New reports document the needs of young Mexican women and barriers to improving maternal health in Mexico

Radius Images/CorbisTwo reports released today by the Guttmacher Institute, Investigación en Salud y Demografía (INSAD) and El Colegio de México shed new light on the sexual and reproductive health of young Mexican women and on barriers to improving maternal health in Mexico. Based on national surveys, the reports—"Addressing Adolescent Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs in Mexico: Challenges and Opportunities" and "Barriers to Safe Motherhood in Mexico"—provide new evidence aimed at informing programs and interventions to better serve the needs of Mexican women and adolescents...more

Abortion ban in U.S. military facilities discriminates against servicewomen

Current policy prohibiting abortions in American military facilities should be overturned because it discriminates against U.S. servicewomen and endangers their health and safety, argues a new analysis in the Guttmacher Policy Review. At a minimum, Congress should follow the lead of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which earlier this year voted to let active duty women in the military pay out-of-pocket for abortions at U.S. military facilities…more

Break down barriers to contraception in the Philippines

© Frank Spangler, Worldview ImagesThe new administration of President Benigno Aquino should make family planning services a priority, argue Junice Melgar of the Likhaan Center for Women’s Health in the Philippines and Guttmacher’s Sharon L. Camp in a jointly authored opinion article in the South China Morning Post. Since 2004, the provision of publicly funded contraceptives in the Philippines has been declining at a steady pace, and many Filipino women—especially the poorest—now face obstacles to preventing unwanted pregnancies. Read the full opinion article here.

For additional information, click here to read Facts on Barriers to Contraceptive Use in the Philippines.

Young, unmarried women in India face obstacles
to obtaining early abortions

Frank Spangler, Worldview ImagesA new study by researchers at the Population Council, New Delhi, in the June issue of International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health finds that many young, unmarried Indian women who received abortion services in 2007–2008 faced obstacles to obtaining the procedure early in their pregnancies, including a delayed recognition of pregnancy, a lack of knowledge about the legality of abortion for unmarried women, and lack of support from partners and family...more

Ob-gyns face professional barriers to providing abortion services

Many obstetrician-gynecologists who receive abortion training during residency and plan to offer elective abortions once in practice are unable to do so because of formal and informal policies restricting abortion provision imposed by their private group practices, employers and hospitals. Click here for more information.

Articles in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health are now published online as they complete the production process, under our new Early View feature. If you would like to be alerted when new articles become available in Early View, sign up at this link.

Unsafe abortion a major cause of maternal death in Ghana

More than one in 10 pregnancy-related deaths in Ghana are the result of unsafe abortions. In addition, 13% of Ghanaian women who have had an abortion experience complications resulting from unsafe procedures, and fewer than half of them received the needed follow-up care. These statistics are all the more remarkable because Ghana is one of the few African countries where abortion is legal under fairly broad grounds, and abortion performed by a qualified professional under proper conditions is an extremely safe procedure...more

Ethiopia would save lives and money by improving contraceptive services

Frank Spangler, Worldview ImagesLow levels of contraceptive use in Ethiopia result in high levels of unintended pregnancy which, in turn, create a broad range of negative consequences for women, their families and the national health care system. The new report, "Benefits of Meeting the Contraceptive Needs of Ethiopian Women," released today by the Guttmacher Institute and the Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ESOG), documents the considerable financial and health benefits that would accrue from increased investment in contraceptive services...more

Is it sex or isn’t it?

CSA Images/Snapstock (modified)The June issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health features “Sex Redefined: The Reclassification of Oral-Genital Contact,” by Jason D. Hans et al., of the University of Kentucky, an article exploring what young adults think about oral sex. The authors found that only about 20% of university students surveyed agreed that oral-genital contact constituted sex, while the majority (98%) believed that penile-vaginal intercourse did. Click here for more on this article, and to find out what else is in this issue of the journal.

Meeting unmet need for contraception and preventing teen pregnancies saves money and lives

The International Planned Parenthood Federation and the Guttmacher Institute today released two new fact sheets, one highlighting the sexual and reproductive health needs of young women worldwide and the other documenting the unmet need for contraception in developing countries…more

Contraception should be covered without cost sharing

Federal officials drafting guidelines to implement health care reform should include contraception among the basic set of preventive services for women that private insurance plans must cover without cost sharing, concludes a new Guttmacher Institute analysis. Not only has prevention of unintended pregnancy long been a key goal of U.S. public health policy, but medical providers, federal and state health programs, and private sector businesses have long recognized contraception as a critical part of women’s preventive health care…more

Also read Adam Sonfield’s recent CNN opinion piece arguing that contraception is preventive health care and should be covered without cost sharing in the new health care reform package.

Guttmacher launches new State Data Center

This new tool allows researchers, advocates, policymakers, journalists and others working on reproductive health issues at the national or state level to build, download and print custom tables, graphs and maps on a range of abortion, pregnancy and family planning-related issues. Click here to see it in action.

Guttmacher becomes WHO Collaborating Center for Reproductive Health

The Guttmacher Institute has been designated an official Collaborating Center for Reproductive Health by The World Health Organization (WHO) and its regional office, the Pan American Health Organization. Guttmacher now joins an elite network of over 800 health-focused institutions in more than 80 countries that inform WHO’s work and help set its global health priorities. “We are honored to be designated an official collaborator by the world’s leading organization on global health matters,” said Sharon L. Camp, president and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute. more

New study finds 70% reduction in maternal deaths and nearly 50% decline in newborn deaths are within reach

© Victor MelloMaternal deaths in developing countries could be slashed by 70% and newborn deaths cut nearly in half if the world doubled investment in family planning and pregnancy-related care, shows a new report by the Guttmacher Institute and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The new report, Adding It Up: The Costs and Benefits of Investing in Family Planning and Maternal and Newborn Health, found that investments in family planning boost the overall effectiveness of every dollar spent on the provision of pregnancy-related and newborn health care. more