After Roe, teens are teaching themselves sex ed, because the adults won’t

By Hannah Natanson Sweating in the sun, two dozen teenagers spread themselves across picnic blankets in a grassy park and prepared to discuss the facts of life they never learned in school. Behind them on a folding table, bouquets of pamphlets offered information teachers at school would never share — on the difference between medical …

Early sexual experiences could lead to healthier sex later in life

In her research, Diana Peragine encountered study after study that suggested an early sexual debut poses a risk to sexual health and sets the stage for a long list of negative outcomes, from unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections to sexual exploitation and abuse. “Research has traditionally cast first sexual intercourse as a young person’s …

How to Be Human

— Talking to People Who Are Transgender or Nonbinary Their gender isn’t your call to make by The Healthline Editorial Team Does language need to be collectively agreed upon before it’s actually offensive? What about subtler phrasings that unconsciously undermine people, specifically transgender and nonbinary people? Ignoring what others identify themselves as can actually be …

Now is the time to talk to your teens about birth control.

— Here’s how. By Elizabeth Chang The Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is likely to affect abortion access in roughly half the states, most of which either don’t mandate sex education or offer sex education that emphasizes abstinence, an approach that, research shows, does not encourage adolescents to delay intercourse …

How Your Libido Can Change in Your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and Beyond

By Erica Sloan Feeling a sudden rush of sexiness, or even the urge to rip your (or someone else’s) clothes right off in sexual fervor might be what you associate with libido. And, to be fair, that seemingly animalistic tendency is on full display in pop culture depictions of sex. But in reality, this kind …

6 things sex educators want you to know about a post-Roe America

Quality sex education will be more important than ever. But it too faces challenges. By Keren Landman On Friday, the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, the legal decision that has for decades granted Americans the right to an abortion. For young people, the prospect of dramatically reduced access to abortion creates enormous …

What to know about sexually transmitted infections

With rates of some STIs on the rise, it’s never been more important to understand the risks, symptoms and treatments. By Annie Hauser While the pandemic delayed many routine screenings, rates of some common sexually transmitted infections didn’t slow. Rather, rates of syphilis and congenital syphilis continued to surge, as did gonorrhea cases, according to …