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Placenta Harmed By Cocaine And Heroin
Cocaine and heroin increase permeability of the placenta. Researchers writing in BioMed Central"s open access journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology have shown that exposure to the drugs causes an increase in the passage of some chemicals into the fetus.

Why Some Prostate Cancer Returns
The majority of men who receive one of the standard treatments for localized prostate cancer - surgery or radiation therapy - have an excellent outcome.
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Blogs Comment On Supreme Court Pregnancy Leave Ruling, Obama's Notre Dame Speech, Other Topics
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries. ~ "Peaceful Revolution: Another Blow to Women," Debra Ness, Huffington Post blogs: The Supreme Court"s ruling this week in AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen "dealt a serious and painful blow to working women and the families who rely on their retirement benefits," Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, writes. The ruling "affects a limited number of people," and it "would be easy to ignore them -- easy, but terribly wrong," Ness continues. "This ruling sends a terrible message about whether discrimination will bring penalties and costs, and whether the courts will address the ongoing effects of prior discrimination," she writes. Ness notes that the ruling "couldn"t come at a worse time," adding, "In today"s grim economic climate, women and their families cannot afford to see their retirement benefits kept lower by discriminatory workplace policies that should have been remedied decades ago." Ness writes that it is "sobering that, at a time when negative stereotypes about pregnant women clearly persist, we have a Supreme Court that doesn"t stand firm for equal rights and equal opportunity." She concludes, "It"s a good reminder of what"s at stake with the Supreme Court nomination President Obama is about to make" (Ness, Huffington Post blogs, 5/21).~ "This Week in Religion and Politics," Sarah Posner, American Prospect"s "The FundamentaList": When "viewed in the context of Obama"s entire faith-based outreach project, the events" surrounding the University of Notre Dame"s commencement ceremony "highlighted how he has embraced traditionalist, conservative religion -- to the detriment of sexual and reproductive justice," Posner writes. President Obama has "focused his outreach efforts" to reduce the need for abortion "on more conservative religious groups" and "claims to honor their position on moral issues," Posner writes. However, "when the dust settles on the Notre Dame controversy, he"ll have to figure out what to do with the policy advice he has sought" from the White House Office on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, she continues. Posner adds, "How Obama reacts to that advice will demonstrate whether the council is mere window dressing to shore up support from swing constituencies or whether Obama will yield to conservative religious dogma on reproductive-health issues." Meanwhile, Christian conservatives have been "making hay of the findings" of recent Pew and Gallup polls that found more U.S. residents identifying with "pro-life" positions and using the data to argue "that Obama"s position is out of touch with the majority of Americans," Posner writes. However, as bloggers at The Monkey Cage and FiveThirtyEight have pointed out, the polls are not representative of most U.S. residents" views on abortion rights, she writes. "Because of that deception on reproductive rights, it"s more important than ever for the president to lay the moral groundwork for his own position -- not just to recognize the moral qualms of abortion opponents," Posner says (Posner, "The FundamentaList," American Prospect, 5/20).~ "Meghan McCain Preaches What She Practices," Willa Paskin, Slate"s "XX Factor": Meghan McCain -- Sen. John McCain"s (R-Ariz.) daughter -- "acquitted herself quite admirably" on Monday"s episode of Comedy Central"s "The Colbert Report" by "defending her core position" that the Republican Party "needs to appeal to younger voters, and it can only do so by getting liberal on social issues," Paskin writes. On the show, McCain said, "I think it"s not realistic for this generation to be just plain abstinent, I think we need to have sex education with condoms and birth control. ... I would never practice anything I didn"t preach." Paskin also includes a video clip of McCain"s appearance (Paskin, "XX Factor," Slate, 5/19).~ "Skill the Messenger," Cristina Page, Birth Control Watch: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin"s (R) 18-year-old daughter Bristol -- who was
Health Insurance

World Food Programme Commends G8 Leaders' Focus On Food Security; Urges Support For Hunger Needs Of World's Poorest

As leaders at the G8 summit in L"Aquila gather to discuss global food security, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is urging a twin-track approach to food security, supporting long-term agricultural production with continued support for immediate hunger assistance. "We applaud the G8 focus on food security," said Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the World Food Programme, headquartered in Rome. "We learned a lesson last year when rising food prices caused an epidemic of hunger leading to food riots in more than 30 countries. Without food people revolt, migrate or die. None of these are acceptable options." In figures released two weeks ago by the UN"s Food and Agriculture Organization the number of hungry people is now projected to top 1.02 billion, and with the global economic crisis compounding the ongoing food price crisis in the developing world, causing loss of jobs, remittances and slowed exports and investment, this number is expected to climb further. This reverses a four-decade trend where the number of hungry has declined. At the same time, global food aid supplies last year were at a 34 year low and 18 percent lower than in 2005. Food aid has dropped 35 percent since 1995. "We cannot afford to lose a generation to malnutrition, starvation and despair," said Sheeran. "Addressing immediate hunger needs is a critical long-term investment in healthy, stable societies." WFP depends entirely on voluntary donations, and has raised less than one quarter of its US$6.4 billion budget for 2009 at the halfway point of the year. "WFP is the safety net for the most vulnerable people in the world," Sheeran said. "It"s a false logic for the world to say that we will either invest in tomorrow"s agriculture or today"s urgent food needs. There is no question that we must do both." World Food Programme


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