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1. Groups Sue Over Sex Ed Policy

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

FoxNews.com

GREENBELT, Md. — Two groups filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday to block a health curriculum that would allow discussions of homosexuality with eighth-graders and a video to be shown to sophomores demonstrating how to use a condom.

Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum (search) and the Virginia-based Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays want to prevent Montgomery County (search) from starting the program in six schools later this week. A hearing has been set for Thursday.

The new program, approved by the county board of education in November, would be used in all schools next year.

Parents must sign permission forms for their children to take part in the health curriculum and parents can sit in on the sessions. Families also can choose alternatives that include abstinence-only programs.

To read entire article:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,155429,00.html

FOLLOW UP ARTICLE: Judge's Ruling Against Maryland Sex Ed Program Grabs National Eye

Monday, May 09, 2005

By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

WASHINGTON — A judge's order on Thursday evening to halt a new public school sex-education curriculum in the affluent suburbs of Washington, D.C., could have significant ramifications throughout the rest of the country.

A group of parents took their opposition to the sex-ed courses to court last week, arguing that they depicted homosexuality as a natural and morally correct lifestyle and did not offer any contrary opinion.

"This has national significance because Montgomery County is a wealthy, influential school district and the lid has been ripped off an agenda that has crept into schools nationwide," said Robert Knight, director of the Culture & Family Institute (search), an affiliate of the conservative organization Concerned Women for America.

"This shows that parents, even in a very liberal area, can fight back and win," Knight added, noting that he knew of no other case in the country where a sex-ed program has been restrained by a federal judge.

To read entire article:

http://us.f305.mail.yahoo.com/ym/login?.rand=2tombvehv9t31

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2. Abortion Clinic Under Scrutiny Following Death of Infant Born Alive

By Allie Martin and Jody Brown

April 29, 2005

(AgapePress) - Workers at an Orlando abortion clinic are being accused of refusing to help a mother screaming for help after her baby was born alive. The baby died shortly thereafter. A legal group in Florida says as a result, the clinic may be slapped with a lawsuit. Other pro-life groups are calling for enforcement of a federal statute that requires doctors to render medical help to infants who survive an abortion.

Earlier this month, Angele -- a single mother in her thirties -- entered the EPOC clinic in Orlando seeking an abortion. On April 1, she was given drugs to start the process and told to return the following day. The next day, Angele took more medicine, went to the clinic, and was directed to a room where she eventually gave birth to a baby boy who she claims started moving. However, she claims clinic workers refused to help her child or call 9-1-1. The baby, who Angele named Rowan, died shortly after paramedics arrived at the clinic.

Mat Staver is president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, which has filed two complaints against the clinic, citing the complete absence of a doctor during the abortion procedure and complete lack of post-operative care. The abortionists named in the complaints are Dr. Harry Perper, who LC claims administered the procedure on the first day but was not present on the second day, and Dr. James Pendergraft, owner and supervisor of the clinic.

To read entire article:

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/4/292005c.asp

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3. Weeklong event in OS aims to strengthen family

Sunday, May 01, 2005

By Bobbie Thibodeaux

The Mississippi Press

OCEAN SPRINGS -- Strengthening the family unit -- that is the purpose of events planned for the week of May 8-14 in Ocean Springs.

Mayor Seren Ainsworth signed the proclamation declaring the second week in May the Week of the Family and it was read to the board of aldermen.

"The family is the basic unit of society," said Dyan Hale, chair of the planning committee. "Most communities feel the negative effect of family unit disintegration and welcome efforts to counteract those negative effects. We hope to make this an annual event."

The goals of the emphasis on Week of the Family, Hale said, include improving the quality of family life in the community; providing wholesome activities to further family closeness; hosting events to increase the success of families; and fostering an atmosphere of camaraderie and involvement between the citizens of the community. The committee is planning activities to encourage families to bond together.

"We are working with the ministerial alliance to ask ministers of area churches to encourage their congregations to focus on the family and their importance," Hale said. "We hope for participation from our churches, schools, civic groups, community organizations and city officials."

To read entire article:

http://www.gulflive.com/living/mississippipress/index.ssf?/base/news/1114942625181180.xml

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4. Fla. Sets Harsher Penalties for Molesters

By David Royse

Associated Press Writer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Spurred by the killing of a 9-year-old girl, Gov. Jeb Bush on Monday signed a law imposing tougher penalties on child molesters and requiring many of those released from prison to wear satellite tracking devices for the rest of their lives.

The measure gives Florida one of the toughest child-sex laws in the nation.

The Jessica Lunsford Act was quickly drafted after Jessica's death was discovered in March and was pushed through by lawmakers outraged that the man accused of killing her was a registered sex offender. It passed both the Senate and House unanimously.

It establishes a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life behind bars for people convicted of certain sex crimes against children 11 and younger, with lifetime tracking by global positioning satellite after they are freed.

To read entire article:

http://ap.washingtontimes.com/dynamic/stories/F/FLORIDA_SEX_CRIMINALS?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME

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5. Evergreen State's Abstinence-Only Program Targets Youth, Parents

By Mary Rettig

May 9, 2005

(AgapePress) - The Washington State Health Department has launched an abstinence-only program targeting young teens. State health officer Dr. Maxine Hayes says the "No Sex, No Problems" campaign is the federally funded result of a long-term effort to find out what young teens and their parents believe about sex.

Hayes says the campaign's message resonates well with teens. She notes that many young people surveyed said they "felt pressured by the media and also by their peers; and the younger youth -- especially these really young kids between the ages of 10 and 14 -- don't agree with their peers who are engaging in sexual activity."

The Washington State abstinence-only program is designed not only to encourage teens to abstain, but also to encourage youth who are already abstaining that they are not the only ones who are not having sex. Meanwhile, Hayes points out that parents of children in this target group have indicated they have similar attitudes about the importance of abstinence, but many "actually felt that they didn't know how to talk to their youth about abstaining."

For this reason, the State Health Department official says the "No Sex, No Problems" campaign also offers the parents of young teens and pre-teens encouragement and suggestions related to encouraging youth to abstain. An important media component of the "No Sex, No Problems" program is composed of television, radio, and billboard ads, some targeting teens and others targeting parents.

To read entire article:

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/92005b.asp

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6. States taking on teen steroid use

California has become the first to establish steroid rules for high-schoolers as seven other states consider similar bills.

By Mark Sappenfield

The Christian Science Monitor

OAKLAND, CALIF. – A surge of activity in high schools and state legislatures from Connecticut to California suggests that the outrage over steroid abuse has now made it to Main Street America.

For years, illegal steroid use had been seen almost exclusively as the scourge of high-stakes sports - the far-off realm of millionaire ballplayers and athletes of freakish physical proportions. But the March congressional hearing, which included not only an evasive Mark McGwire but also the parents of a high-schooler whose suicide was linked to steroids, has provided momentum to schools and lawmakers seeking to root out teen use of performance-enhancing drugs.

On Friday, California became the first state to establish steroid rules specifically for high-schoolers, including a requirement that all its athletes and their parents sign an antisteroid contract. Seven states are also considering bills that range from tougher penalties for steroid dealers to broad testing of teen athletes.

To read entire article:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0509/p01s02-ussc.html

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7. Dad arrested after protesting 'gay' book

April 29, 2005

WorldNetDaily.com

A father who protested a pro-homosexual book his 6-year-old son had been given in school spent a night in jail after being arrested by police.

David Parker, 42, confronted officials at Joseph Estabrook School in Lexington, Mass., Wednesday after his son brought home a copy of "Who's in a Family,'' a storybook that includes characters who are homosexual parents, the Boston Herald reported.

According to the report, Parker refused to leave a meeting after Lexington Superintendent Bill Hurley rejected his request that he be notified when his son is exposed to any discussion about same-sex households as part of classroom instruction.

Police arrested Parker for trespassing and he spent a night in jail before posting a $1,000 personal surety, Boston's WCVB-TV reported.

"Our parental requests for our own child were flat-out denied,'' Parker said in a statement.

To read entire article:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44026

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8. Public schools: Do they outperform private ones?

By Teresa Méndez

USA Today

From The Christian Science Monitor

May 9, 2005

The crumbling neighborhood public school down the block or that gilded private school on a hill? There's a tendency to imagine the two this way — and to assume the private school will produce better students.

But beleaguered public schools have recently received a small, though noteworthy, boost. After accounting for students' socioeconomic background, a new study shows public school children outperforming their private school peers on a federal math exam.

Overall, private school students tend to do markedly better on standardized tests. But the reason, this study suggests, may be that they draw students from wealthier and more educated families, rather than because they're better at bolstering student achievement.

One study is unlikely to settle a long-simmering debate over the merits of public versus private education. But its authors say they hope it will give pause to a current trend in education reform: privatization.

To read entire article:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-05-09-private-public-schools_x.htm

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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

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

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

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