In a country that is the world's largest Roman Catholic nation, the government of Brazil announced that it would be adding the "morning after" pill to its birth control program for the poor. The government hopes to shrink unplanned pregnancies among the lower class and keep women from resorting to drastic measures in the conservative country that has banned abortion.

At a discussion held Monday, Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao called the morning-after ill "an important tool for the prevention of unplanned pregnancies" and will allow poor women in Brazil to have the same birth control options as rich women

In an attempt to help the economically deprived people reduce unwanted pregnancies and cut down on illegal abortions, the government of Brazil now plans to distribute "morning after" pills to the poor.

Under the newly expanded birth control program, the country's Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao announced the new development just a month after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the government would provide cheap birth control pills at 10,000 drug stores across Brazil

The number of Irish women traveling to the U.K. with the purpose of having an abortion has dropped in the past five years. According to figures recently released by the British Department of Health (DoH), just over 5,000 women headed to Britain to terminate their pregnancy, a fall of 1,600 cases from 2001.

While supporters of rightful abortion dispute the illegality of abortion in Ireland, the anti-abortion groups have welcomed the decline

Parents can now find out if their baby is a boy or a girl only six weeks into gestation through a test available online.

DNA Worldwide recently made the blood-test kit available for purchase online but it has been met with some controversy. One group said the kit would prompt parents to abort the child if it is not the desired gender

Many anti-abortion agencies in Britain say there could a possible surge in abortions after the release of a new DNA testing kit which determines the sex of a baby six weeks into pregnancy.

Manufactured by British company DNA worldwide, The Early Gender Test checks blood from the mother for Y-chromosomes and determines the presence of boy. The test which went on sale on the Internet to non-U.S. customers this week, costs 190 pounds ($375)