SPUC News

20 April 2015

Top story: Morning-after pill leads to higher rates of sexually-transmitted infections, study suggests A recently-published study suggests that access to morning-after pills leads to higher rates of sexually-transmitted infections (STIs). The study was authored by Dr Karen Mulligan, associate professor of economics and finance at Middle Tennessee State University, USA. [Wiley Online Library, accessed 20 April] Dr David Paton, professor of industrial economics at Nottingham University Business School, told SPUC today: "It is very interesting to see further confirmation that access to emergency birth control (EBC) does not seem to reduce abortions but leads to higher rates of STIs. This paper is one of the first to explore the mechanisms whereby EBC affects STIs, finding that both rates of 'unprotected' sex and numbers of partners increase in response to over-the-counter EBC. Although this paper uses US data, it is consistent with evidence from the UK. In the light of the evidence from this paper, local and national governments urgently need to review their current policy of aggressive promotion of EBC to young people in schools, pharmacies and sexual health centres." Other stories: Abortion Women having abortions to end morning sickness [BBC, 20 April] Archbishop of Brussels laments 25th anniversary of abortion law [Genethique, 7 April]  Euthanasia Senior figures in palliative medicine restate the doctors' case for opposing assisted suicide for their patients [Care Not Killing, 10 April] Family issues Girls face 'sharp rise in emotional problems' [BBC, 20 April] Transgender father becomes another 'mother' to nine-year-old son [Mail, 19 April] Fertility Woman who delayed having children until her 30s urges other women not to delay motherhood [Mail, 20 April] The parents who help fund the cost of their own IVF grandchildren [Mail, 19 April] Sofia Vergara lawsuit: who owns frozen embryos? [Live Science via Yahoo!, 16 April] Britain's oldest mother says German woman pregnant with quads at 65 is 'selfish' [Mail, 15 April] Population Sex education in Europe turns to urging more births [New York Times, 8 April]Friday, 17 April 2015 "I started jumping up and down at the bus stop with excitement" " ... I started jumping up and down at the bus stop with excitement ... " Find out why ... and support the March for Life in Birmingham on 16th May which is being  attended by Archbishop Bernard Longley, the archbishop of Birmingham, who spoke about the event in his homily in St Chad's Cathedral on Easter Monday evening. Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services Follow SPUC on Twitter Like SPUC's Facebook Page Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy   at 13:38  To receive this news regularly, visit http://www.spuc.org.uk/em-signup. The reliability of the news herein is dependent on that of the cited sources, which are paraphrased rather than quoted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. © Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, 2015