World Family Policy Center Newsletter

* News relative to protecting the family worldwide *

 

Volume 3 Issue 41 - November 2, 2004

 

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Quote of the Day: “One thing I know: they only ones among you who

will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to

serve.”

                                                                            —Albert Schweitzer

 

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Today’s Contents:

 

A. Featured Articles:

 

       1. Bishop Attacks School Condom Plan

 

       2. Anti-Gay Remarks Spark EU Row

 

       3. Born in America, Adopted Abroad

 

       4. Poll Finds Abortion Hurts Women

 

       5. Imitating Mom May Build a Better Conscience

 

       6. California Poised to Pass Stem-cell Measure

 

B. Coming Events

           

 

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FEATURED ARTICLES

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1. Bishop Attacks School Condom Plan

Holyoke tries to stem teen pregnancies

 

By David Abel

October 26, 2004

The Roman Catholic bishop of Springfield protested yesterday the Holyoke School Committee's recent decision to make condoms available to students in grades 6-12, arguing that the school system is ''an endorser and an enabler of early adolescent sex."

 

''I am profoundly disappointed and disturbed," Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell said in a statement, contending that school officials are reducing sex to ''meaningless self-gratification."

 

''This decision is, in effect, a millstone around the necks of parents," he said.

 

Some members of the School Committee, which approved the policy several weeks ago, said they had to act because of the city's high teenage birth rate and high incidence of AIDS. It's unclear how many school systems across the state make condoms available, because the state Education Department doesn't track the policy, a department spokeswoman said. At least one school system, Cambridge, makes condoms available in school health clinics, according to the Massachusetts Association of School Committees.

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2. Anti-Gay Remarks Spark EU Row

Parliament challenges conservative appointee Wednesday.

 

By Peter Ford

The Christian Science Monitor

 

PARIS – For a man belittled months ago as an obscure weakling, Jose Manuel Barroso is stirring up a lot of trouble.

 

By stubbornly defending the appointment of an Italian minister who has criticized homosexuality and single motherhood, the incoming European Commission president is locked in a power struggle with the European Parliament that threatens to precipitate an institutional crisis - and undermine his moves to push Europe to the right.

                                               

The trouble began when Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi appointed Rocco Buttiglione to the Commission. (Unlike other presidents, EU Commission chiefs do not pick their cabinets; they merely assign jobs to commissioners named by their governments.)

 

As prospective commissioner for justice, freedom and security, Mr. Buttiglione, a conservative Catholic, and friend of the Pope, told a European parliament committee that he regarded homosexuality as a sin, and marriage as an institution for women to have children and enjoy the protection of a man.

 

To read entire article:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1027/p07s01-woeu.html

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3. Born in America, Adopted Abroad

African-American babies are going to parents overseas even as US couples adopt children from other countries

 

By Dawn Davenport

The Christian Science Monitor

October 27, 2004

 

Adrian Stokkeland, a 2-year-old in Canada, dances with his mom to the music of Elvis and sleeps with his most treasured possession, a box of toy cars. Emma Sonnenschein, an energetic 19-month-old in Germany, loves to "help" her mom around the house. Elisa van Meurs, a 5-year-old in the Netherlands, is a real girly-girl. Her favorite outfit is a Minnie Mouse dress, paired with a Snow White tiara and pink Barbie shoes.

 

Adrian, Emma, and Elisa have more in common than their charm and being the apple of their parents' eyes. All are black children born in the United States and adopted as infants by parents in other countries.

                  

They also are representatives of a little-known trend: At the same time the US is "importing" increasing numbers of adoptive children from Russia, China, and Guatemala, it is "exporting" black babies to be adopted in other countries.

 

To read entire article:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1027/p11s01-lifp.html

 

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4.  Poll Finds Abortion Hurts Women

by Keith Peters

Washington, D.C., correspondent

November 1, 2004

 

A new Wirthlin survey says Americans know the truth about abortion — it almost always harms women.

 

A new Wirthlin Worldwide poll finds most Americans believe abortion is almost always a bad thing for women — and knowing someone who's had one doesn't change their minds.

 

Dorinda Bordlee, staff counsel for Americans United for Life, the group that commissioned the survey, said the results show that "the 30-year social experiment on women has proven that abortion is not a great constitutional right that liberates women."

 

"This has been something," she said, "that has really exploited women."

 

To read entire article:

http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0034364.cfm

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5. Imitating Mom May Build a Better Conscience

Saturday, October 30, 2004

By Jennifer Warner

 

Researchers found that differences in how toddlers imitate their mothers can be related to how developed their conscience is as preschoolers.

 

The study showed that toddlers who enthusiastically imitate their mothers tend to develop a sense of right and wrong sooner than those who don’t.

 

“Our results demonstrate a clear link between toddler-age readiness to imitate and preschool-age conscience,” write researcher David Forman of Concordia University, and colleagues.

 

To read entire article:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,137119,00.html

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6. California Poised to Pass Stem-cell Measure

By Hil Anderson

United Press International

 

Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger all but declared victory Monday in the campaign to pass a controversial ballot measure that, if it lives up to the tantalizing promises of its promoters, will make California a leader in the development of stem-cell research.

 

A newly released poll showed California voters leaning strongly toward passage of Proposition 71, a $3 billion bond measure that would help bankroll stem-cell research, despite an 11th-hour counteroffensive out of the Beltway that called the proposal an expensive boondoggle.

 

To read entire article:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041101-072129-6338r.htm

 

 

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COMING EVENTS   

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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.

 

To register online: www.dicf.org.qa

 

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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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