Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Baby Boom in USA / Pope Dislikes Condoms


ATLANTA – More babies were born in the United States in 2007 than any year in the nation's history, topping the peak during the baby boom 50 years earlier, federal researchers reported Wednesday. There is both good and bad news from the more than 4.3 million births:
  • U.S. population is more than replacing itself.
  • Teen birth rate is up for the second year in a row.
  • VIDEO: Teen Pregnancy on the Rise (ABC News)
The birth rate rose slightly for women of all ages, and births to unwed mothers reached an all-time high of about 40 percent, continuing a trend begun years ago. More than three-quarters of these women were 20 or older. More>>

Pope in Uproar over Anti-condom comments

A man dances alongside a "walking condom" at an AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa. Pope Benedict XVI's denunciation of condom use to prevent the spread of HIV sparked an international outcry on Wednesday as he toured Africa, the continent hardest hit by the disease(AFP/File/Yoav Lemmer).

Pope sparks condom backlash on Africa visit
Pope Benedict XVI urged Cameroon's bishops Wednesday to defend the rights of the poor and essential values of the African family, on the second day of a visit dominated by his opposition to the use of condoms (AFP via Yahoo! News).

AIDS activists blast pope's rejection of condoms
Pope Benedict XVI's denunciation of condom use to prevent the spread of HIV sparked an international outcry on Wednesday as he toured Africa, the continent hardest hit by the disease (AFP via Yahoo! News).

Pope Benedict XVI gives a press conference on the flight to Cameroon on 3/17/09. France slammed the pope's claim that condoms are worsening the AIDS epidemic, saying it would harm global efforts to tackle the spread of the disease (AFP/File/Christophe Simon).

Vatican defends pope condoms stand, criticism mounts
The Vatican on Wednesday defended Pope Benedict's opposition to the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS as scientists and politicians criticized it as unrealistic and dangerous (Reuters via Yahoo! News).

Pope Benedict XVI courts new controversy
Pope Benedict XVI, fresh from an uproar over his decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust denier, has added AIDS activists to the growing list of groups he has angered (AFP via Yahoo! News).

France attacks pope condom comments
France on Wednesday slammed Pope Benedict XVI's claim that condoms are worsening the AIDS epidemic, saying it would harm global efforts to tackle the spread of the disease (AFP via Yahoo! News).

Pope in Africa says church must help the poor
Pope Benedict XVI urged Cameroon's bishops Wednesday to defend the traditional African family from the dangers of modernity and secularization and to spare the poor from the impact of globalization (AP via Yahoo! News).

Pope wrong on condoms say Catholic groups
US rights advocates and a Roman Catholic group on Wednesday condemned Pope Benedict XVI for saying condom use does little to help fight AIDS as he began a trip to Africa, the continent hardest hit by the deadly viral illness (AFP via Yahoo! News).

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