February 7th, 2012
The staff at Birth Control News would like to show our appreciation for the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision to continue its funding of Planned Parenthood. Amid debate about the motivations behind Komen’s choice and the turnaround reversal, we believe the more important focus is two-fold:
1. Planned Parenthood retains the funding, thus being able to provide invaluable services to those who could not otherwise access them, including breast and cervical cancer screening, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and birth control supply and information.
2. The power of the American public is clear. Not only was Komen’s decision blasted in the press, but Americans raised their voices as well by signing a petition to stand by Planned Parenthood and circulating support on Facebook, twitter and other social networking sites. The result? The decision was overturned within days, and Planned Parenthood is eligible to apply for funding in the upcoming grant cycle.
All is well that ends well, but Planned Parenthood’s future remains a mystery.
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February 2nd, 2012
January 31, 2012: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a recall notice for 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 (generic: norgestrel and ethinyl estradiol), a contraceptive pill.
If you take Lo/Ovral-28, you may have received one of the recalled packs, and you could become pregnant.
Manufacturer Pfizer discovered that some packs may contain an inexact count of active/inactive pills or that the tablets may be out of order. This means that sexually active women may unknowingly be taking ineffective contraceptive pills and risking pregnancy.
Follow this link to see what lots have been recalled. If you have birth control from a recalled lot, contact your physician immediately. Do not continue to rely on ineffective birth control.
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January 26th, 2012
A little-known fact about birth control: there are two rates of effectiveness for every contraceptive method. What the public most often hears about is called the “Perfect Use” rate. This is the statistic for how often a form of contraception, such as a condom, succeeds at preventing pregnancy in a clinical setting where it is used perfectly. The more realistic rate, known as “Typical Use,” is an estimate of how successful a birth control method will be when utilized by the average person in real world situations. Visit this page for a breakdown of statistics for perfect and typical use of various birth control methods.
Why do the two rates vary?
All too often, people do not know how to use a contraceptive, or they fall prey to the myths that surround birth control. Below are 15 real life mistakes that drastically reduce the success of contraception and increase the risk of pregnancy. Steer clear of these, and safer sex is yours to enjoy: Read the rest of this entry »
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January 11th, 2012
Recently, Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum (R) made the news for his opinions regarding birth control and sodomy laws. His comments, made during an interview with ABC News’ Jake Tapper, were picked up by blogs across the country, which interpreted Santorum’s message as being in support of banning birth control and sodomy. While researching the basis for Santorum’s actual views, Birth Control News staff spent time further researching how birth control and abortion laws appear in America’s history and determine our rights today.
First: What He Really Said
It wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if Santorum, a pro-life, conservative politician and author of It Takes a Family, a book about family values centered on heterosexual relationships, had spoken out against abortion or sodomy. However, his comments were geared toward the workings of the government and state vs. federal power. He believes that some laws, even when regarded as “dumb,” should still be left up to each state to determine, rather than the judges on the Supreme Court.
History of our Rights
Santorum’s argument brought up some questions for the staff at Birth Control News, such as where our rights to abortion and birth control come from and how they could be challenged in the future. We discovered that two Supreme Court cases were crucial in determining some of our important personal rights as citizens: Griswold v. Connecticut (referenced by Santorum in the ABC News interview) and the famed Roe v. Wade. Read the rest of this entry »
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