- Last week marked the 49th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Griswold v. Connecticut, which made it no longer a crime to obtain birth control — at least for married couples. Rolling Stone identifies five places in the U.S. where contraception is just as controversial today as it was 50 years ago.
- Aparrently, it is not advisable to wash your menstrual cup in the dishwasher.
- U.S. readers are probably already familiar with the case awaiting resolution by the Supreme Court, in which craft store Hobby Lobby is appealing, based on religious beliefs of the store owners, to get out of including emergency contraception coverage in health insurance of their employees. The company’s objections to IUDs on essentially the same grounds has received much less media coverage.
- Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the University of Wollongong is researching a hydrogel condom, which could reduce unintended pregnancies and increase the practice and pleasures of safer sex.
- The pill does not balance hormones: It shuts them off. Naturopath Lara Briden explains what this means and why it matters.
- Analysis of the findings of 10 studies that examined how cellphone exposure may affect male fertility found an average 8% reduction of sperm motility among men exposed to cell phones. It seems especially risky to carry one’s cell phone in a pants pocket. (Could this be why so many men wear clip-on cases for their cell phones when their pants have accessible, roomy pockets — unlike most lady clothes?)
- At RH Reality Check, Loretta Ross explains that involuntary sterilization of prisoners is not ancient history or even recent history, but a continuing practice in 21st century California.
- Five little-known and less discussed facts about hormonal birth control.
- A short video from American Society for Reproductive Medicine explains how infertility is diagnosed.
- Before getting too excited about long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs) as the most cost-effective, easy-to-use, and just-plain-effective reversible method of contraception, health care providers must take into account the history of coercion and how LARCs have been promoted to certain groups of women.
- Has anyone read Damn Bloody Rite, a new zine about bleeding vaginas? Tell us about it!
