birth control

And they're available in Michigan, ladies.

Last week, President Obama issued a directive which would require all health insurance plans to cover the cost of birth control.

If you were going to choose a segment of society least likely to need birth control pills, no one could fault you for putting nuns at the top of the list. Researchers, however, say the notoriously contraceptive-averse Catholic Church should make the pills available to those women to reduce their risk of cancer.

The FDA had considered lifting the age limit to allow younger teens to buy the Plan B morning after pill without restriction, but congress voted against it. Currently, girls 17 and older can get the pill at the pharmacy without a prescription but the FDA wanted to move it on the shelves next to the condoms so anyone could buy the pill.

Researchers discovered that countries with the highest numbers of women using oral contraceptives also have the highest rates of death from prostate cancer. What does this mean? They think estrogen from the urine of women who take birth control pills could be to blame.

Since the announcement by the US Department of Public Health that birth control will be fully covered by health plans beginning in January of 2013, Stephen Colbert has released his take on the plan. Agree or disagree, it's a pretty funny clip, right after the jump.

A panel of medical experts made a recommendation to the US Department of Health Tuesday, saying that all insurance plans should legally be required to cover the cost of birth control. One question:  Why has this taken so long?