World Family Policy Center Newsletter

World Family Policy Center Newsletter

* News relative to protecting the family worldwide *

Volume 4 Issue 36 - September 26, 2005

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Quote of the Day: “I know of no more encouraging fact than the

unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious

endeavor.”

—Henry David Thoreau, Walden, p. 172

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Today’s Contents:

A. Featured Articles:

1. Let’s Celebrate “Family Day” with Real Help for Families

2. Churches push 1-day blitz on marriage

3. Middle-class French mothers will be paid to start le baby boom

4. Australia: Family Court in 'father friendly' push

5. More students are drawn to conservative colleges

6. Wisconsin Legislature Will Take Up Human Cloning Ban Again

7. Judge rules against district that hired homosexual to teach sex ed

8. Late abortion referrals 'legal' in Britain

Related Article: Enforcement of Missouri Abortion-Related Measure

9. ACLU targets abstinence-only programs

10. Family's influence is first for Indians

B. Coming Events

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FEATURED ARTICLES

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1. Let’s Celebrate “Family Day” with Real Help for Families

by Allan Carlson, Ph.D.

September 26, 2004

On Monday, September 26, our nation celebrates national “Family Day.” President George W. Bush issued the proclamation creating this relatively new holiday. He praised the family as the seedbed of character. Other politicians have also clambered on board, praising generic “family values” but offering little of substance.

I propose that we celebrate “Family Day” by advancing legislation that finally offers real help for families. The proposed “Parents’ Tax Relief Act of 2005” (HR 3080, S 1305) is the most important piece of pro-family legislation to be introduced in decades. Initially sponsored by Lee Terry (R – NE) in the House and by Sam Brownback (R – KS) in the Senate, this new bill recognizes the value of the parental care of small children and would expand the child care choices of all new mothers and fathers. It affirms marriage as a public good and would restore recognition of the marital couple as an economic partnership.

This bill also recognizes the value of children to the nation and responds to the extra economic burdens faced by young parents. It would reduce conflicts between workplace and home by making it easier for the home itself to be a place for market labor. And the measure recognizes the full-time mother or father as doing publicly valued work, deserving recognition within the Social Security system.

These approaches are distinctly American. Most other developed nations provide state child allowances to parents as offsets to the costs of rearing children. However, this method tends to make families wards of the state and to weaken marriage. In contrast, the “Parents’ Tax Relief Act” uses carefully targeted tax policy measures to enable families to retain more of their own earned income while children are in the home. The record shows that this approach supports family formation and strengthens homes.

To read entire article:

http://www.profam.org/docs/acc/thc_acc_fd05.htm

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2. Churches push 1-day blitz on marriage

By Scott Helman,

Boston Globe

September 20, 2005

Churches from various denominations opposed to gay marriage are preparing for what they are calling ''Protect Marriage Sunday" on Oct. 2, a one-day signature-gathering blitz they expect will generate enough names to advance a 2008 ballot initiative banning same-sex weddings.

Catholics, Protestants from black and Hispanic communities, and members of other denominations will take part in a coordinated effort to collect tens of thousands of signatures at worship services in all corners of the state, organizers say. Some churches will launch petition drives this weekend, organizers say, but Oct. 2 is the primary kickoff for a campaign to gather the necessary names to send the measure to the Legislature.

Opponents of gay marriage need roughly 66,000 signatures by Thanksgiving; they want 120,000, to have enough if some are disqualified.

Churches are hardly the only settings in which those pushing to ban gay marriages will collect signatures, but the broad support of the effort by different Christian denominations provides access to a significant bloc of potential signers.

The four Catholic bishops of Massachusetts have sent or will send letters to parishioners urging them to back the signature drive.

''As faithful citizens, we have a moral obligation to defend the truth, no matter how counter-cultural or unappreciated our convictions might be," Bishop George W. Coleman of Fall River wrote to parishioners in a Sept. 12 letter. ''The time is upon us to take a stand and to act, lovingly but firmly, to restore and defend the truth about marriage."

To read entire article:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/09/20/churches_push_1_day_blitz_on_marriage/

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3. Middle-class French mothers will be paid to start le baby boom

By Colin Randall in Paris

London Daily Telegraph

20/09/2005

Middle-class French women are to be offered cash incentives to have third babies amid growing concern that too few children are being born to professional couples.

Although France's fertility rate of 1.9 for each couple is relatively high among European countries, family lobbyists are dismayed by a fall in the number of babies born to better-educated women.

The government will announce its proposals on Thursday when Dominique de Villepin, the prime minister and the father of three children, presides at a conference on family life. A big increase in allowances has been widely predicted.

France's National Union of Family Associations (Unaf), which is playing a key role in shaping policy, says the figure should be set at up to £700 a month for women with three children, double the present maximum, and fixed according to the woman's salary.

Despite the budgetary implications in a country that is already accused of living extravagantly beyond its means, the government agrees with the principle and is said to be finalising the details of a "very significant" initiative.

To read entire article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/20/wfran20.xml

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4. Australia: Family Court in 'father friendly' push

News.com.au

By Caroline Overington

September 20, 2005

The Family Court has been talking to men's rights groups in an effort to become more "father-friendly". The court is also making its staff who deal with families undergo training to help them better understand the male perspective in divorce.

The initiatives were introduced by the court's new Chief Justice, Diana Bryant, who is considered by men's groups to be more sympathetic to their concerns than former chief justice Alastair Nicholson.

Sue Price of the Men's Rights Agency, who attended the most recent meeting in Brisbane on Thursday, said: "We were a bit taken aback when we were asked (to attend the forum) because the Family Court has pretty much ignored the way men feel."

The meeting was attended by representatives of the court, the Child Support Agency, Relationships Australia, Catholic welfare agency Centacare, and men's groups. "We got out the butcher's paper and the whiteboards and we really talked about how we could make the system work better for men," Ms Price said.

"We discussed the fairness of the court decisions, and why the court seemed to regard fathers as the lesser parents. We asked why fathers should be made to feel like criminals. It was extremely productive."

Ms Price said Chief Justice Bryant did not attend the meeting "but we spoke before she took over the court (last year) and I have the greatest respect for her".

"It's obvious that she wants to co-operate with men's groups and make the court more men-friendly," she said.

To read entire article:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16656403-421,00.html

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5. More students are drawn to conservative colleges

Enrollment is up at smaller colleges with Christian values. Some think students hope it will launch political careers.

By Adam Karlin

The Christian Science Monitor

September 21, 2005

Catherine Shultis, a National Merit Scholar with a perfect SAT score, is a natural for the hallowed halls of academia: Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown. But last month, she began her freshman year at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio.

Why Steubenville instead of Cambridge, Mass., or New York? The East Coast elite universities "lack a grounding in the Christian faith, and they're turning away from core principles and becoming more and more liberal," she says.

In these politically polarized times, a rising number of top conservative students are politicizing their school choices. Instead of going to a Princeton or Stanford, they're opting for less costly home-state universities or smaller schools that see themselves as standardbearers of Christian values and laissez-faire governance. Such choices are perhaps a boon to those who intend to pursue careers in politics, since conservative think tanks increasingly are recruiting from these colleges.

"Schools like Grove City, Brigham Young, and Hillsdale are some of our more popular schools," says Elizabeth Williams, intern coordinator for the conservative Heritage Foundation, in an e-mail. "Their students are usually of very high caliber."

That doesn't mean there has been an exodus from established East Coast schools, which consistently draw outstanding students of every stripe.

"We have far more students on the right than I used to know when I was vice president of Boston University," says Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president of George Washington University in Washington.

But enrollment at several conservative Christian schools is on the upswing. For example: Patrick Henry College in Virginia, whose mission is to "prepare Christian men and women who will lead our nation and shape our culture with timeless biblical values," first opened its doors in 2000 to 87 students. This year, enrollment stands at 330, and the median SAT score for its freshmen has also jumped, from 1170 to 1340 in the same period.

To read entire article:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0921/p02s01-ussc.html

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6. Wisconsin Legislature Will Take Up Human Cloning Ban Again

by Steven Ertelt

LifeNews.com Editor

September 19, 2005

Madison, WI (LifeNews.com) -- The Wisconsin state legislature heads back into session on Tuesday and one of the more controversial items on the agenda in the state Senate will be consideration of a measure that would ban all forms of human cloning. The state Assembly previously passed it on a 59-38 vote.

Pro-life organizations support the human cloning ban because they don't want to see unborn children cloned and then destroyed for either research or reproductive purposes.

On the other hand, some scientists say it could undermine embryonic stem cell research because they need to clone human embryos to destroy for their stem cells, even though such cells have never cured a patient or provided any treatments. The bill makes no mention of embryonic stem cells.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, who has been the state's leading proponent of using taxpayer dollars to finance the unproven research, promises to veto the bill if the legislature sends it to him.

However, sponsors of the legislation tell the Chicago Tribune they plan to move ahead.

"I've heard from people across the state who are absolutely opposed to human cloning, and I think it's time for legislators and the governor to listen," said State Rep. Steve Kestell, a Republican. "We've heard that there should be no restrictions on what science can do, but there have always been legal and moral limits."

Pro-life groups back his proposal.

To read entire article:

http://www.lifenews.com/bio1133.html

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7. Judge rules against district that hired homosexual to teach sex ed

September 21, 2005

WorldNetDaily.com

When a Washington student objected to having a homosexual teach his sex education class, the school district attempted to punish the student by barring his reenrollment, but now a judge has sided with the student.

The student, Lucas Schrader, had been enrolled in Kent Mt. View Academy, a charter school in the Kent School District near Seattle, for three years. Schrader's parents were required to apply each year for his admission to the school because they live in another district, according to the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, which is representing the family.

"Mr. Schrader is a concerned parent whose child was punished merely because he expressed concerns about the wisdom of having a homosexual teacher assigned to teach sex education to sixth graders," said Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney for the AFA.

To read entire article:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46429

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8. Late abortion referrals 'legal' in Britain

The BPAS is responsible for around a quarter of all abortions in Britain

BBC News World Edition

September 21, 2005

A charity that referred abroad a woman who was seeking a late abortion was not breaking the law, an inquiry says.

But the report by England's Chief Medical Officer criticised the British Pregnancy Advisory Service's (BPAS) handling of the case.

The Sunday Telegraph said BPAS referred a woman to abort a 26-week-old foetus. The legal limit in the UK is 24 weeks.

BPAS said it was pleased the inquiry found it was operating legally and would study the recommendations.

The Sunday newspaper reported BPAS was helping set up late abortions after an undercover journalist was referred to a Spanish clinic by the charity to abort a 26-week-old foetus.

We welcome the confirmation that the service we provide is lawful

Ann Furedi, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Although the legal limit for most abortions in the UK is 24 weeks, BPAS does give women past that stage details of other countries where they can obtain abortions.

To read entire article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4265304.stm

Related Article: Enforcement of Missouri Abortion-Related Measure

Kaisernetwork.org

Sep 20, 2005

U.S. District Court Judge Nanette Laughrey on Friday in Jefferson City, Mo., issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of a Missouri law (SB 1) aimed at placing restrictions on abortion providers and minors seeking abortions outside of the state, the Kansas City Star reports (Murphy, Kansas City Star, 9/17). Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R) on Thursday signed the measure, which allows civil litigation to be brought against anyone who helps a minor obtain an abortion outside of the state without parental or judicial consent. It also requires abortion providers to obtain hospital privileges within 30 miles of their clinics, and the law redefines who can assist a minor in seeking judicial bypass to circumvent the state's parental consent law. The intent of the provision is to prohibit minors or those who work with or volunteer at abortion clinics from being able to help a minor obtain the procedure. The Center for Reproductive Rights on Thursday filed a lawsuit in the district court on behalf of the Springfield Health Care Center seeking an injunction to prevent the law from taking effect. The suit says that the law unconstitutionally prevents people from helping minors, and it challenges the hospital privileges provision (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 9/16). Another lawsuit challenging enforcement of the law -- filed in Jackson County Circuit Court by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and several other organizations that provide abortion counseling or abortions in Missouri -- has yet to have a ruling or hearing (Lieb, AP/Yahoo! News, 9/17).

To read entire article:

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=32638

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9. ACLU targets abstinence-only programs

By Cheryl Wetzstein

The Washington Times

September 22, 2005

The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday began a campaign to urge officials in 18 states to reject abstinence-only sex-education programs.

Many abstinence programs contain false or misleading information, discriminate against homosexual youth and promote religion, ACLU leaders said, citing a December report issued by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat.

The effort began as Maine announced that it had become the third state to reject federal abstinence-education funding, because of new rules that conflict with state policy.

Maine officials said this week that they will forgo a grant offered through the 1996 welfare-reform law because it must be used for abstinence programs and because they prefer comprehensive sex education. They used the grants for abstinence ad campaigns before the rules change.

"This money is more harmful than it is good," Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of Maine's Bureau of Health, told the Portland Press Herald. "You can't talk about comprehensive reproductive information."

She said Maine didn't take $165,000 in Title V abstinence grants offered in fiscal 2005 and would not take the $161,000 that becomes available Oct. 1 for fiscal 2006. Pennsylvania and California also have rejected the grants.

"Maine likes to be in the lead in a lot of things, and I think this is one of these times when we have," Lynn Kippax, press secretary for Maine Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, said yesterday.

Abstinence-only programs define abstinence as "avoiding all genital contact and sexual stimulation" and teach teens how to set boundaries and practice self-control, said Libby Gray Macke, director of Project Reality in Glenview, Ill.

In contrast, comprehensive sex programs teach a "complete range" of behaviors, including oral sex and mutual masturbation, as alternatives to intercourse, she said. However, these behaviors put teens at risk for sexually transmitted diseases.

To read entire article:

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050921-102450-1568r.htm

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10. Family's influence is first for Indians

HindustanTimes.com

UK Edition

Nabanita Sircar

London, September 19, 2005

About 92 per cent of Indians feel family comes first and influences them the most above every thing else, according to a BBC World Service Gallup International poll.

Comparing the South Asian statistics, the survey said only four per cent Indians put friends first and below one per cent said religious leaders influenced them the most above family and friends. Contrarily for Pakistanis friends formed the major group at 18 per cent and 12 said religious leaders were the most important source of inspiration.

The report also said about 34 per cent Indians identified themselves as Indians first followed by local area, state or village at 26 per cent and religion 19 per cent.

When compared globally where about 13 per cent said they trusted politicians, only nine per cent Indians trusted politicians.

On the downside, however, Indians are less optimistic about people's own ability to change their lives, with only 18 per cent feeling positive about this, the poll found. It also said 77 per cent Indians do not believe their country is governed by the will of the people, while 67 per cent said Indian elections are not free and fair.

From: http://www.hindustantimes.com/2005/Sep/19/5983_19090521,00430005.htm

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COMING EVENTS

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October 3 & 4, 2005

Families Under Fire

Brigham Young University