Is campus contraceptive use sensitive to funding changes?

Study shows students turn to riskier methods when insurance doesn't cover contraception | Inside Higher Ed

Note how the most important finding (or non-finding) was buried in this article: While contraceptive use was affected by price shifts, there was no statistically significant change in the number of accidental pregnancies.

This study, from Slate, has more nuanced reporting on the question of accidental pregnancies, suggesting that accidental pregnancies did go up for a subset of women in the study.

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The irony of the inquiry into Dr. Halappanavar's death

The Associated Press (via The Washington Post ) reports that the composition of the panel that is investigating Dr. Savita Halappanavar's death in Ireland has changed: Prime Minister Enda Kenny told lawmakers he hoped the move — barely 24 hours after Ireland unveiled the seven-member panel — would allow the woman’s widower to support the probe into why Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian dentist, died Oct. 28 while hospitalized in Galway. Kenny’s U-turn came hours after her husband, Praveen Halappanavar, said he would refuse to talk to the investigators and would not consent to their viewing his wife’s medical records because three of the Galway hospital’s senior doctors had been appointed as investigators. Kenny said that the three doctors would be replaced by other officials “who have no connection at all with University Hospital Galway. In that sense the investigation will be completely and utterly independent.” This makes sense. Why conduct an inquiry at all

RETURNING WITH NEW POSTS ON SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

Due to work and research commitments, I will not be posting anything new until next year. In the meantime, use the links and the news feeds and still feel free to email me if you want to discuss reproductive politics. Thanks for your continued interest.

Breast-feeding as an abortifacient?

I came across this citation while reading a William Saletan column, which, if I can decipher the jargon, indicates that ovulation may still occur during the postpartum breast-feeding stage. Does this suggest that, during this stage, a woman may have a fertilized egg that does not implant due to breast-feeding? This would place breast-feeding as an abortifacient practice in line with other methods of contraceptive unacceptable to pro-lifers. Saletan's earlier column does a nice job of capturing the scientific uncertainty over what happens with eggs and implantation with emergency contraception (like Plan B).

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