I am happy to announce the public launch of SexReally.com this week. SexReally is a destination for 20-somethings focused on relationships, love, sex, contraception, pregnancy, and related issues.  Sponsored by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, the site is a place where young people can tell their stories and discuss relationships in an effort to reduce the rate of unplanned pregnancy (seventy percent of pregnancies to unmarried women in their 20s are unplanned).  A press release was sent out on PR Web on Monday.

Special thanks go to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Laura Sessions Stepp and producer Melissa Allison who have put together six episodes of the flagship podcast series (also available on iTunes) starting with "Starting a Relationship with Sex: Running the Bases Backwards."  I think it is extraordinary to hear the voices of 20-somethings talk about relationships, love, and sex.  I know I can't stop listening.

Of course, today is only a beginning.  We will continue working on developing more episodes of the podcast series and working with other contributors to the site; "The Crazy Stories People Tell Stefanie" will be a regular feature, where Stefanie will add her unique 20-something voice to the blog (don't miss her first story, The Dog Ate My NuvaRing).  In the upcoming months you can expect to see a game, a blog roll, and a special syndication of Planned Parenthood's My Method contraception selector.

I am also happy to announce that we are in the process of producing four more comedies with Campaign friend Danny Rouhier and Third Floor productions, which can also be seen on the SexReally YouTube channel.  The first three exceeded our expectations, gathering over 100,000 views.

So, please join us.  Listen to the podcasts and take part in the conversation.  We can't wait to hear from you!

Last week, The Washington Post examined Hollywood's recent fascination with 20- and 30-somethings who are still fumbling their way towards something resembling adulthood. Appparently, being a grownup is so scary that being immobilized is way better. Until: something big happens that grows you up fast. In Hollywood, that turning point seems to be an unplanned pregnancy. "Knocked Up," "The Last Kiss" and "Away We Go" are just a few of the movies Post writer Monica Hesse points to as examples of babies turning aging adolescents into grownups.

Is that really a baby's job?

RH Reality Check today launches a new section devoted to the ongoing search for common ground on abortion and related issues. The On Common Ground section will be moderated by author, commentator, and all-around good egg Cristina Page. Cristina has long been a keen observer and chronicler of the ongoing culture wars over abortion and various efforts to reach common ground.

National Campaign CEO Sarah Brown will be a regular contributor to the Common Ground site along with others including the very thoughtful Rachel Laser of Third Way.

Read Sarah's initial contribution to the common ground discussion and marvel as I did as she seamlessly weaves together a narrative involving Barbie dolls, Cleopatra, family planning, and common ground.

For the past several years more than half of teens surveyed in our occasional polls have told us that they wish they had waited to have sex. Martino and colleagues explore this concept in greater depth in the June edition of Perspectives in Sexual and Reproductive Health. They test the idea that TV contributes to these high levels of regret because TV sets unrealistically high expectations about the positive outcomes of sex (and teens might not actually experience these positive outcomes). The authors use data gathered from the same teens at 3 different time points from 2001-2004 to determine the impact of TV on feelings of regret about sexual initiation. They determine that their hypothesis is correct for teen boys who watch a lot of sex on TV, but not girls.

In other words, teen boys who watch a lot of sex on TV are more likely to report that their expectations about sex fall after they actually have sex. Girls' (who incidentally report much higher regret) expectations about sex remain consistent before and after they first have sex. Other reasons why teens regret having sex have to do with their readiness for sex, their partner, or the status of their relationship. Clearly this article raises a lot of important questions including...

Why do you think so many teens wish they had waited to have sex?

Do you think access to more sexually explicit material on the internet will influence sexual regret?

Over the past several months Congress has been working at a fast pace to get comprehensive health reform legislation to the President's desk before the end of this year.

Two Senate committees are working on bills which they will ultimately merge into one and send to the full Senate for a vote sometime before Congress adjourns for the August recess.

Meanwhile, there are three committees in the House that are working on health reform. The House committees are collaborating to produce one bill, which is also expected to be voted on by the full House by early August. Broad outlines of a "Tri-Committee" draft bill were circulated last week.

Looking at the various draft proposals that have already been released, it is clear that Congress is making a historic effort to reform health care, as is the Obama administration. Yet with so many "big picture" issues to grapple with, like spiraling health care costs, access and affordability, employer mandates, taxing benefits, and whether to include a public plan option, it's hard to get Congress's attention on some of the "smaller issues," such as pregnancy planning and prevention. However, pregnancy planning and prevention affects the lives of most Americans who would benefit from health reform, and therefore, is very much a part of the "big picture."