December 20, 2009, The New York Times

The omnibus government spending bill signed into law last week contains an important victory for public health. Gone is all spending for highly restrictive abstinence-only sex education programs that deny young people accurate information about contraceptives, sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. The measure redirects sex-education resources to medically sound programs aimed at reducing teenage pregnancy.

December 15, 2009, National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy

Nearly all unmarried young adults ages 18-29 believe pregnancy is something that should be planned (94% of men and 86% of women) and say that it is important to avoid pregnancy in their lives right now (86% of men and 88% of women), according to new research released by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Even so:

* Only about half of sexually active unmarried young adults use contraception regularly - many say they used it inconsistently (24%) or not at all (19%) over the past three months.

December 15, 2009, CNN

Most sexually active unmarried young adults believe pregnancy should be planned, but about half do not use contraception regularly, according to a study published Tuesday.

The survey of 1,800 people age 18 to 29 was conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Teenage sisters sought freedom in pregnancy, but one found confinement

December 11, 2009, Washington Post

When the Marquez sisters set out to get pregnant, Edelmira was 14 and Angela was 15.

Having babies, the girls thought, would force their Salvadoran-born parents to stop trying to keep them and their teenage boyfriends apart.

Edelmira was the first to succeed, giving birth to a baby girl in the eighth grade. She regretted it almost immediately, and warned her sister not to get pregnant.

December 9, 2009, SIECUS

Washington, D.C.  – Last night, Congress released the final appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2010. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 takes several steps toward properly promoting and funding programs that will improve the sexual and reproductive health for young people across the country.

The December 2009 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, a quarterly, peer-reviewed professional journal published by the Guttmacher Institute, features the following:

December 8, 2009, WWSB ABC Sarasota County (FLTV)

As many as one in four U.S. teenage girls have had a sexually transmitted disease (STD), many infected soon after their first sexual encounter, a new government report shows.

MONDAY, Dec. 7 (HealthDay News) -- When it comes to talking about sex, parents are a few paces behind their kids.

Too often, the birds-and-the-bees conversation occurs after, and not before, kids start experimenting sexually, possibly in risky ways, reports a study in the January issue of Pediatrics.

This revelation comes despite American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations that health-care providers and parents talk to their kids about sex and sexuality early in life.

December 1, 2009, Tallahasee Democrat