- Maternal mortality has drastically declined across the world for the first time in decades. Lower pregnancy rates, higher income, better female education, and improved nutrition and health care have lead to serious drops in India and China, which have driven down the global rates. [ New York Times ]
-New research has shown that spanking children leads to more aggressive behavior . The Tulane University study adds to a growing body of evidence that corporal punishment is an ultimately destructive means of child discipline. Last year, a Duke University study found that spanked children performed worse on cognitive tests later in life than their unspanked peers. [ Time , Duke Today ]
- Women’s ideal age for marriage and child birth has fallen sharply in the last 10 years , according to a study of women in their mid-20s by a U.K. magazine. At the turn of the millennium, women did not want to settle down until their 30s. Now that age is 26, with, hopefully, a baby on the way within 12 months. The article claims that this new generation of women are afraid of “Bridget Jones syndrome.” [ Jezebel]
- Nebraska instituted a new limit on abortions Tuesday . Governor Dave Heineman has banned most abortions 20 weeks or later into pregnancy, because the fetus at this point can allegedly feel pain. It is the first U.S. law to justify abortion restriction on this basis. [ New York Times ]
