Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services decided to overrule the Food and Drug Administration’s report that Plan B emergency contraception was safe to sell over the counter. The Washington Post reports that this decision by the Obama administration symbolized a broken promise to honor scientific and medical evidence in the realm of public health.

At Youth Radio, we’ve been paying close attention to the school-based health centers popping up all over California and elsewhere. The main service they provide is access to reproductive health care. So how will this decision trickle down and impact school-based health centers and ultimately, America’s young people?

Sang Leng Trieu, Senior Program Manager for the California School Health Centers Association, said that emergency contraception is more effective the sooner one takes it. “We stress to students, anyone trying to avoid pregnancy, obtain it asap,” said Trieu. Therefore, the decision to make Plan B harder to obtain, will impact its efficacy. “Youth already have a more difficult time accessing reproductive health. They already have more barriers, like transportation,” she said.

According to Trieu, the most popular times for students to access health centers for reproductive care are Friday afternoons and Monday mornings. “If you have unprotected sex Friday night, and your provider is closed over the weekend, you have to wait until Monday morning,” she said.

Overall, Trieu said the decision is very sad for those in the public health field who have been working on this issue for a long time. “The fight is about increasing access in anyway we can,” said Trieu.

Robyn Gee, Turnstyle News

As candidates for the 2012 presidential election gear up for campaign season, a new study from the Public Religion Research Institute shows that millennials (people born in the 1980's) might throw candidates for a loop by decoupling traditionally married agenda items - specifically same sex marriage and legal abortions.

Millennials are generally liberal, non-religious, educated, and confident, according to a Pew Research study. In the past, being liberal, educated, and non-religious were indicators that you supported the legality of abortion in all or most cases. However, the study shows that millennials (18 - 29) are no more likely than the average American to support the legality of abortion.

Yet, the millennial demographic is unique in that it shows the biggest difference between supporting the availability of abortion (68%) versus the legality of abortion (60%). Hence the name of the study, “Committed to Availability; Conflicted About Morality.”

All other age demographics come within one or two percentage points of agreeing on availability and legality. This seems to suggest that overall legality measures on abortion might not have universal millennial support. Meanwhile, millennials are much more likely than the average American to support legal same-sex marriage. As the study points out, the traditional “values” agenda couples these two items: same-sex marriage and abortion. But these two items are not necessarily a natural pair anymore. We may be young, but man, are we complicated.

Another September has rolled around, and school is back in session.  A new year however, does not necessarily mean new history textbooks- most of us can relate to using outdated materials and making due.  

This is NOT the case for sex education curriculum. For instance, students in Greensboro, North Carolina will learn about contraceptive strategies other than abstinence for the first time this year, according to an article in the News and Record.

There are two schools of thought in the United States about sex education: comprehensive and abstinence-only.  President Obama is giving states a large incentive to adopt a comprehensive sex education curriculum, that includes information about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and varied methods of contraception.  He included a program in his Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (passed in March 2010) called the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP).  This program allows states to apply for a minimum of $250,000 to implement a comprehensive sex education program that addresses more than just abstinence as a form of contraception.  Applications for this funding were due two weeks ago.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, at least three of the following topics must be included in the state's curriculum:

a. Healthy relationships, such as positive self-esteem and relationship dynamics,
friendships, dating, romantic involvement, marriage, and family interactions.
b. Adolescent development, such as the development of healthy attitudes and values about
adolescent growth and development, body image, racial and ethnic diversity, and other
related subjects.
c. Financial literacy.
d. Parent-child communication.
e. Educational and career success, such as developing skills for employment preparation,
job seeking, independent living, financial self-sufficiency, and work-place productivity.
f. Healthy life skills, such as goal-setting, decision making, negotiation, communication and
interpersonal skills, and stress management.

If you've ever watched MTV's "16 and Pregnant," you know how addictive it can be. Cute babies and teen drama are staples of television as a whole, but the veneer of 'really real reality' that this show has makes it extra engaging.

Even though there's a new story featured in every episode, the young women featured go through very similar cycles. There always seems to be boyfriend/baby daddy issues, naive assumptions about the time, money and energy it actually takes to parent, labor room screaming, and the eventual crushing reality check once the baby is born. One might think that this type of show would be a good thing, since it shows the "reality" of teen pregnancy and the eventual tension between parenting and finishing high school.

(Updated on April 28, 2010)

(download mp3)

The following was broadcast on KUNM FM, Albuquerque as part of a series Youth Speak Out, a collaboration between Youth Radio, Youth Media Project in Santa Fe, KUNM’s Youth Radio in Albuquerque, and New Mexico's Youth Alliance, made possible by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. For more information about Youth Speak Out go to www.youthradio.org/new-mexico.

by Bethany Trujillo

The first time I had sex, I got pregnant. I was fifteen years old and I didn’t have any feelings for the guy. We weren’t in a relationship and there were no emotional connections. I had sex with him because two weeks prior my best friend lost her virginity and I wanted to have the experience, too.  It took me two weeks to finally get a hold of the guy, and when he found out he didn’t take it very well.  He said that he didn’t want to be stuck with me for the rest of his life.

You can't imagine how hard it was to tell my mom that I was pregnant at the young age of fifteen. It shocked my mom because we had never discussed sex before.  But, it went better than I expected. She was mad, but understood. She told me that she would support me regardless of my decision.  She was afraid that I wouldn’t graduate high school or be as successful as I could be if I was raising a child.
Read more...

By: Emily Beaver

Today, abortion-rights groups across the country are lobbying against the Stupak amendment, the controversial amendment in the House of Representative's health reform bill that bans federal spending on abortion coverage.

Groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America are holding a lobby day in Washington, D.C., as part of a national "week of action." Hundreds of abortion-rights advocates are expected to gather on Capitol Hill to rally against the amendment, which would prohibit the Medicaid program from covering abortions and would prohibit women who receive government subsidies from buying health plans that cover abortion from a health insurance exchange.

In San Francisco, several reproductive health advocacy groups are planning a rally against the Stupak amendment at noon today at San Francisco City Hall. Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice California, and other groups want California's senators to oppose the ban on abortion coverage in health reform. The advocates plan to speak about the importance of passing health reform legislation that inculdes coverage for abortion services.

Previously:

• Abortion and the Health Care Debate
• Old vs. Young -- the Health Care Tug-Of-War
• Ten Health Care Terms You Need to Know

By: Emily Beaver

Abortion has long been a hot political topic--and now it's becoming part of the health care debate. So what does abortion have to do with health care? Members of Congress are arguing about which health insurance plans should cover abortions.

When the House of Representatives passed its health care reform bill earlier this month, some Democrats persuaded House leaders to include a last-minute amendment that would ban some health care plans from covering abortions.The representatives who proposed the Stupak amendment, named after Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, say they want to prohibit the federal government from spending money on abortion. The amendment would ban the Medicaid program from covering abortions and would prohibit anyone who receives a government subsidy to buy a plan that covers abortions in the health insurance exchange, except in the case of rape, incest or if a woman's life is in danger. Since the government already bans federal spending on abortions, supporters of the Stupak amendment say they are just maintaining the status quo for abortion policy.

How much does an abortion cost if you are paying out-of-pocket? Check out this Youth Radio video:

By Asha Richardson and Nick Bellizzi

When the health care bill passed through the House of Representatives, it included an amendment restricting abortion coverage under subsidized insurance plans. As the Senate now debates its language for the health care bill, abortion continues to be a controversial issue.

Pro-lifers say that the health insurance abortion restriction, known as the Stupak amendment, is just an extension of the Medicaid abortion restriction that already exists, known as the Hyde amendment. Pro-choicers, on the other hand, contend that the Stupak amendment is much more invasive. At Slate.com, William Saletan writes that by mixing public and private health care, Democrats have linked abortion more strongly to taxation. In other words, if pro-lifers can't keep their tax money from paying for abortions, they'll fight to keep coverage of abortions out of the health care bill.

If the Stupak amendment makes it through the Senate, abortions would not be covered for anyone who gets health insurance through Medicaid, forcing people to pay out-of-pocket for abortions. How much do you think an abortion costs? Check out this Youth Radio video to see what young people in Oakland thought:

 Previously:

Jennifer Obakhume is a reporter for Youth Radio. She questions the limited models of womanhood available to young women today.

By the time I was in my late teenage years, the Barbies and baby dolls that were supposed to help young girls become women were long a thing of the past. But, the number of girls in high school who were following the model set by those dolls was growing day by day. I knew so many girls who, I think, got pregnant before their time. Having never had a boyfriend, I naturally couldn’t connect to their situations. Frankly, I would rather have something that is more likely to stick around for the long haul: my education.

Now that I’m getting ready to graduate from college and build towards my career, I don’t really have a realistic model of womanhood in front of me. It would be nice if I did. Instead, I’m working on my career with the idea that I’ll be on an equal playing field with my male colleagues and that I’ll have a medium to large-sized student loan debt that will have to be paid regardless of gender.

Despite the constant suggestions of my relatives to stay away from serious relationships that could result in a pregnancy, I notice that, lately, they've been bugging me more about kids. My family insists that every woman is born with a maternal instinct and that it’s my job to get with the program by my early 30s at the latest. That myth is far off base. I've talked to some older women about motherhood. While many of them are happy with the way their kids turned out, some of them said that they would have waited until later or not had children at all.

At least not everyone treats motherhood as a requirement for being a woman. Read more...

In a few weeks, on October 6, Irene Vilar will publish her memoir: "Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of an Abortion Addict". The book focuses on her struggles with childbearing, and the fifteen abortions she had in sixteen years. She concentrates on the issues she dealt with at this time in her life, what the addiction felt like, her reasons for the procedures, and how it affected her emotions.

It is not until now that Vilar has seriously considered the repercussions of the book. Focusing on such a highly controversial issue as abortion, Vilar is certain that at least one --if not both-- sides of the issue (both pro-choice and pro-life) will construe her story to support their causes. She has made it clear that she is not advocating either side, but rather just telling her story. The life and times of a person and a confession of their own emotions is not always there for a political agenda, but sometimes, just there to be there. Vilar does not want to be made the poster child of any issue, but rather, share her story and the lessons she has learned.

It would be fairly easy for the pro-life campaign to use "Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of an Abortion Addict" to their advantage. The story is about what her addiction and the depression that it led to. I would not be surprised if pro-life groups used this book to show that abortion can be emotionally damaging and bad. This is not what Vilar wants.

I hope that the story can just be a story, and that whoever reads it can take away from it what they made, and not what others tell them.

Vilar now has two children, ages 3 and 5.(via ABC News)