The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Wednesday that it had approved the first-ever generic form of the emergency contraceptive pill known as Plan B (levonorgestrel), manufactured by Watson Laboratories, Inc.

At the current time, however, the generic version of Plan B will be made available only to young women ages 17 and younger and will require a doctor's prescription.

First approved in 1999, Plan B emergency contraceptive (commonly referred to as the morning-after pill) can prevent pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse or suspected prophylactic failure. It's comprised of the … Read More

Government statistics show back-to-back increases in the number of American teens, ages 15 to 19, that are having babies.

The latest numbers tallied show that the national birthrate of teens ages 15 to 19 increased 1.4 percent from 2006 to 2007; that's on top of a 3.4 percent climb from 2005 to 2006, reports The Washington Post. These two increases reverse the previous 14-year decline.

The government had been spending a yearly $176 million to federally fund abstinence programs. However, this year Congress sliced that amount by $14 million.

Valerie Huber of the National Abstinence Education Association told WSJ that … Read More

Doggone it! According to Radar, Bristol Palin and her boyfriend/ baby's daddy Levi Johnston (AKA Sex On Skates) have decided to quit dating.

As you may recall, Bristol Palin shocked the world (or the US of A) when it was revealed that she was a pregnant teen during her mother's vice presidency bid. Sarah Palin was (is) against abortion and comprehensive sexual education, so the revelation that her daughter was semi-secretly pregnant swung wide of irony and into karmic kismet territory. Liberal-leaning folks were a little too happy and conservatives were a little too spin-doctor-y.

… Read More

The guy I lost my virginity to found me on Facebook a few months ago. I opened my inbox to read, "Is this Teri? If so, hit me back." It was an absurdly casual message, as if he had no idea I associated him with puking from anesthesia in the parking lot of an abortion clinic. The shock I felt when I saw the name Jeffery* in my inbox is a testament to how successful I had been at forgetting everything that happened between us.

I dumped Jeff a few weeks before our sophomore year of high school, … Read More

Do you remember when that woman from Alaska ran for backup president? And liberals were really nervous about her convictions on things like reproductive rights and what I call "abstinence-only sexual education" in places that I call "public schools?"* And now said woman's teenage mother of a daughter isn't so sure that it's the right call (per Jossip).

Before I get too far into this, can we just all agree that the best way to prevent sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy and some amount of teen hysteria is to remain celibate? There is at least one recorded case … Read More

I have been writing abstractly about sex a little too much lately, I promise to slow my roll or get more graphic next week. Have you noticed that a lot of studies are being done regarding sex and television? Not that I was alive then but I'm pretty sure that the TV has been blamed for virtually every problem since its creation. Kids getting fat? Blame the tube. Lagging behind the Asian countries in test scores? That's on you, Spongebob. Not having enough sex? Boycott Sony. A study conducted by Pediatrics linked teen pregnancy to watching racy TV shows. … Read More

Happy Friday!

A 30-year Springer study found that happy people are watching less TV and having more sex. Surprise, surprise.

Reuters Health reported a study this week that parents of a child with ADHD are almost twice as likely to divorce before the child’s 8th birthday. 

Also likely to divorce: couples with monstrous mother-in-laws. In Italy, a man was granted divorce for his nagging mother-in-law. He's seeking an orphan as his next partner, according to The Daily Times in Pakistan.

There’s even worse news … Read More

On Monday, Yahoo! News reported a strong link between teen pregnancies and sexy TV shows. The article refers to a groundbreaking study that was released in the November issue of Pediatrics and explains the connection between teenagers and the racy television shows that they watch.

Can anyone take a wild guess at what super-sexy shows the study is alluding to? Here's a hint: sex is actually in the title. Obviously Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbes, Samantha Jones, and Charlotte York are four fictional characters, but they are all … Read More

Second to black protestant teens, white Evangelical Christian teens have sex earlier than any other cultural or religious teen group, according to a government study of adolescent behavior called Add Health.

Next week's New Yorker magazine explores the possible explanations behind this surprising statistic in an article titled "Red Sex, Blue Sex." For better or worse, Bristol Palin, Sarah's 17-year-old expectant daughter, has become the poster child for all that fails in the abstinence-only, virginity-pledge system. As the article points out, virginity pledge groups work only when participation is kept below 30 percent of a specific … Read More

The country that brought loopy eyeliner, messy beehive hairdos and people named "Posh" and "Becks" to American culture has finally come up with something reasonable.  Let's hope this one gets imported -- right, mate?  

Sex education will now be obligatory for public school students in Britain in order to address the teen pregnancy rate, says Schools Minister Jim Knight.  Britain, which has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Western Europe, decided nine years ago to cut the teen pregnancy rate in half by 2010.  Compulsory sex ed is one step in its master plan -- and … Read More