A Tribute to Pioneering Sex Educator Dr. Ruth Westheimer
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Today there are a lot of experts offering sexual health information and advice on websites and social media, but in the 1980s it seemed like everyone was listening to just one: Dr. Ruth Westheimer.
Can I Get an STI from Kissing?
![A couple kissing](https://www.ashasexualhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Couple-kissing-1024x576.png)
You can get STIs from kissing, but most experts would tell you that kissing—even passionate kissing with tongue—is a pretty safe sexual behavior.
STIs Are Not Just for the Young
![An older couple kissing](https://www.ashasexualhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Older-couple-kissing1-1024x576.png)
STIs aren’t about age, they’re about sexual behavior. Older people are having sex, and they need to be thinking about sexually transmitted infections.
Understanding the Social Factors Associated with Congenital Syphilis
![An infant is in an incubator in the NICU](https://www.ashasexualhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Congenital-syphilis-1024x576.png)
Public health experts have said that every case of congenital syphilis is a failure of STI screening and prenatal care. A new study looked more closely at cases to see what factors in a pregnant person’s life were most associated with congenital syphilis.
Birth Control Prescriptions Are Down in States with Abortion Bans
![Birth control pills in a bag](https://www.ashasexualhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Birth-control-1024x576.png)
Women in states with restrictive abortion laws have few options today. And yet the prescriptions for birth control methods has fallen since the Dobbs decision.
Supreme Court Leaves Mifepristone Rules Alone—For Now
![A person holds a pill in one hand and a glass of water in the other](https://www.ashasexualhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Mifepristone-1024x576.png)
The U.S. Supreme Court overruled a lower court decision that would have made mifepristone harder to get even in states where abortion remains legal. But the decision doesn’t mean the court is softening its stance on abortion rights.
Preventing HIV with Just Two Shots a Year? A New Study Shows This is Possible
![A woman gets an injection](https://www.ashasexualhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/PrEP-study-1024x576.png)
Remarkable results in a Phase III PrEP trial with women and adolescent girls in Africa—two injections per year effectively prevented all HIV infection.
New Study Shows Epidurals During Delivery Offer More than Just Pain Relief
![Pregnant woman lies in hospital bed after epidural](https://www.ashasexualhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/epidural-1024x576.png)
A new study suggests that pregnant people who got an epidural were more than one-third less likely to suffer severe maternal morbidity.
New Option for Cervical Cancer Screening — Self Collected Samples
![A uterus](https://www.ashasexualhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Uterus1.png)
The FDA recently approved HPV testing using self-collected samples. Experts hope allowing people to collect their own samples will increase screening rates.
New CDC Guidelines Offer Recommendations On Doxy PEP
![A doctor talks to a male patient](https://www.ashasexualhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/doxy-pep-guidelines-1024x576.png)
Doxy PEP involves taking an oral antibiotic after condomless sex to prevent bacterial STIs. Research has shown that this can reduce the possibility of contracting chlamydia by 88%, syphilis by 87%, and gonorrhea by 55%.