World Family Policy Center Newsletter

* News relative to protecting the family worldwide *

 

Volume 3 Issue 27 - August 4, 2004

 

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “[B]oth men and women live longer if they are married than if they are not.  For men, staying married boosts the chance of surviving to age sixty-five from about two out of three to almost nine out of ten; for women, wedlock ups the likelihood of surviving to old age from about 80 percent to more than 90 percent.” 

          —Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher, The Case for Marriage, p. 51

 

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Today’s Contents:

 

A.  Editorial: Regional Conference on the Family In Africa

 

B. Featured Articles:

 

       1. AIDS Attacks Kids in India

 

       2. Vatican Letter Denounces 'Lethal Effects' of Feminism

 

       3. Has the Counterrevolution Begun?

          Related Article: Missouri Marriage Amendment Wins Handily

 

       4. Bush Administration Appeals Decision Against Partial_Birth Abortion Ban

           Related Article:  Planned Parenthood T_Shirt: I Had An Abortion

 

C. Coming Events

 

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EDITORIAL: Regional Conference on the Family In Africa

 

The World Family Policy Center wishes to congratulate Nicole Elisha, counsellor to the UN Permanent Mission of Benin, newly appointed to Benin’s Mission to France, and the Government of Benin on the outstanding Regional Conference on the Family in Africa.  Virtually all countries in Africa were represented at the conference, held July 27-28 in Cotonou, Benin.  BYU’s Scott Loveless of the World Family Policy Center in the law school and Shirley Cox of the School of Social Work each presented well-received papers on research relating to strategies for successfully fighting HIV/AIDS, focusing on appropriate belief systems and sexual abstinence before marriage and spousal fidelity afterward.  The Conference worked within a framework defining “family” as a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood or adoption and characterized by common residence, a household, where family members interact and communicate in their social roles and maintaining a common culture. The Conference emphasized the social importance of the family in preparing the rising generation and sought strategies for strengthening the family as “the fundamental unit of society.”

 

              

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FEATURED ARTICLES

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1. AIDS Attacks Kids in India

By Nirmala George

The Associated Press

         

NEW DELHI _ . . . .India and the United Nations have said 5.1 million adults are infected with the HIV virus here, the second_highest number in the world after South Africa.

  

Child sufferers are not included in that figure, but the government's AIDS control agency said 60,000 Indian children have the virus, while independent organizations have said the number may be closer to 100,000.

  

It was unclear how those numbers rank in comparison with other countries, but a report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch said the Indian government is putting millions at risk by ignoring such children.

  

''Children affected by HIV/AIDS are being discriminated against in education and health services, denied care by orphanages, and pushed onto the streets and into the worst forms of child labor,'' Zama Coursen_Neff, the author of the report, told The Associated Press in an interview.

 

To read entire article:

http://www.sltrib.com/nationworld/ci_2385275

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2. Vatican Letter Denounces 'Lethal Effects' of Feminism

Document Outlines Formula for Man_Woman Relationships

 

By Daniel Williams and Alan Cooperman

Washington Post Foreign Service

Sunday, August 1, 2004; Page A16

 

ROME, July 31 __ The Vatican issued a letter Saturday attacking the "distortions" and "lethal effects" of feminism, which it defined as an effort to erase differences between men and women __ a goal, the statement said, that undermines the "natural two_parent structure" of the family and makes "homosexuality and heterosexuality virtually equivalent."

         

The sharp critique was contained in a document issued by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a chief adviser to Pope John Paul II and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the department in charge of defining Roman Catholic orthodoxy. The 37_page document also outlined the Vatican's formula for relationships between men and women, calling for "active collaboration between the sexes" and rejecting subjugation of women.

 

To read entire article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp_dyn/articles/A30761_2004Jul31.html

 

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3.  Has the Counterrevolution Begun?

 

by Patrick J. Buchanan

Posted Jul 28, 2004

                  

Has Congress, after 50 years of seeing its power seized by the Supreme Court, begun at long last to recapture its lost constitutional rights?

 

Don't laugh. It may just be about to happen.

 

A day before Congress left town for a six_week vacation, the House passed the Marriage Protection Act 233 to 194. This bill would deny "all federal courts, including the Supreme Court, jurisdiction to rule on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act."

 

So reports The Washington Post. DOMA is the 1996 law that says no state need recognize same_sex unions established by other states.

 

What the House is saying is this: Massachusetts may hand out marriage licenses to homosexuals __ and these gay couples may sue, under the "full faith and credit" clause of the Constitution, to have their "marriages" recognized in other states. But no state has to recognize such "marriages," and no U.S. judge is permitted to take up these cases.

 

To read entire article:

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=4635

 

 

Related Article: Missouri Marriage Amendment Wins Handily

 

 

By Cheryl Wetzstein

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

 

A state constitutional amendment to define marriage in Missouri as the union of a man and woman cruised to a lopsided victory last night.

   

With 51 percent of precincts reporting last night, the amendment had received 659,267 "yes" votes to 251,754 "no" votes — a margin of 72 percent to 28 percent. 

To read entire article:

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040804_120544_8709r.htm

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4. Bush Administration Appeals Decision Against Partial_Birth Abortion Ban

by Steven Ertelt

LifeNews.com Editor

August 2, 2004

 

San Francisco, CA (LifeNews.com) __ Continuing its defense of the ban on partial_birth abortion, the Bush administration announced on Monday that it is appealing a San Francisco judge's decision declaring the ban unconstitutional.

 

Attorneys representing Attorney General John Ashcroft filed the notice appealing the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

 

That appeals court has traditionally opposed upholding pro_life legislation and is considered one of the more pro_abortion courts in the country. Regardless of the appeals court's decision, the case is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court for consideration.

 

In June, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton said the partial_birth abortion ban runs afoul of the 2000 Carhart vs. Stenberg Supreme Court decision that found a Nebraska partial_birth abortion ban unconstitutional. The high court said it lacked an exception to allow the gruesome abortion procedure to protect a woman's health.

 

http://www.lifenews.com/nat698.html

 

Related Article:  Planned Parenthood T_Shirt: I Had An Abortion

By Bobby Eberle

Talon News

July 30, 2004

 

(Talon News) __ For a $15 credit card charge, any woman or teenaged girl can order a T_shirt online from Planned Parenthood emblazoned with the words, "I Had An Abortion."

 

Jim Sedlak, executive director of American Life League's STOPP International said, "Planned Parenthood's new t_shirt confirms that the abortion chain lacks any sense of integrity, tact, and compassion. This shirt's message celebrates an act of violence that is traumatic for women, and worst of all, kills an innocent child."

 

To read entire article:

http://www.talonnews.com/news/2004/July/0730_tshirt_abortion.shtml

 

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COMING EVENTS   

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August 23-25m, 2004

The European Family Dialogue

Geneva, Switzerland

A gathering of invited scholars will present their research on issues

concerning marriage and the family in preparation for The Doha

International Conference for the Family.                                    

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October 11-13, 2004

The Asian/Pacific Dialogue

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

A gathering of invited scholars will present their research on issues

concerning marriage and the family in preparation for The Doha

International Conference for the Family. 

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November 29_30, 2004

The Doha International Conference for the Family

Doha, Qatar

The Doha International Conference for the Family follows upon the

celebration of the International Year of the Family and will be a

two_day conference in Doha, Qatar, under the patronage of Her

Highness Sheikha Mouza Bint Nasser Al_Misnad., Consort of His

Highness The Emir of Qatar and President of Supreme Council for

Family Affairs, State of Qatar.

 

The conference represents an international assemblage, bringing

together international VIPs, governmental and non_governmental

organizations (NGOs), scholars, academicians, and civil society

leaders who will be invited by the State of Qatar to participate in

a family conference.  This conference will call upon all nations of

the world to restate the principles related to family life embodied

in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to adhere to

values and endeavor to promote the role of the family as it is the

natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to

protection by society and state.

 

Announcing Other Family Conferences Around the World

 

Worldwide Organization for Women (WOW)

Friday, September 17, 2004

Salt Lake City, Utah

 

“Women and Their Influence for Good”

• Morning Keynote speakers:

1.Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey, US Representative to the UN Commissio

on the Status of Women: “Women’s Role in Securing Human Rights and

Fundamental Freedoms for Herself and Family Members”

2. Serena S. Wilson, a descendent of freed slaves, who assisted in the

Underground Railroad through directions found hidden in quilt blocks -

“Women’s Rose in Securing Freedom and Family Unity for

African/American Slaves.”  See display of 40 quilts.

3. Laurie Seron, a descendent of those providing Safe Houses on the

Underground Railroad, member of WOW executive board. - “Women’s

Role in Providing Safe Houses for Children and Families Then and Now.”

• Afternoon Breakout Sessions featuring well-known speakers on issues relating to women and families. 

 

For more information and to register click here:  http://www.wowinfo.org      

 

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Note: The preceding article excerpts are highlights of current events and

do not necessarily represent the views of the World Family Policy Center

or Brigham Young University.

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Newsletter created and distributed by:

World Family Policy Center

J. Reuben Clark Law School

Brigham Young University

Managing Director:      Richard Wilkins

Executive Director:     A. Scott Loveless

Newsletter Editors: Joy S. Lundberg and Gary B. Lundberg

If you have any articles, editorials, or papers you would like

circulated through the WFPC News network, you may submit them to

lundberg@lawgate.byu.edu

 

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