CDC: African-American teens are embracing abstinence
(WNS)–African-American teens are having less sex, according to recent analysis of data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The percentage of African-American teens who report they have never had sex rose from 18.5 in 1991 to 51.5 percent in 2015. The jump was even steeper for males. In 1991, barely 1 in 10 were not sexually active; in 2015 it was more than 4 in 10. The results are “astounding,” according to experts. While the overall number of American teens who report they have never had sex also increased in the last 25 years, the increase for African-American male teens is nearly 10 times greater—a 28 percent increase for American teens and a 246 percent increase for African-American male teens since 1991. “The increase is both unprecedented and enormously greater than any other ethnicity,” said the abstinence advocacy group Ascend, formerly known as the National Abstinence Education Association.
Depression and same-sex parenting
(WNS)–Children who grow up in same-sex parented households may face a significantly higher risk of depression later in life. That’s the conclusion of a study published a few weeks ago, without fanfare, in the open-access journal Depression Research and Treatment. The study found that young adults who had grown up with same-sex parents were more than twice as likely to be depressed as those raised by a mother and a father. The findings add to a growing body of research examining the effects of homosexual family structures. Gay parenting is a relatively recent phenomenon, and the available data on such families has been sparse. The new study, “Invisible Victims: Delayed Onset Depression among Adults with Same-Sex Parents,” claims to be the first to “examine children raised by same-sex parents into early adulthood.” It uses survey data that followed adolescents over a period of 13 years.
High court rejects pharmacists’ religious liberty appeal
(WNS)–The Stormans family owns the pharmacy Ralph’s Thriftway, and they object to selling Plan B and ella—two potential abortifacients—because they believe life begins at conception. If customers ask for either of those drugs, Ralph’s staffers refer them to other nearby pharmacies. Ralph’s reports 30 pharmacies within five miles stock the drugs. That was not satisfactory to the state of Washington, where the governor and abortion groups lobbied to change pharmacy rules to require the sale of abortifacient drugs over conscience objections. The Stormans and two other pharmacists objected to the new rules on First Amendment grounds, winning their case at the district court level, then losing at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On June 28 the Supreme Court told the pharmacists they do not have a case, rejecting their appeal.
