New and Notable in Sexual Health
Check out featured resources and the latest news on sexual and reproductive health.
Texas Abortion Restrictions
Texas Abortion Law Threatens Reproductive Rights Abortion rights, often under fire, are facing the most serious attack since the passage of Roe v. Wade. The American Sexual Health Association decries the recently passed horrific restrictions to abortion access in Texas, compounded by the Supreme Court’s decision to permit enactment. The law bans abortion as early […]
Access Denied: Abortion Rights Threatened
[post_date] Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, and several other state legislatures recently passed “heartbeat bills” prohibiting abortion after a fetal heartbeat becomes detectable. Furthermore, It’s actually up in the air just how long Missouri’s only clinic providing abortion services will keep its doors open. Fetal heartbeats can be detected after just a few weeks, often before a […]
New CDC Data Show that STD Rates Continue to Rise
[post_date] New data released today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal that STD rates continue to climb in the U.S., with nearly 2.3 million cases reported to CDC. The data on five year trends in reported STDs show that increases in STDs have continued for four consecutive years. From 2013-2017: Syphilis […]
National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)
[post_date] The latest YRBS reports some positive health trends for American youth but points out nagging disparities still persist with sexual minorities. The 2017 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows fewer young people in the U.S. are having sex and using drugs but cautions […]
HSV Rates Dropping
[post_date] Rates of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) dipped between 1999 and 2016 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among those in the U.S. ages 14-49 the prevalence of HSV-2 in 2016 (all of those with HSV-2 in the age range being studied) was 12%, down […]
Pregnancy, Birth and Abortion Rates in US Adolescents Hit Historic Lows
[post_date] A new report from the Guttmacher Institute reveals that rates of adolescent pregnancy, birth and abortion in the United States reached historic lows in 2013. The decline among teens specifically is striking: the U.S. pregnancy rate among 15–19-year-olds was at its lowest point in at least 80 years and had dropped to just above […]
Federal Funding for Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs Abruptly Cut
[post_date] Earlier this month, 81 organizations that currently receive funding from Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) were notified by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) this funding would end June 30, 2018. The notice came as a surprise, as these programs were awarded five-year grants in 2015—totaling $213.6 million—with an original end date of […]
A New Gender Option in Oregon
[post_date] As of July 1, Oregon residents will have three options for gender on state-issued IDs and driver’s licenses: M, F or X. The X offers an option for individuals who identify as non-binary, neither exclusively male or female. The decision by the state’s Transportation Commission makes Oregon the first state in the country to […]
Support for Same-Sex Marriage on the Rise
[post_date] In a 2001 poll by the Pew Research Center—a nonpartisan organization that conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, and other empirical social science research—Americans opposed same-sex marriage by a margin of 57% to 35%. Polling in 2017 shows a significant change in those numbers, with 62% expressing support for same-sex marriage versus 32% opposed. […]