Scientists are suggesting that a contraceptive pill that promises to end the pain and misery of menstruation for millions of women has been proved safe and effective. The study, published in the December issue of Contraception, has for the first time demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of continuous-use oral contraceptives that can eliminate menstrual cycles.

Lead investigator David F. Archer, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Eastern Virginia Medical School, said that the medicine, called Lybrel, was taken every day for a year and halted periods in more than half of the 2,000 women who used it

In a bid to reduce abortion rates, Britain's leading abortion provider has urged women and young girls to stock up on the "morning-after" pill, in case they have unprotected sex.

The morning after pill, known as Emergency contraception (EC) (also known as Emergency Birth Control (EBC) or postcoital contraception) refers to measures that, if taken after sex, may prevent pregnancy

According to a study released Wednesday, a majority of Americans prefer that children are given a comprehensive sex education in schools, which would include discussions of abstinence and birth control, rather than an abstinence-only education, which is currently favored by federal funding.

The University of Pennsylvania study found that, in a survey of 1,096 individuals, 80.4 percent favor a broader sex education for children, including condom instruction, than abstinence-only programs afford

Male contraceptive testing has recently moved to the US. Over 60 percent of men in four different countries have expressed interest in the contraceptive -- the US was not included in the survey.

The Intra Vas Device or IVD is a plug that is inserted into a small hole cut in the scrotum. This blocks sperm from traveling in the body. If it is approved, IVD and the vasectomy will be the only two forms of birth control for men

McLean, VA (AHN)-Raising concerns about pollutants in a waterway that provides drinking water for millions of people, some species of male fish in the Potomac River and its tributaries are developing female sexual traits at a frequency higher than scientists have witnessed before.

While the so-called "intersex fish" have been found in other parts of the country, the frequency is much higher in the Potomac than elsewhere, according to fish pathologist Vicki Blazer