Although Benjamin and Ryan Barrus would rather play outside each evening, Kaylene Barrus keeps her 7- and 8-year-old sons inside their Mesa home, protected from mosquitoes that might be carrying the West Nile virus.

Is plain and chunky the new beautiful? The signs seem promising: ABC’s ‘‘Ugly Betty’’ has become one of TV’s most popular shows.

February 3, 2005

When did getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases become so taboo? With the alarming rate of STDs in Maricopa County (every 26.8 minutes someone is diagnosed with an STD) you would think that everyone would want to be tested on a regular basis.

Three doctors who perform abortions asked a federal judge Thursday to block the state from implementing a new law which bans terminating a pregnancy after 20 weeks.

Which one would be more hypocritical:

Arizona is appealing a court ruling against a new state law targeting Planned Parenthood.

A Mesa Republican legislator wants voters to enact a constitutional ban on cloning without actually defining what would — and would not — be allowed.

April 23, 2005

A pollution bill the state’s top environmental official says would turn Arizonans into human guinea pigs has received legislative approval but still faces a possible veto from Gov. Janet Napolitano.

It can’t be stated enough—parents play a critical role in the prevention of their child’s sexual risk-taking and teen pregnancy. However, it’s estimated that fewer than 15 percent of children receive a meaningful sex education from their parents.

WASHINGTON — The government is moving the morning-after pill over the counter but only those 15 and older can buy it — an attempt to find middle ground just days before a court-imposed deadline to lift all age restrictions on the emergency contraceptive.

Arizonans may finally get a break this year from what has been a perennial debate over two high-profile issues.

A federal judge on Monday upheld the validity of an Arizona law designed to sharply limit abortions beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Perhaps surprisingly, Arizonans who support sexual and reproductive rights don’t face as many barriers as their counterparts in other states, according to a study released Wednesday.

Perhaps surprisingly, Arizonans who support sexual and reproductive rights don’t face as many barriers as their counterparts in other states, according to a study released Wednesday.

State representatives voted Monday to make it illegal for a woman to sell her eggs but refused to impose similar restrictions on men selling their sperm.

November 24, 2004

Alan Sears: Whenever Planned Parenthood and The Center for Reproductive Freedom team up, something dies. Sometimes, it's a freedom. More often, it's a life. If the two organizations' respective lawsuits - one state, one federal - succeed in dismantling a new Arizona law designed to protect pregnant women and those who serve them, you'll see mortal wounds nationwide to both lives and liberty.

WASHINGTON - Researchers in South Korea have become the first to successfully clone a human embryo, and then cull from it master stem cells that many doctors consider key to one day creating customized cures for diabetes, Parkinson's and other diseases.

An Arizona judge on Friday refused to grant a divorce for a transgender Arizona man who gave birth to three children after beginning to change his sex from female.

A series of new restrictions on abortions in the last four years has propelled Arizona into the Top Five of all states in a list of places considered most friendly to "pro-life'' issues.

Infections are around us all our lives. Most seem to be short-lived, miserable bouts of intestinal or respiratory bugs that so often drive us to a doctor.

A lot of Republicans seemed genuinely surprised that they lost, that Mitt Romney was defeated by President Obama, and that Republicans lost seats in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. They actually thought they were going to win!