"Home Remedies" to Induce Abortion Commonly Used

New studies reveal common use of Cytotec and other "home remedies" to induce abortion, particularly amongst Latina women, the New York Times reports.  Surveys by Ibis Reproductive Health Services and Planned Parenthood suggest that "that improper use of such drugs is one of myriad methods, including questionable homemade potions, frequently employed in attempts to end pregnancies by women from fervently anti-abortion cultures despite the widespread availability of safe, legal and inexpensive abortions in clinics and hospitals."  The Times spoke with experts about use of Cytotec in the Dominican community in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, in New York: "Researchers studying the phenomenon cite several factors that lead Dominican and other immigrant women to experiment with abortifacients: mistrust of the health-care system, fear of surgery, worry about deportation, concern about clinic protesters, cost and shame."  The Times observes, "The pills allow pregnant women a degree of denial over what is taking place...[M]any women in the neighborhood talk about the need to bring on - or 'down' - their periods, not abortion. Afterward, they might tell doctors or relatives they had lost the baby."

Obama Staff Meet with Faith Groups

Obama transition team staff have conducted meetings with upwards of 15 religious or faith-based groups during the transition process, reports Dan Gilgoff in US News & World Report.  And the effort to reach out seems to be genuine: "This is not something meant to bring in the faith community to keep them happy but to solicit our views and ideas," says James Winkler, general secretary of the public policy arm of the United Methodist Church.  Reports Gilgoff,

Interviews with 10 participants in the Obama transition team's faith-based meetings paint a portrait of Obama aides recording priorities and concerns of representatives from religious denominations and advocacy groups, mostly of the left-leaning variety. Their policy priorities include economic relief for the poor, new protections for organized labor, a stepped-up campaign to combat global warming, improved access to healthcare, and guarantees that the United States will forgo torture in its war on terror.

Some of the faith-based groups have also pressured the transition team to make a serious attempt to reduce demand for abortion by improving sex education and expanding government services for pregnant women.

Dallas Morning News Editorializes in Support of Ryan-DeLauro Bill

Rep. Tim Ryan and Rep. Rosa DeLauro's bill to offer incentives and supports to women carrying pregnancies to term while bolstering access to contraception was endorsed by the Dallas Morning News. The Morning News writes,

One part of this odd couple's proposal would give women incentives to carry their fetuses to term. It would remove pregnancy from the list of pre-existing conditions insurers won't cover, provide nursing visits to qualifying new mothers and expand the tax credit families can claim when adopting children.

The second emphasis is equally significant. It would try to curtail the number of unwanted pregnancies through grants to local agencies that successfully prevent teen pregnancies. It also would expand contraceptive education and allow Medicaid to finance more family-planning services.

For more on what Ryan-DeLauro would mean, read Kay Steiger's True Common Ground for the 111th Congress.

Cellphone Video to Offer Safer Sex Messages

Nurse educator Rachel Jones has secured a $2 million National Institutes of Health grant to study the effectiveness of 20-minute soap opera episodes containing safer sex messages that women can view on their cellphones, the Associated Press reports. "What we believe will happen is that knowledge alone is not effective at changing behaviors," Jones said. "We believe that women in the community will so identify with heroines in the story their own behaviors will change as well."

Jobs in Nigeria Require HIV-Negative Test Result

An increasing number of Nigerian employers require an HIV-negative test result before offering applicants employment, reports AllAfrica.com.  An applicant who was denied a position because of her HIV status interviewed by AllAfrica didn't try to argue her case in court: "Her silence, like in other cases, were informed by three principal factors - lack of faith in the ability of Nigeria's law courts to dispense justice speedily, desire to avoid the stigma that the process of litigation can bring and, to some extent, insufficient evidence to challenge such discrimination in court."

Indian Call Center Answers Questions on Contraception, Reproductive Health

A new Indian call center will field questions on contraception, reproductive health, and family planning, in an effort to curb population growth in the country.  Reports the Washington Post, "The National Population Stabilization Fund seeks to pare down the growth to sustainable levels by means of contraception and reproductive and child health care."  On the call center's clients, the Post writes,

Many calls are from hinterlands underserved by health-care and social workers. From May to October, the center received more than 25,000 calls, and most of the questions were about contraceptive methods. Callers often faltered for a few minutes before they summoned the courage to ask questions. The 17 agents -- men and women -- said they calmed nervous callers by speaking to them in local dialects or addressing them as "brother" or "sister" to build an informal rapport. Most calls were made from the privacy of cellphones, which are common in Indian villages. Some men called on behalf of their wives.

New Initiatives Study, Address Teen Dating Violence

Texas, Rhode Island and New York have made strides recently in addressing teen dating violence, reports the New York Times.  Texas now requires school districts to include definitions of teen dating violence in school safety codes; Rhode Island will educate students about teen dating violence; and New York now allows teens in dating relationship to obtain restraining orders.  Reports the Times, "Although there are no definitive national studies on the prevalence of abuse in adolescent relationships, public health research indicates that the rate of such abusive relationships has hovered around 10 percent. Experts say the abuse appears to be increasing as more harassment, name-calling and ridicule takes place among teenagers on the Internet and by cellphone."

Dr. Peter Piot, Head of UN AIDS Program, Retires

Dr. Peter Piot, head of the United Nations AIDS program for all of its 13 years, retires this Wednesday, reports the New York Times. In an interview with the Times, Piot outlined his legacy: "[Piot] said his program had raised global public concern about AIDS; vastly increased the money spent to try to blunt the pandemic; lowered the price of life-extending antiretroviral drugs for millions of infected people in poor countries; and gave a voice to socially marginalized groups like gay men and injecting drug users, who are at great risk for AIDS yet had virtually no say in poor countries."

Dr. Piot's deputy, Michel Sidibé of Mali, will be his successor.

Former Crisis Pregnancy Center Counselors on Why She Quit

On the blog Keep Calm and Carry On, a former crisis pregnancy center counselor discusses why she stopped volunteering.  Among her reasons are: "They pushed controversial, inconclusive medical and psychological "science" on emotionally vulnerable and often uneducated women," "They played on the emotions of extremely vulnerable women," and "They were vehemently against birth control."

Women's Health Heroes of 2009

Our Bodies, Ourselves offers a roundup of women's health heroes who passed away in 2009, including Pamela Morgan, Barbara Seaman and La Leche League founder Edwina Froelich.