Children's Health

In more than a dozen U.S. states, laws prohibit pregnant teens from getting epidural anesthesia during labor, or even some kinds of prenatal treatment, without a parent's consent.

If you sit too much during middle age — at work and at home — your ability to exercise or even walk in late decades is at risk, research hints. And, of course, your risk of heart disease climbs, too.

Bit by bit, dystonia was stealing Carl Luepker's ability to use his hands and talk. But his biggest fear was that his children would inherit the disorder. Then he saw his son Liam's foot twitch.

Judge Marilyn Moores presides over the Indianapolis juvenile court. She tells NPR's Scott Simon that the influx of children into the foster care system because of the opioid crisis is overwhelming.