*News relative to protecting the family worldwide*
Volume 8 Issue 192 – July 22, 2008
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Quote of the Day: "Be generous with
appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back and handholds. Let these small
actions demonstrate the love you have for family and friends."
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Today’s Contents:
A. Featured Issue: Effect of Divorce on Children
B. Featured News Articles
1.
2.
3. Minister against "Death Tourism"
4. Internet Service Providers Move against
Child Pornography
5. Cord Blood Helps
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FEATURED ISSUE
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Effect of Divorce on Children
Divorce still damaging to children despite being more
acceptable
Telegraph (
July 16, 2008
Divorce remains equally damaging to a child's prospects in life despite
having become more common and more socially acceptable, researchers say.
A study run over several decades has shown that children whose parents
split up are more likely to end up without qualifications, claiming benefits
and suffering depression.
The National Child Development Study has tracked around 17,000 people
born in
As those people approach their 50th birthdays, researchers have compared
their lives with those of other sample groups born in earlier and later years.
The lengthy study has confirmed that children born in 1958 were much
less likely to experience parental divorce than children today.
Family break-up was subject to much greater social stigma at the time,
something that was sometimes thought to contribute to the problems experienced
by the children of divorced parents.
Yet the study's data suggest that greater social acceptance of divorce
has not reduced its impact on children.
"It might be expected that as divorce has become more commonplace,
its effects might have reduced," the researchers write. "Yet a
comparison with children born in 1970 shows that this is not the case."
Comparing the outcomes of people born in 1958 and those born in 1970
when they reached their early 30s, the researchers found that the children of
divorced parents in both groups were equally likely to lack qualifications, be
on benefits and suffer from depression.
"The estimates across cohorts are surprisingly similar in magnitude
and not significantly different from one another," the NCDS team say.
Summarising the effects of divorce, the report says it "has
repercussions that reverberate through childhood and into adulthood."
The report says: "Children from disrupted families tend to do less
well in school and subsequent careers than their peers. They are also more
likely to experience the break-up of their own partnerships."
To read the article from the original source, visit http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2269144/Divorce-still-damaging-to-children-despite-being-more-acceptable.html
To read the entire report, visit http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/text.asp?section=000100020003
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FEATURED NEWS
ARTICLES
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Editor’s Note: The following excerpts are
taken from the week’s news around the world all relating to family and family
policy. By clicking on the following links, you may read the entire
article from its source. Our intent is to help our readers remain current
on the state of the family in the world today. The positions taken and
choice of wording and advocacy belong to the authors of the articles; inclusion
here does not imply endorsement by the
1.
LA Times
July 16, 2008
The Massachusetts
Senate on Tuesday voted to repeal an obscure 1913 law that has been used to
keep out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying there.
Legislators in the state House of Representatives in
"The governor has said several times he intends to support the repeal if
it passes," spokeswoman Becky Deusser said. Patrick's daughter, Katherine,
18, announced last month that she is a lesbian.
In 2004,
In May,
To view the entire article, visit http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-gaymarry16-2008jul16,0,2556118.story
Related Article
Christian
Post
July
16, 2008
Pro-family
groups were encouraged this week by the announcement that the U.S. Census
Bureau will not include same-sex “marriages” in its upcoming 2010 census
report.
“The
U.S. Census Bureau procedures used to count and tabulate relationship data are
guided by and comply with legal requirements of the Defense of Marriage Act of
1996, which requires all federal agencies to recognize only opposite-sex
marriages for the purposes of administering federal programs,” explained Census
Bureau spokesman Stephen Buckner in a statement.
“Many
of these programs rely on Census Bureau statistics,” he said. According to
Census Bureau officials, any respondents who mark off persons of the same
gender as “husband” or “wife” on the new census form will be automatically classified
as an “unmarried partner.”
Currently,
the Census Bureau considers as a family “two or more people related by birth,
adoption or marriage.”
Jennifer
Kerns, a communications director for ProtectMarriage.com, which is behind the
ballot initiative to restore traditional marriage in
“The
way that the federal government looks at it is the way that the law says it
should be in
Jenny
Tyree of Focus on the Family Action also lauded the recent development as a
victory for common sense.
To view the entire article, visit http://christianpost.com/article/20080716/u-s-census-bureau-rejects-gay-marriage.htm
Related Article
July 16, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The
California Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear a challenge to a vote
that could ban same-sex marriages in the state.
The unanimous decision
means that, barring further legal action, voters will consider a constitutional
amendment in November that would again limit marriage in
"This was a
frivolous lawsuit. It was a desperate attempt to try to keep the voter
initiative off the ballot in November," said Glen Lavy, an attorney with
the Alliance Defense Fund representing the measure's sponsors.
If it passes, the
amendment, known as Proposition 8, would overrule the Supreme Court decision
that legalized same-sex marriage in the state as of June 16.
Equality
To view the entire article, visit http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-07-16-calif-marriage_N.htm
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2.
Reuters
July 9, 2008
The Justice and Constitution Committee in the Chamber of Deputies voted 57-4
against a bill that had been stuck in Congress for 17 years, steeped in
controversy. It is now likely to be shelved.
"This bill won't prosper in the Chamber," said Deputy Eduardo Cunha,
committee leader.
Several ruling party legislators pushed the bill after Health Minister Jose
Temporao last year all but endorsed legalizing abortion.
Church groups, which lobbied against the legislative proposal and witnessed the
hearing, cheered and prayed in celebration after the vote.
Some deputies had placards hanging from their necks, showing pictures of
aborted fetuses.
A few legislators supported the bill.
"You can't treat this issue on the basis of religion or belief. It's a
public health issue," said Deputy Jose Genoino, who voted in favor of the
proposal.
To view the entire article, visit http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN09379932
Related Article
DHB apologises for
blunder that led to abortion
Yahoo News (
July 14, 2008
Auckland District Health Board has apologized to a
woman who was forced to have an abortion after a lab-test blunder wrongly
diagnosed her with drug-resistant tuberculosis.
The mistake meant the woman, a recent immigrant to
The termination of her pregnancy was later found
to have been unnecessary.
Human rights lawyer Evgeny Orlov said if gross
negligence by medical misadventure was proven, the DHB could be up for
exemplary damages of more than $250,000.
A confidential report into the incident by the
Office of the Ombudsman, obtained by the Dominion Post under the Official
Information Act, found the woman suffered "psychological stress".
Immigrant rights groups and legal experts have
condemned her treatment.
LabPlus was slated in the independent review,
which found that staff were at risk from infection and that lab-test samples
were in danger of cross-contamination because of unsafe work practices.
The health board has apologized to the woman and
said it fully accepted that failings resulted in "serious
consequences" for her and her family -- though no financial compensation
has been paid.
To view the entire article, visit http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/4786790/dhb-apologises-blunder-led-abortion
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3. Minister against "death tourism"
Swiss Info
July 13, 2008
Swiss law tolerates assisted suicide when the patient commits the act and
the helper has no direct interest. Several organizations offer the service, but
only one group to foreigners.
"Today somebody can come to
The minister would like to introduce a period of reflection between the
first contact made with an organization and an assisted suicide. During this
time the person would undergo counseling from the organization or third party.
Widmer-Schlumpf also called for assisted suicide groups to be financially
transparent and to ensure that they had the necessary documents. She also criticized
the use of helium for deaths.
Her remarks come after the government announced earlier this month that it
would be reviewing the rules for assisted suicide.
To view the entire article, visit http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/social_affairs/Minister_against_death_tourism.html?siteSect=204&sid=9326513&cKey=1215959808000&ty=nd
Related Article
Euthanasia Activist in
LifeNews.com
July 11, 2008
Sood tells the Times of India she's glad her petition was rejected.
Just two years ago, Sood longed for death as a rheumatoid arthritis made it
so the 37-year-old lost movement in all of her limbs for a period of 15 years.
Today, Sood is up and walking again, after a knee replacement surgery and
she's thankful she's still alive.
"I regret the letter to the President," she told the newspaper.
"Everything was so dark for me earlier, but I am excited about my mobility
now and I am confident I will improve."
Sood is fortunate because the regional Himachal government and the alumni
association at Pilani where she received two masters degrees have both agreed
to help pay for more surgeries.
Sood will need several more procedures and six months to recover from them
but then she will be able to resume teaching students math and science.
She tells the newspaper she's hopeful that others who suffer from similar
conditions won't give up hope.
"Don't give up on life. That's what I say," she said.
To view the entire article, visit http://www.lifenews.com/bio2508.html
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4. Internet Service
Providers Move against Child Pornography
Christian Post
July 15, 2008
Pro-family groups were encouraged this week with
the news that AT&T and AOL would join a growing number of Internet service
providers that are working to curb the proliferation of child pornography on
the Internet.
The two companies, along with Verizon, Sprint and
Time Warner Cable which made similar announcements last month, said that they
would help eliminate access to Internet newsgroups where pornography is posted
and purge servers of child porn Web sites.
According to the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children, child pornography on the Internet is a rampant problem,
making the efforts and cooperation of Internet service providers all the more
crucial.
“[S]ince 1997 the number of child pornography
images available on the Internet [has] increased by 1500%,” the group wrote in
a report.
Pat Truman, special counsel with the Alliance
Defense Fund, said that the recent move by AT&T and AOL was a major
milestone, and would help to spur other providers to join the bandwagon in
combating child pornography.
“They should have been blocking child pornography
from the beginning," he said.
"It is their responsibility. And now that
some have decided to block child pornography sites, the pressure's on the
others because no one wants to be known as the ISP that supports child
pornography,” Truman added.
To view the entire article, visit http://christianpost.com/article/20080715/internet-service-providers-move-against-child-pornography.htm
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5. Cord Blood Helps
FOX News
July 10, 2008
But a 9-month-old baby has blessed his parents with a
second round of remarkable milestones as he tries to conquer a rare immune
condition that has thousands of people praying for him and more than 2,000
willing to share their bone marrow, if he needs it.
Instead, a recent umbilical-cord-blood transplant at
Children's
The boy was recently moved out of the hospital's
pediatric intensive care unit where he spent more than three months.
"We are experiencing him growing up again,"
said his father, Daniel Bayless. "He is able to move again. He is able to
play. He is able to smile."
To view the entire article, visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,379389,00.html
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Note: The Featured Articles
excerpts are highlights of current events and
do not necessarily represent
the views of the
or
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Newsletter created and
distributed by:
J.
Acting Managing Director: A.
Scott Loveless
Newsletter Editor: Elena Starovoitova
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