, women are given injections which contains hormone progestin to prevent pregnancy.

Use of Spermicides: Now a days gel, cream and foams of various types are available in market which prevent pregnancy by killing sperms that men ejaculate during sexual intercourse. The gel, cream or foam is applied inside the vagina in order to kill the sperms that are released from the penis of the male partner.

Using Cap: The sperms are blocked by using a diaphragm which is made of the shape of a cup. These cups are often used with spermicides.

Use of Surgery In Birth Control: People who already have one or two children and do not wish to have anymore (or don’t want to have any) can have sterilization surgery as the best option of birth control. In sterilization surgery, the tube that provides path for the eggs to reach the uterus where the eggs can fertilize, is blocked or tied up in women. In men, the tube that provides path to the sperms to reach to the opening of the penis is tied up, or they have a vasectomy, this method ensures that the ejaculation of men has no sperms in it. Thus, they can enjoy their sexual life without fear of inviting unwanted pregnancy.

There are some more things that can contribute in successful use of birth control method such as: pulling out penis before ejaculation (some people might find it difficult to control, but, it definitely can be achieved), avoiding any-time sex habit, use of proper and approved birth control methods etc.