World Family Policy Center Newsletter

World Family Policy Center Newsletter

* News relative to protecting the family worldwide *

Volume 4 Issue 47 - December 6, 2005

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Quote of the Day: "Good homes are still the best source of

good humans."

—Neal A. Maxwell

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Today’s Contents:

A. Featured Articles

1. Supreme Court Hears Youth Abortion Case

2. Liechtenstein Rejects Anti-Abortion Measure

3. FCC Warns Cable, Satellite: Clean Up TV Raunch

Related Article: Senate Forum Addresses Cable Choice,

Decency Issues

4. Who owns your kids?

Related Article: Gay Student Sues School for Telling Her Parents

5. Jewish Group Condemns Anti-Christian 'War on Christmas'

Related Article: Another school censoring Christmas?

B. Coming Events:

• World Congress of Families IV - Warsaw, Poland

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FEATURED ARTICLES

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1. Supreme Court Hears Youth Abortion Case

By Jane Roh

December 01, 2005

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday deciphered highly technical legal arguments over an abortion law in the most closely watched case to come before the justices this term.

New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte told the nine high court justices that a lower court was wrong to strike down the entire parental notification statute based on its finding that three pieces of the act were unconstitutional. The provisions in question, two of which deal with pregnant, underage girls seeking abortion in emergency situations, would only apply to a tiny fraction of them, Ayotte said.

The most contentious part of the act is its lack of an exception for an abortion without parental notification for a girl who finds herself in a medical crisis that is not immediately life threatening.

The Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973 directed legislatures that seek to limit abortions to provide exceptions "for the preservation of the life or health of the mother." Later, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey affirmed life and health exceptions, and consequently the majority of U.S. abortion laws include them.

"The unfortunate reality is that some pregnant teens experience serious medical emergencies for which the appropriate care is indeed abortion. ... Delaying appropriate care for even a very short period can be catastrophic, and puts the teen at risk of liver damage, kidney damage, stroke and infertility," said Jennifer Dalven, deputy director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, who argued the case for the respondents.

Under the act, the girl would either have to notify her parents and then wait 48 hours for the abortion, or take her appeal to a judge who would decide whether to give her physician the green light.

Ayotte was hit hard and fast by questions as to why lawmakers did not simply include a health provision. She responded that doctors in the state could invoke the competing harms defense — that is, the danger to the girl outweighed the state's interest in the fetus — if their medical opinion in an underage abortion case was questioned.

To read entire article:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,177212,00.html

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2. Liechtenstein Rejects Anti-Abortion Measure

By Harry Rosenbaum

November 28, 2005

Associated Press

VADUZ, Liechtenstein (AP) - Voters in this tiny Alpine principality on Sunday soundly rejected an initiative that critics said would have prevented abortion, birth control, assisted suicide and living wills.

Less than 20 percent of voters cast ballots in favor of the constitutional amendment, supported by the country's Roman Catholic archbishop, seeking to protect human life from ``conception to natural death.''

Instead, nearly 80 percent ratified a government counterproposal, which legal experts say brings the country's legal framework for issues such as abortion and birth control in line with European standards.

The amendment was launched by conservative groups to protest a government attempt last year to change legislation that permitted abortion only in limited cases such as when the mother's life is in danger.

The campaign was vicious for Liechtenstein, a tranquil mountaintop country the size of Washington, D.C., with 33,000 people.

Conservative Archbishop Wolfgang Haas campaigned heavily in favor of the amendment and called the counterproposal a ``death melody.''

Crown Prince Alois expressed sympathy for the initiative in an address earlier this year, but he was more moderate in the run-up to the vote and said he supported both proposals.

To read entire article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5441758,00.html

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3. FCC Warns Cable, Satellite: Clean Up TV Raunch

Fox News

November 29, 2005

"We're not involved in this to bring about censorship," Stevens said. "We're here to really give an opportunity for those who really represent the families of America to listen to those of you who run the media that they currently believe does not fulfill their wishes to have the kind of moral compass the country should have for our young people."

The FCC's Kevin Martin turned out to be a strong voice for the interests of families, and an advocate for the "a la carte" approach to cable programming sales. He said this system would help parents save money, keep closer tabs on what their children watch, and keep objectionable channels out of their homes.

Cable and satellite providers have complained that offering "a la carte" pricing or more family-friendly tiers of channels would drive up their marketing, equipment, and customer service costs and hence would drive up consumer costs as well. However, Martin told the forum participants that a previous FCC study concluding that "a la carte" cable choice would cost consumers more, is full of errors since it "relied on problematic assumptions and presented incorrect and incomplete analysis."

Associated Press reports that the FCC spokesman, in his address, went on to encourage U.S. cable companies to offer a family-friendly cable package allowing parents to exclude channels they feel their children should not watch. Otherwise, he warned, the FCC might be compelled to step in and respond to public outcry against increasingly raunchy programming.

To read entire article:

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/302005a.asp

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4. Who owns your kids?

November 30, 2005

WorldNetDaily.com

Seven California parents filed a petition with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to set aside its controversial decision declaring they had no right to be "exclusive providers of information about sexual matters."

Ruling on a complaint against a sexually charged student survey, the three-judge panel concluded Nov. 2 parents "have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students."

With the new filing, the parents are requesting that the case be reheard before the full panel of judges.

Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Florida-based Liberty Counsel, which represents the parents, said the 9th Circuit's ruling "strips parents of their constitutional rights to protect their children."

"This ruling is an assault on every parent whose child attends public school," he said. "Parents do not cease being parents when their child walks through the schoolhouse gate."

There is no set timetable for the 9th Circuit to rule on the petition, Staver noted.

The petition says that if the Fields v. Palmdale School District ruling stands, the public schools must come with a warning that, with the exception of treason, "the school has absolute authority to teach whatever it decides, no matter how objectionable or inappropriate, to any child, at any age, at any time, in any manner."

To read entire article:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47638

Related Article: Gay Student Sues School for Telling Her Parents

CitizenLink

December 6, 2005

Federal ruling chips away at parents' rights.

A federal judge announced last week that a California high school student may sue her school district for telling her parents she's gay. It's believed to be the first court case in which a judge has ruled that a student has a right to keep her sexual orientation from her parents.

Charlene Nguon said her right to privacy was violated when Santiago High School officials notified her parents that she was being disciplined for public displays of affection with her girlfriend. She teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to sue.

Officials for the Garden Grove School District called the case "inconsistent," questioning why a student can be publicly gay, but permitted to hide her homosexuality from her parents.

Carrie Gordon Earll, director of issues analysis for Focus on the Family Action, said the court ruling that allows Nguon's suit to proceed takes away parents' rights to know what their kids are doing at school.

"What the court is saying here is if you're somehow are a homosexual student, you have a privacy right to not have to have your parents know about this," she said.

Earll called it a disturbing trend.

"On one hand we have the court saying that the minute your child enters the public school building, you have no right to know what's going on there," she said. "Then you have school administrators in this case saying, 'Hey, wait a minute, we've got a disciplinary issue here. We have to tell the parents what's happening.' "

To read entire article:

http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038816.cfm

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5. Jewish Group Condemns Anti-Christian 'War on Christmas'

By Bill Fancher

December 2, 2005

(AgapePress) - A group of Jewish Americans says its members are fed up with the war being waged against Christmas. Yesterday, at a National Press Club gathering in Washington, the group's president, Don Feder, voiced his organization's feelings when he declared, "Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation is here today to say, 'Enough already. If you're offended by a municipal Christmas tree or Santa Claus in a holiday parade or a manger in a park, get over it.'"

Feder went on to say that banning the word "Christmas" and other references to Jesus makes no sense in the United States. "This is an overwhelmingly Christian nation, and it's a matter of simple courtesy to acknowledge a holiday celebrated by 96 percent of the American people," he asserted.

In a recent column for GrasstopsUSA.com, Feder confessed to being among the four percent of Americans who do not celebrate Christmas. But he also admitted that while growing up, he sang Christmas carols and made Christmas ornaments. "And, guess what," he said. "I wasn’t emotionally scarred for life."

While speaking at the National Press Club, the head of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation (JAACD) called on Jews across the U.S. to rise in defense of Christians' right to say "Merry Christmas" and to celebrate the birth of Jesus according to their faith and traditions without the threat of being prohibited or censured because of political correctness.

To read entire article:

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/22005a.asp

Related Article: Another school censoring Christmas?

November 30, 2005

WorldNetDaily.com

Teachers at a Georgia elementary school reportedly were told to nix any religious pins and refrain from referring to a party as a "Christmas" party, while the local district has censored certain religious Christmas songs from its "winter" program.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a religious-liberties law group, wrote a letter to the district yesterday informing the Jackson County School System in Jefferson, Ga., that it stands on shaky constitutional ground due to its actions.

"Frankly, it's ridiculous that we're even discussing whether it's OK to say 'Merry Christmas.' I'm sure just about everyone would rather have a merry Christmas than a meaningless winter holiday," said ADF senior legal counsel David Cortman in a statement.

Cortman penned the letter to the chairman of the board of education and the superintendent of the school district. According to ADF, the letter was written on behalf of a teacher in the after-school program at Benton Elementary School.

The district has reportedly prohibited teachers from wearing "any pins, angels, crosses, clothing" that contain any religious connotation or affiliation, referring to any party as a "Christmas" party, or displaying a Bible in their rooms. ADF says the district has also removed certain religious Christmas songs from a "winter" concert and censored the word "God" from another song.

"Jackson County school officials are attempting to prohibit teachers from expressing any religious aspect of Christmas," Cortman stated in the letter. "Classroom decorations may no longer include nativity scenes and angels. Jackson County has gone so far as to prohibit the common greeting 'Merry Christmas,' and also now refers to the Christmas break as 'Winter Break.'"

Says the attorney: "Many school districts aren't trying to be difficult; they simply don't know the facts about the law. The fear, disinformation and intimidation that the ACLU and other groups like them have promoted over the years with regard to religious expression on public property at Christmastime have led to such misconceptions. ADF desires to educate schools, teachers, and students on the truth about what the law really says."

As part of ADF's Christmas Project, attorneys allied with the organization have contacted more than 9,100 school districts nationwide this year to inform them of what is constitutionally protected religious expression at Christmastime.

Article from: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47640

Related Article: Ruling: Pregnant moms can harm babies at will

By Joe Kovacs

WorldNetDaily.com

November 30, 2005

The Supreme Court of Hawaii has ruled that unborn children are not "human beings," and therefore women cannot be prosecuted for causing the death of babies by harmful behavior during their pregancies.

The unanimous decision overturns the manslaughter conviction of 32-year-old Tayshea Aiwohi, who was found guilty in connection with the death of her newborn son by smoking crystal methamphetamine shortly before his birth.

"I'm extremely happy and grateful," said Aiwohi. "I believe [the case] changed me into a better person and I just hope to share that with others."

"My son can finally lay to rest," her husband, Kimo Aiwohi, told reporters. "And I'm very happy for my wife."

Tayshea gave birth to her son, Treyson, July 15, 2001, but the boy perished within two days with high levels of methamphetamine and amphetamine in his system, according to the local coroner.

The woman allegedly admitted to using the drugs for three days before the birth and took a "hit" on the morning her son was delivered.

To read entire article:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47661

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COMING EVENTS

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WORLD CONGRESS OF FAMILIES IV

Warsaw, Poland - 2007

Meeting in Rockford, Illinois (October 23-25), a planning committee of the World Congress of Families chose Warsaw, Poland as the site of the 4th World Congress. The Warsaw Congress will be held in May, 2007.

The Polish Federation of Pro-Life Movements, an organization with over 130 affiliates throughout the nation, will serve as the local host for WCF IV.

For more information: http://www.profam.org/press/thc.pr.051027.htm

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Note: The Featured Articles 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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