Martha Kempner's blog

Data released today show that the teen pregnancy rate is down 42 percent from its 1990 high with rates declining among all racial and ethnic and age groups. Researchers credit young people—and their effective contraceptive use—with these declines. 

A new analysis from researchers at the Guttmacher Institute found that states' unintended pregnancy rates are related to the proportion of women in the state who are uninsured and receiving Medicaid.

South Carolina lawmakers are set to look at laws that make sexting between minors a crime and they are not alone; 21 states took up sexting laws in 2011.  But in their rush to address this issue, too many states are punishing first and asking questions later. 

A study out last week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that half of teens who experienced an unintended pregnancy were not using birth control even though they did not want to get pregnant.

This week the CDC released a report that suggests that Americans are practicing fewer risky behaviors when it comes to HIV transmission.

The search for a vaccine to prevent Herpes faced a setback this month, when researchers published findings in the New England Journal of Medicine from a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that found a new vaccine to be useless against Herpes Simplex Virus 2 (HSV-2).

This week, a coalition of education organizations released a new document designed to help states and school districts across the country create or evaluate sexuality education curriculum.  

The battle in Los Angeles over whether porn stars should be required to use condoms is heating up again as an AIDS activist group started collecting signatures last week for a new ballot initiative.  If it gets on the ballot, the voters of Los Angeles County may get to decide how much latex we see in adult films. 

Last year research linking vaccines to autism was debunked as a complete fabrication.  Now a new study shows that the HPV vaccine does not cause promiscuity. There are no excuses left.  Parents have an obligation to society to vaccinate their children.  Not doing so is selfish.

A new study using a mathematical model suggests that public health efforts should focus on vaccinating either boys or girls against HPV but not both. The findings seem to counter a recent decision by the CDC which recommends vaccinating boys as well, but experts here say it is not time to start cancelling our son’s pediatrician appointments.