plus 4, Abortions in Illinois reach 10-year high in 2008 - Chicago Sun-Times

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• Abortions in Illinois reach 10-year high in 2008 - Chicago Sun-Times
• Maggie Rodriguez Gets Up 'Early' to Announce Pregnancy - Pop Eater
• Drugs During Pregnancy Being Studied - OfficialWire
• Bristol Palin, Levi Johnston in heated custody battle over son - Pioneer Press
• FDA To Study Safety Of Drugs Taken During Pregnancy - Post Chronicle

Abortions in Illinois reach 10-year high in 2008 - Chicago Sun-Times Posted: 04 Jan 2010 02:45 AM PST ILLINOIS | Economic slump, access to Aurora clinic cited in 5% increase from '07 to '08 BY DAVE MCKINNEY Staff Reporter The number of abortions performed in Illinois reached a 10-year high in 2008, newly compiled state records show. The uptick could be due to the state's flagging economy and to the first full year of operation of a new clinic offering abortion services in Aurora, abortion-rights advocates and opponents alike say. In 2008, the most recent year for which data are available, figures from the Illinois Public Health Department show that 47,717 abortions were performed statewide. That represents a 5 percent increase from 2007. And it's the most abortions in Illinois in a year since 1998, when 49,403 women were reported to have had abortions. The state's main provider of abortion services has heard from its clients that the economy is a factor in their decisions, said Steve Trombley, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Council's Chicago area chapter. "When couples are facing an unintended pregnancy and have to make a decision whether they want to carry pregnancy to term and have another child, they'll factor economic circumstance into the decision," Trombley said. "If one or both parents is unemployed, it's less likely couples are going to want to expand their family size." Planned Parenthood declined to provide data on abortions provided in 2008 at its clinics in Chicago, Aurora and Champaign. Robert Gilligan, executive director of the anti-abortion Catholic Conference of Illinois, attributed the 2008 increases, in part, to the opening of Planned Parenthood's Aurora clinic in November 2007. "I think that has something to do with it," Gilligan said. Abortion statistics in three of the four counties straddling Aurora saw the number of women seeking the procedure jump dramatically in 2008, state records show. There was a 73 percent jump in abortions for women in Kendall County, the home of 194 women who had an abortion in 2008. A year earlier, 112 women in Kendall County had an abortion. In Kane County, the number of women who obtained abortions in 2008 rose 38 percent, increasing to 1,145 from 832 in 2007. And in Will County, the number of women who obtained abortions grew by 22 percent. In 2008, 1,161 Will County women got abortions, compared with 953 in 2007. Increases in those three counties alone accounted for 25 percent of the overall increase in abortions statewide in 2008, state records show. The number of Cook County women obtaining abortions also jumped in 2008. State records show 25,529 of the procedures were performed on women from Cook last year, compared with 22,296 in 2007, a 15 percent increase. Gilligan said he thinks other factors also are driving the statewide increase, starting with a lack of "common-sense laws" restricting abortion. He cites the long-stalled parental notification law that is tied up in litigation despite having passed the Illinois General Assembly in 1995. His group and others have pushed for changes in law to require women to witness ultrasound images of their fetuses before abortion and to impose mandatory waiting periods, but those approaches have not gained legislative traction. "We refuse to do any of those things, which helps to drive the numbers up, and secondly, we've increased access," Gilligan said, explaining his theory behind the 2008 increases. On a percentage basis, the age group with the largest increase in abortions from 2007 to 2008 was those 14 and under. In 2008, 299 girls in that group obtained abortions, up 16 percent from 2007, state records show. The group with the next-largest percentage increase was women 20 to 24 years old. Abortions for that group reached 13,130 in 2008, up 11 percent from the year before. Data for abortions performed in 2009 are not expected to be released by the state until next fall. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Maggie Rodriguez Gets Up 'Early' to Announce Pregnancy - Pop Eater Posted: 04 Jan 2010 09:47 AM PST Celebrity Baby Boom Chris Robinson and Allison Bridges It's a Girl! Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson and his wife Allison Bridges welcomed a baby girl, Cheyenne Genevieve Robinson on Dec. 26, 2009. Ethan Miller, Getty Images Michelle Stafford It's a Girl! Stafford, who is single, welcomed her first child, named Natalia Scout Lee, Dec. 21 through the help of a surrogate. Frazer Harrison, Getty Images Leelee Sobieski It's a girl! The 'Public Enemies' and 'Joan of Arc' actress and her fiance Adam Kimmel welcomed her first baby on Dec. 15. Getty Images Kourtney Kardashian It's a boy! The 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' reality star welcomed her first baby Mason Dash Disick on Dec. 14. Getty Images Amanda Peet and David Benioff Expecting The 36-year-old '2012' actress is expecting her second child with her screenwriter husband. They have a daughter, Frances, who was born in 2007. Getty Images Amy Adams and Darren Legallo Expecting The 35-year-old 'Doubt' and 'Julie & Julia' actress is having her first child with her fiance. J. Vespa, WireImage Judy Reyes and George Valencia It's a Girl! The 'Scrubs' star and her director boyfriend have had their first child, a daughter they've named Leila Rey Valencia. Astrid Stawiarz, Getty Images Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson It's a Girl! The 'SNL' alum and her 'Boogie Nights' directing beau welcomed their second child, a daughter named Lucille. Kevork Djansezian, AP Lisa Loeb and Roey Hershkovitz It's a girl! Lyla Rose Loeb Hershkovitz is the first child for the 'Stay' singer and her husband. Getty Images Adriana Lima and Marko Jaric It's a Girl! The Victoria's Secret model and her NBA star husband were married on Valentine's Day this year. Valentina Lima Jaric is their first child. John Shearer, WireImage Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Drugs During Pregnancy Being Studied - OfficialWire Posted: 01 Jan 2010 08:56 PM PST A new public/private research program will study the effects of prescription medications used during pregnancy, U.S. researchers say. The researchers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the HMO Research Network Center for Education and Research in Therapeutics, Kaiser Permanente's multiple research centers and Vanderbilt University say very few clinical trials test the safety of medications in pregnancy although one study finds two-thirds of women delivering a baby have taken at least one prescription medication during pregnancy. The Medication Exposure in Pregnancy Risk Evaluation Program will address that research gap, they say. "This program is a great example of FDA and the private sector working together to improve the health of pregnant women and their children," Dr. Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the Food & Drug Administration, said in a statement. "These data will guide regulatory policy and influence medical practice." To overcome the challenges presented by the lack of clinical trial data about the use of medications during pregnancy, the research program will link healthcare information for mothers and their babies from 11 participating research sites -- a total of about 1 million births during the past seven years since 2001. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Bristol Palin, Levi Johnston in heated custody battle over son - Pioneer Press Posted: 28 Dec 2009 07:14 PM PST To view this site, you need to have Flash Player 8.0 or later installed. Click here to get the latest Flash player. ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A judge's ruling has revealed a heated legal custody battle between Sarah Palin's daughter and the father of her grandson. Bristol Palin's request to keep the proceedings closed was denied last week by a Superior Court judge. A temporary order had authorized the use of pseudonyms while the court was considering the request, which stated that no good "could result to the child by an onslaught of media." Levi Johnston, the father of 1-year-old Tripp, has pushed for open court proceedings, saying he "just wants a simple case on the merits." "I do not feel protected against Sarah Palin in a closed proceeding," Johnston said in an affidavit. "I hope that if it is open she will stay out of it. Bristol's attorney is her attorney." Bristol Palin's petition for sole custody and child support, filed in early November, also seeks a visitation schedule for Johnston. Bristol says her ex-fiance has exercised "sporadic visitation rights." Relations between the Palins and Johnston and his family have frequently been strained since the couple broke off their engagement after their son was born in late December 2008. Johnston denies in court documents that he has avoided his responsibilities. He is seeking shared custody. Bristol Palin is the eldest daughter of Sarah Palin, who resigned as Alaska governor in July. Sarah Palin announced her daughter's pregnancy days after being named the running mate of Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Bristol Palin's custody petition calls Johnston's recent nude photo shoot with Playgirl magazine "risque." The document also notes that Levi's mother, Sherry Johnston, should not be allowed unsupervised visits with the baby following her drug arrest. Sherry Johnston, who is serving out most of her three-year sentence under home confinement, was sentenced last month on a guilty plea to one count of possession with intent to deliver the painkiller OxyContin. Palin's custody petition also suggested Levi Johnston may have his own issues with substance abuse, saying he made statements about seeking "weed" on Twitter. Johnston denies making such a statement, saying the Twitter account "is a fraud" and that he doesn't have an account on the popular online social networking site. In a motion opposing closed proceedings, Levi Johnston's attorney, Rex Butler, argued that Bristol Palin had not shown what sort of evidence could stigmatize the child. "This case presents a custody case with similar facts that attend open cases every day in the Alaska court system," Butler wrote. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

FDA To Study Safety Of Drugs Taken During Pregnancy - Post Chronicle Posted: 31 Dec 2009 01:24 AM PST U.S. health officials plan to study the safety of medications taken during pregnancy with an eye toward using the data in future regulations and medical practice, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday. Citing a lack of clinical trials to determine how medications affect mothers and unborn children, the FDA said it will collaborate with other researchers in the new study, called the Medication Exposure in Pregnancy Risk Evaluation Program. The agency said data shows that about two-thirds of women who deliver a baby have taken at least one prescription medication during pregnancy. "Results of these studies will provide valuable information for patients and physicians when making decisions about medication during pregnancy," Gerald Dal Pan, a director at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. The program will work off of data from 11 health plan-affiliated research sites that have healthcare information for about 1 million births over a seven-year period started in 2001. The FDA did not give a timeline for when the program will complete the safety study. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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