After two female legislators were banned from the Michigan House floor last week after saying “vagina” during a debate about an anti-abortion measure, a massive crowd has gathered at the state capitol for a reading of “The Vagina Monologues.” There are an estimated 5,000 people in attendance.

Picture via @eclectablog:

Even though college students have grown up with the internet, a new study finds that the majority of them don’t know how to use it to locate accurate information about emergency contraception such as Plan B.

The Northwestern University study asked first year students to search online to find a solution for a hypothetical scenario: “You are at home in the middle of summer. A friend calls you frantically on a Friday at midnight. The condom broke while she was with her boyfriend. What can she do to prevent pregnancy? Remember, neither of you is on campus. She lives in South Bend, Indiana.” Although two-thirds of participants concluded that their friend should seek emergency contraception, just 40 percent were able to correctly identify that their friend could purchase Plan B over the counter at a pharmacy.

Eszter Hargittai, the lead author of the study, explained that the study points to the obvious fact that college students need to be taught about contraception before they find themselves in a situation that requires them to rely on their knowledge about it:

HARGITTAI: These results suggest that despite their highly wired lifestyles, many young adults do not have the necessary skills to navigate the vast amounts of information available online with expertise. [...] Students who did not seem to have prior knowledge of emergency contraception often used a variant of the search term ‘prevent pregnancy’ and did not do a very good job at locating information about emergency contraception. Those who already knew the answer or had some knowledge came up with the search terms ‘the morning after pill’ or the drug ‘Plan B’ and did a better job of finding information.

Respondents’ incorrect answers included “wait it out,” “wash genitals,” “adoption,” “RU-486,” “ascorbic acid,” visiting a gynecologist in an incorrect locale, taking a pregnancy test, and purchasing another condom.

Emergency contraception, also known as the morning-after pill, is restricted for those under 17 years old, but remains available without a prescription to everyone over 17. Assuming the average college student is well beyond this threshold, there is no reason they shouldn’t be fully educated about the range of contraceptive methods available to them. However, because of the prevalence of abstinence-only education programs across the nation, many young adults are woefully under-educated about birth control. When it comes to both internet search engines and reproductive health, young adults need to know how to effectively use all the tools at their disposal.

Richard Mourdock, the Tea Party favorite who ousted Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN) in Indiana’s Republican Senate primary last month, told a local Indiana newspaper that, contra Obamacare’s protections, employers ought to be able to deny health insurance to people with cancer.

During a freewheeling interview with the News and Tribune, Mourdock said health care will be the “biggest issue” this election. The Indiana Republican, who opposes the Affordable Care Act, argued that businesses should be permitted to deny coverage to employees with cancer “if they want to keep their health care costs down.” “Does that employer have the right to do it?” Mourdock asked. “I would say yes they do”

From the interview:

Of particular interest to the candidate is a mandate that requires an employer to pay for certain services they may be morally opposed to — such as birth control — which Mourdock said he opposes.

Mourdock’s example was an employer who decided to cover everything but cancer.

“Does that employer have the right to do it? I would say yes they do if they want to keep their health care costs down but it also means it’s less likely you’re going to want to work here. If that employer wants to get the best employees coming in the door he’s going to offer the best insurance possible.”

Among Obamacare’s most popular provisions are protections for people who are sick or have pre-existing conditions to make sure they can’t be denied health insurance (beginning in 2014). In Mourdock’s America, businesses would continue to have the right to deny insurance for 1 in 7 Americans because of a pre-existing condition.

If Mourdock ultimately wins his election in November, don’t expect him to compromise on his opposition to businesses being required to insure cancer patients. The day after Mourdock won the Republican nomination, he announced on MSNBC that “bipartisanship ought to consist of Democrats coming to the Republican point of view.”

Although the United States represents just 5 percent of the global population, it contributes to almost one-third of the world’s global obese weight, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine concluded in a study released today. The U.S.’s rising obesity rate may lead to a future food scarcity problem, the researchers warned.

The study calculated the weight of the global population at 316 million tons, and estimated that about 17 million tons of that figure is due to the growing numbers of people who are overweight. Increasing levels of fatness around the world will threaten future food security, since current levels of obesity could have the same impact on global resources as an additional half billion people.

Researchers concluded that although the average global body weight is 137 pounds, there are huge differences across regions. The average is 178 pounds in North America and 127 pounds in Asia, for example. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the United States has the highest biomass of any other nation:

The increased global demand for food is likely to contribute to higher food prices. The researchers point out that affluent nations like the United States will be less impacted by rising prices than poorer countries will — despite the fact that the U.S. is the root of the problem.

Rates of obesity in the United States show no signs of abating. In fact, some estimates predict that 75 percent of Americans will be overweight by 2020.

Throughout his campaign, Mitt Romney has continued to claim that the Affordable Care Act hurts small businesses. But a new study on small businesses contradicts Romney’s claims. Conducted by a business advocacy group, Small Business Majority, an opinion poll surveyed 800 businesses owners across the country. And the results show that over half of the respondents – who were all small business owners – strongly support the law.

Key findings from the study indicated that 50 percent of small business owners want the health care reform law to be upheld by the Supreme Court, in its entirety or with just minor changes. Only one-third of the respondents wanted the Supreme Court to overturn the law. However, after learning more about the law’s details, support for keeping the law intact grew to 56 percent.

John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business Majority, said the results show that small business owners view Obamacare as a positive move for their businesses:

Contrary to popular belief, small business owners do not want the high court to throw out the Affordable Care Act. They see this law as helping everyone have coverage and bringing down healthcare costs—something that has been one of their top concerns for years. We hope Supreme Court justices understand how important this law is to small businesses who need relief from high healthcare costs.

Polling also indicated that the respondents heavily support the key provisions of health care reform. Seventy-eight percent back prohibiting insurers from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions and nearly 70 percent also want to prevent insurance companies from basing rates on health status. In addition, a vast majority favor allowing young adults up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ plans.

–Angela Guo