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February 1, 2013 Under the proposed rule, employees at nonprofit religious organizations would get access to no-cost contraception, but their employer wouldn't pay for the coverage. The move is another attempt to provide contraceptive coverage without violating the beliefs of religious nonprofits.

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January 30, 2013 Before penicillin was found to be effective against syphilis during World War II, sex brought with it the risk of syphilis, an disease that can cause blindness, dementia and paralysis. An economist argues that treatment was a key factor in the sexual revolution.

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January 11, 2013 Religious groups were among the first to object to a requirement that employers' health plans provide free birth control. But some companies have also objected, saying the mandate violates their religious freedom, too.

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November 21, 2012 Easier access to oral contraceptives could reduce unintended pregnancies, doctors say. But the Food and Drug Administration would have to allow purchases of the pill without a prescription, and that's not going to happen anytime soon.

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October 2, 2012 KHNUnder the federal health law, adult children can remain on parents' insurance plans until they reach age 26. Parents may find out about their daughters' prescriptions for birth control pills from notices of insurance benefits.

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May 25, 2012 Defenders of an Obama administration rule requiring most health insurance plans to offer access to contraception without copays say there's no validity to arguments it violates religious freedom.

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May 21, 2012 More than 40 Catholic educational, charitable and other entities filed a dozen lawsuits in federal court around the nation Monday, charging that the Obama Administration's rule requiring coverage of birth control in most health insurance plans violates their religious freedom.

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March 26, 2012 When researchers compared the cost of condoms for women with the cost of HIV infections it prevented, they found the relatively new condoms saved between $15 and $20 for every dollar spent on distributing them in Washington.

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March 13, 2012 KHNStudents aren't employees, and student health plans are generally individual policies that the students buy on their own, even if they're offered through the college. So mandatory coverage of birth control for students shouldn't be delayed past August, but it could take longer for the faculty, advocates say.

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March 6, 2012 An NPR report failed to cite Planned Parenthood as the sponsor of a poll on the birth control insurance mandate and interpreted the results questionably. A second report repeated an error in a Guttmacher press release on birth control use by Catholic women and never cited Guttmacher. Critics charged liberal bias. What happened? What's the impact?

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March 6, 2012 By far the biggest return on investment would come from expanding access to family planning through Medicaid, a Brookings Institution analysis finds.

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March 1, 2012 The Senate defeated the Blunt amendment, which would have let employers opt out of a mandate to pay for birth control coverage. Separately, a poll finds a majority of Americans support the mandate.

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February 23, 2012 A Georgetown law student made her case for mandatory insurance coverage for birth control in front of a panel of House Democrats. A week ago she was prevented from testifying before a Republican-controlled committee.

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February 21, 2012 KHNInsurers often don't cover condoms, contraceptive sponges and spermicides unless people get a prescription for them. And that requires thinking ahead.

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