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Rate of pregnancy in teens aged 15-19 in 2008, or 67.8 pregnancies per 1,000 women in that age group — a nearly 40-year low, according to a new Guttmacher Institute report [PDF]. The teen birthrate also fell to about 4% in 2008, and the abortion rate fell to 1.8%. That’s the lowest rate since abortion became legal. The report suggests that the declines can be attributed largely to teens’ increased use of contraceptives. [via The Wall Street Journal]
The same anesthetic that caused the overdose death of pop star Michael Jackson is now the drug of choice for executions in Missouri, causing a stir among critics who question how the state can guarantee a drug untested for lethal injection won’t cause pain and suffering for the condemned.
A new study finds that babies born by c-section are twice as likely to be obese by age 3 as those delivered vaginally.
Tuberculosis has been brought under control in much of the world, thanks to prevention practices and powerful antibiotics. But in poor nations like Peru, the disease still kills hundreds of babies and children — and new drug-resistant cases threaten an even bigger resurgence.
