In a survey published today, Gallup finds that more Americans now consider themselves “pro-life” than “pro-choice,” by a 51 percent-42 percent margin. Gallup says this trend has been documented in multiple surveys. Interestingly, the shift is all among Republicans and Republican-leaners. Democrats and Democrat-leaners continue to be “pro-choice” in the same numbers.

OK, so this is a trick question. Of course watching TV will not make you pregnant, but according to a fresh new study published in the November 2008 issue of Pediatrics, teenagers who watched the most sexual content on television were about twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy as teens who watched the least. The study focused on the viewing habits of around 2,000 teens ages 12 to 17. Of the 718 teens in the study group who reported being sexually active, 25% of those who watched shows with the highest sexual content reported involvement with a pregnancy, compared to 12% to those who watched the least. Jane Brown, a researcher who studies media and adolescent health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, said the findings are not surprising, adding that sexual content on TV has a “cumulative effect” on teens. “It’s probably not any one portrayal that makes the difference, but it’s a consistent, and now unhealthy, sexual script that adolescents do see as a depiction of appropriate behavior,” Brown said

In a stunning medical breakthrough, six patients who thought their eyesight had been irretrievably lost had their eyesight restored through groundbreaking treatments at the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, England, using adult stem cells. According to the Stem Cell Research Report, surgeons transplanted cells into 10 patients in late 2005. As of June 2008, six of those patients had recovered from their blindness to the point where they were able to read significant portions of an eye chart. This new advancement once again underscores the value and promise in stem cell research using adult stem cells, instead of research using embryonic stem cells that require the killing of human embryos.

According to a study published in Sleep, the official journal of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, women who have had abortions are more likely to be treated for sleep disorders or disturbances compared to women who gave birth. The findings were based on the examination of medical records for over 50,000 women in California who gave birth or underwent a abortion. The difference was greatest in the first 180 days following an abortion or live birth, when aborting women were twice as likely to seek treatment for sleep disorders.

Professor Robert White, director of the division of neurosurgery and brain research laboratory at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, told a congressional subcommittee that “the fetus within this time frame of gestation, 20 weeks and beyond, is fully capable of experiencing pain. Without a doubt, this is a dreadfully painful experience for any such infant subjected to such a surgical procedure.” Paul Ranalli, M.D., a neurologist on the medical faculty at the University of Toronto, also stated: “Intriguingly, far from being less able to detect pain, such premature newborns may be more sensitive to painful stimulation.” He said that one study, regarding babies born under 30 weeks, indicates it may be that “the newly-established pain system is ‘raw’ and unmodified at such a tender age.”

The Department of Homeland Security report titled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” paints a chilling picture of what can happen when big government turns its eyes to profiling its own citizens because of certain beliefs. According to the report, “extremism” evolves around such issues as opposition to abortion. Such a report could indeed be a dim foreshadowing of major restrictions on the right to speak out for the unborn.

The federal government has removed the conscience rights of doctors and other health care professionals to refuse participation in abortions, which means many professionals will be forced to choose between helping with abortions and losing their jobs. With the right to protect personal conscience no longer paramount, the question may be whether many young professionals will now steer away from careers in health care.