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World Family Policy Center Newsletter
* News
relative to protecting the family worldwide *
Volume 4 Issue 14 - April 18, 2005
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Quote of the Day: “Strong
relationships in the family are the basis
of strong relationships outside the family.”
—Sheikha Kouthar Cader, Capetown, South Africa
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Today’s Contents:
A. Featured Articles:
1. A
Group at Princeton Where 'No' Means 'Entirely No'
2.
Bringing the Case Against Judges
Related Article: Justices to be Booted in
Massachusetts?
3. Study: Pressure to Abort Intense for Expectant Moms
Carrying Down Syndrome Babies
4.
Stem-cell Vote Met with Anger
Related Article: Harvard Stem Cell Studies
Raise Eyebrows
5.
Would a US-style 'Megan's Law' Work in Japan?
6.
Oregon's High Court Negates Homosexual 'Marriage' Licenses
Related Article: What's the Latest on State
Marriage Amendments?
B. Coming Events
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FEATURED ARTICLES
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1. A Group at Princeton Where 'No' Means
'Entirely No'
Society members say they want a wider discussion of
abstinence on a campus that expects sexual activity.
By Iver Peterson
April 18, 2005
The New York Times
PRINCETON, N.J.- Yet another alternate sexual
lifestyle is being promoted by a group of Princeton undergraduates: one of
chastity and abstinence outside of marriage.
Members of the Anscombe Society maintain that campus
life has become so drenched in sexuality, from the flavored condoms handed out
by a resident adviser to the social pressure of the hook-up scene, that
Princeton needs a voice arguing for traditional sexual values. Traditional, at
least, from the days before their parents went to college.
Their aim is not to pass moral judgment, they say,
only to inform.
"Even though morality does factor into it, we
want to enrich the discussion of sexual issues and family," said Cassandra
Debenedetto, a sophomore from Stow, Mass., who was one of the founders of the
group last fall. "So we also present sociological data and medical
research. We want to bring all of those issues in."
To read entire article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/18/education/18chastity.html?oref=login
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2. Bringing the Case Against Judges
Are 'activist judges' ruining America? That's the fear
of a newly formed coalition of religious conservatives who are urging Congress
to push back.
By Jane Lampman
The Christian Science Monitor
April 13, 2005
WASHINGTON – 'Activist judges" are out of control
and waging a war on faith, religious conservatives are charging. That's why -
even as the United States Senate prepares for a battle over the president's
judicial nominations - a conservative coalition is working to broaden the fight
to the federal judiciary as a whole. Its ultimate goal is to force Congress to
rein in the judges.
The Terri Schiavo case is but the latest in a litany
of court decisions that have sparked conservatives' ire. Many were also
outraged by rulings that called the words "under God" in the Pledge
of Allegiance unconstitutional and that removed the Ten Commandments and Chief
Justice Roy Moore from the Alabama high court.
"An atmosphere of atheism is being forced upon us
by the courts," says the Rev. Rick Scarborough, a Baptist pastor from
Texas who heads the new alliance of Evangelicals, Catholics, and Jews that is
leading the charge.
To read entire article:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0413/p15s02-usju.html
Related Article: Justices to be Booted
in Massachusetts?
Panel hears bill targeting 4 who voted for same-sex
marriage
April 12, 2005
WorldNetDaily.com
A measure to oust the four justices who voted for
same-sex marriage in Massachusetts will be considered today by the state
legislature's Joint Judiciary Committee.
Massachusetts Supreme Court Chief Justice Margaret
Marshall speaking at the annual dinner of the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association
in 1999 when she was an associate justice.
As WorldNetDaily reported, the Massachusetts-based
group Article 8 Alliance is promoting a "bill of address," a
Massachusetts provision allowing lawmakers to remove judges who fail to fulfill
their duties.
The measure, filed by Democratic state Rep. Emile
Goguen filed in April 2004, contends the justices violated multiple articles in
the state constitution prohibiting courts from nullifying existing laws and
requiring that laws remain in effect until the legislature repeals them,
regardless of the actions and opinions of the judiciary branch.
To read entire article:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43745
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3.
Study: Pressure to Abort Intense for Expectant
Moms Carrying Down Syndrome Babies
By Mary Rettig and Jody Brown
April 12, 2005
(AgapePress) - An official of the Christian Medical
& Dental Associations says a new study about abortion and Down syndrome
shows a disturbing trend.
The study from the March issue of the American Journal
of Obstetrics and Gynecology says women often only receive negative information
when a prenatal exam shows a possibility of the baby having Down syndrome.
Expectant mothers, the study shows, are seldom counseled about the latest
information on Down syndrome or supplied information about parent support
groups during the decision-making time.
Dr. Gene Rudd, associate executive director of the
CMDA, says he recently talked to a woman whose daughter is in a similar
situation. He explains that studies have shown the baby's chromosomes to be
normal, but an ultrasound has detected a birth defect.
"[T]his child has a club foot and one other
defect, both of which are surgically correctable and compatible with a full
life," Rudd says. "But this young girl is being told by her
health-care providers that her best choice is to have this child aborted."
A 1993 Canadian study found that one-fourth of the
women surveyed admitted feeling pressured to undergo an amniocentesis -- and
that one-third of those who tested positive for some form of birth defect felt
pressured by medical staff to have an abortion. Another study conducted three
years earlier revealed this astonishing finding: 88 percent of 22,000 women
whose unborn child had been diagnosed with Down syndrome chose to abort the
child.
To read entire article:
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/4/122005a.asp
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4. Stem-cell Vote Met with Anger
By Amy Fagan
The Washington Times
April 12, 2005
House conservatives, upset that Republican leaders
have agreed to a vote on expanding President Bush's embryonic stem-cell
research policy, are deciding how they will fight back.
"The pro-life, pro-family base is very, very
concerned about this," said Rep. Joe Pitts, Pennsylvania Republican.
"Some of them are upset. ... We are actively engaged in this now and will
be developing a strategy."
House Republican leaders have told Rep. Michael N.
Castle, Delaware Republican, and other advocates that they can have a vote on
legislation to expand Mr. Bush's 2001 policy that limited federal research
funding to a group of embryonic stem-cell lines already available at the time.
To read entire article:
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050410-115618-9387r.htm
Related Article: Harvard Stem Cell
Studies Raise Eyebrows
FoxNews.com
April 12, 2005
BOSTON —
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (search) — a Republican and abortion opponent —
is vowing to veto a bill that will give scientists more freedom to conduct
embryonic stem cell research in the state.
The bill could be ready for him as early as this week.
State lawmakers say they have enough votes to override the expected veto.
Under current state law, scientists interested in
conducting stem cell research need the approval of the local district attorney.
The bill would remove that requirement, give the state Health Department some
regulatory controls and ban cloning for reproductive purposes.
To read entire article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153130,00.html
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5.
Would a US-style 'Megan's Law' Work in Japan?
By Matthew Rusling
The Christian Science Monitor
OSAKA, JAPAN – In November, when an elementary school
student was kidnapped, raped, and murdered in Nara, a wave of public outrage
coursed through Japan. Now, that emotion is about to take shape in a new
national policy.
Starting June 1, Japan's National Police Agency will
allow police to track child molesters after they have been released from
prison.
Until now, Japanese police have not been informed of
the release dates and addresses of sex offenders. But come June police will
receive such information whenever an offender convicted of a sex crime against
a child under the age of 13 is released in their communities.
The policy stops short of becoming Japan's version of
Megan's Law, the law in the United States that makes the addresses of sex
offenders available to the public. But some Japanese policymakers and
law-enforcement agents are now urging that such information also be made
available to the Japanese public.
To read entire article:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0413/p15s01-woap.html
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6. Oregon's High Court Negates Homosexual
'Marriage' Licenses
By Allie Martin and Jody Brown
April 14, 2005
(AgapePress) - Homosexual "marriage" may be
on life support -- so says a Christian attorney in reaction to today's ruling
by Oregon's highest court that invalidates thousands of marriage licenses
handed out in one county last year.
Upwards of 3,000 homosexual couples who thought they
were legally married were told by the Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday morning
that they aren't. The high court has nullified marriage licenses that were
issued to same-sex couples in Multnomah County over a six-week period beginning
last April. The county had no authority to do so, said the court, explaining
that while a county can question the constitutionality of law concerning
marriage, the laws are a matter of statewide concern.
The court noted that the citizens of the state
approved a constitutional amendment in November limiting marriage to one man
and one woman -- but that even before that, state law put the same limits on
marriage.
"Today, marriage in Oregon -- an institution once
limited to opposite-sex couples only by statute -- now is so limited by the
state Constitution as well," the court stated in its ruling. "We
conclude that Oregon law currently places the regulation of marriage
exclusively within the province of the state's legislative power."
To read entire article:
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/4/142005b.asp
Related Article: What's the Latest on
State Marriage Amendments?
by Aaron Atwood, assistant editor
Here's the most recent information on efforts to
protect the traditional definition of marriage—and how you can make a
difference.
Kansas voters passed an amendment to their state
constitution April 5 that defined marriage as "between one man and one
woman," becoming the 18th state to pass a constitutional amendment to
protect marriage.
Several other states, meanwhile, are poised to join
their ranks.
"Whenever the people get a chance to vote on the
definition of marriage, they have always voted to support the traditional view
of marriage," said Mona Passignano, state issues analyst for Focus on the
Family.
You can track what is happening in this crucial battle
below.
To read entire article and the status of states on
this issue:
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0036194.cfm
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COMING EVENTS
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Sixth World Family Policy Forum
July 11 - 13, 2005
Provo, Utah
Sponsored by the World Family Policy Center, Brigham
Young University. The theme for this
year’s Forum is “Building on Doha: Marriage and Parenting in the Third
Millennium.” Participation and
attendance at the Forum is by invitation only.
For further information, contact
Emily Parks 801-422-8549.
.
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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
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