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Recently, there has been a lot of hype regarding experimental birth control options for men. Both in the US and overseas, many researchers are developing methods that would allow men to share some of the responsibility, and one survey found that 50 percent of men would be willing to use a hormonal contraceptive. But the burden of pregnancy remains with the woman. Can we trust contraception Read more
I am more than happy to cede many tasks to men. Big boxes? Pick 'em up. External hard drives? Figure 'em out. Cook dinner? Maybe I'll do the dishes. But I would never trust any man — not a FWB, boyfriend, or husband — with taking birth control. No matter how much a man loves a woman, it's just not the same. Even if there is nothing sinister going on (i.e. guys who coerce women to stay in Read more
USA Today recently discussed the challenge of selling male sterilization. A vasectomy, a quick operation that prevents pregnancy by blocking the tubes that carry sperm, is simpler and safer than female sterilization. Even so, they are much less common than female sterilization, since men are less comfortable with medical procedures, especially when, let's face it, it involves their Read more
For 50 years women have adjusted their hormones to prevent pregnancy with a variety of birth control pills. Now, for the first time, it looks like men might have the opportunity to do the same. Over 1,000 Chinese men between the ages of 20 and 45, who had fathered at least one child within two years of enrollment, took part in a study that involved monthly injections of a testosterone-based Read more
Imagine throwing away your birth control pills and asking your significant other to take on the burden of contraception. Scientists are getting closer to making that a reality with their work on testosterone injections to temporarily block sperm production. (Six months after the injections, men's sperm counts return to normal.) Trials in China so far show promise: one man in a 100 fathered a Read more
Sandra Fluke went on The View today to respond to the derogatory remarks made by Rush Limbaugh. Here's a refresher on what's happened so far. Sandra, a 30-year-old law student at Georgetown University, tried to testify at a Congressional hearing on birth control coverage. She was denied the opportunity, being told that the all-male panel was to discuss religious freedom, and not birth control. Read more
Just when we thought she couldn't get any cooler, one of our favorite funny ladies Amy Poehler stopped by Saturday Night Live last night and gave a great rant with Seth Meyers on the birth control debate via Really!?! With Seth and Amy. The pair rightly called out congressman Darrell Issa for his all-male panel on Obama's birth control mandate, Foster Freeze for his antiquated birth control idea Read more
"Put a ring on it" is the cheeky slogan behind The Chicago Female Condom Campaign. The coalition of HIV/AIDS, reproductive justice, women's health, and gay men's health activists is working hard to raise awareness in Chicago and beyond about female condoms — a form of contraception just as effective as a male condom in preventing STIs, HIV, and pregnancy. A rep for the campaign spoke at this Read more
Planned Parenthood receives over $300 million a year in government funding. None of that can be used on abortion services, but there's a bill in Congress right now that would deny government funding to any organization that provides abortion. If the bill passes, it could threaten Planned Parenthood's existence. As Double X points out, eight in 10 pro-life Americans support a woman's right to Read more
Failing to accept that Planned Parenthood provides nontaxpayer-funded abortion, a legal service in America, New Hampshire's all-Republican and all-male Executive Council voted three to two to defund the state's Planned Parenthood a couple of weeks ago, saying that the money should go to organizations that don't provide abortion. Now, Planned Parenthood centers in the state have stopped dispensing Read more
