*News relative to protecting the family worldwide*
Volume 8 Issue 193 – July 29, 2008
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Quote of the Day: "Your family and
your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must
be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing. "
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Today’s Contents:
A. Featured Scholar: David Popenoe, Ph.D.
B. Featured News Articles
1. Democratic
Leader Supports Open Homosexuals in Military
2. South African Favored for U.N. Post on Human
Rights
3. American Psychological Association May Hide
Abortion's Risks in August Report
4. Cord Blood Stem Cells Reverse Girl's Cerebral
Palsy
5. Fame-Courting Biotech Running Short of Cash
6. Mice Produce Human Sperm to Raise Hope for Infertile
Men
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
FEATURED SCHOLAR
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
David Popenoe, Ph.D.
Professor emeritus and former social
and behavioral sciences dean at Rutgers; the author of Life without Father, Disturbing
the Nest and many other scholarly and popular publications on marriage and
family.
Cohabitation, Marriage and
Child Wellbeing
A Cross-National Perspective
Introduction
No family change has come to the fore in modern times more dramatically,
and with such rapidity, as heterosexual cohabitation outside of marriage.
Within three decades in most advanced nations the practice of non-marital
cohabitation has shifted from being a widely eschewed and even illegal practice
to one which, increasingly, is viewed as a normal part of the life course and a
necessary prelude to, or even substitute for, marriage. In America before 1970,
for example, cohabitation was uncommon, a deviant and unlawful practice found
only among people at the margins of our society. Since 1970 the number of
Americans living together outside of marriage has increased more than 1,000
percent, with such couples now making up about ten percent of all couples.
What does this trend mean for the future of marriage and the wellbeing
of children? How should we respond to this striking social development, as
individuals and together as a society? In seeking information and answers to
cohabitation questions it is useful to look abroad. The practice of
cohabitation in many other developed nations is longer established and far more
common than in the United States, as are certain characteristic legal and
public policy responses. In Sweden, for example, around 30 percent of all
couples are cohabiting, and “domestic partnership” legislation has been on the
books for several decades. What is done elsewhere does not always have
relevance to our own situation; among developed nations, the culture of the
United States is in some respects unique. Nevertheless, there are many commonalities
in advanced societies and on an issue like cohabitation, where we have such
limited knowledge, all sources of new information warrant close investigation.
In this brief analysis, drawing on the best and latest empirical data, I
shall review the reasons for the swift rise of non-marital cohabitation,
discuss its practice in a number of advanced Western nations, analyze its
social consequences to the best of our current knowledge, especially for child
wellbeing, and discuss reasonable public-policy responses. The nations
specifically included in the analysis, in addition to the United States, are
the major nations of Western Europe and Scandinavia—Denmark, France, Germany,
Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom—together
with Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These nations harbor important data,
experiences, and scholarly documentation that can be helpful for better
understanding the cohabitation situation in the United States, particularly the
likely consequences and what the best public responses might be.
To read the entire report,
visit http://marriage.rutgers.edu/
* * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
FEATURED NEWS
ARTICLES
* * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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. Democratic Leader
Supports Open Homosexuals in Military
CNSNews
July 24, 2008
House Majority Leader Rep. Steny
Hoyer (D-Md.) told CNSNews.com on Wednesday that
homosexuals should be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military.
Homosexual conduct is currently prohibited by the Uniform Code of Military
Justice (UCMJ) and is cause for removal from the service.
Under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy instituted by President Clinton in
1993, however, the military does not ask recruits if they are homosexual, and
homosexuals may serve as long as they do not talk their orientation or engage
in conduct prohibited by the UCMJ.
According to a February 2005 study by the Government Accountability Office, 9,488 people
were removed from the military between 1994 and 2003 because of homosexual
conduct.
“The prohibition against homosexual conduct is a long-standing element of
military law,” the GAO reported. “But in January 1993, President Clinton sought
to fulfill a campaign promise to ‘lift the ban’ on homosexuals serving in the
military. This led to the policy familiarly known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
In exchange for the military services’ silence (“don’t ask”) about a person’s
homosexuality prior to induction, gay and lesbian service members, as a
condition of continued service, would have to agree to silence (“don’t tell”)
about this aspect of their life.”
To view the entire article, visit http://www.cnsnews.com/Public/Content/article.aspx?RsrcID=32946
................
2. South African Favored for U.N. Post on Human Rights
New York Times
July 19, 2008
The United Nations
secretary general, Ban Ki-moon,
is planning to name a judge from South Africa, Navanethem Pillay, to the key
post of high commissioner for human rights, according to a United Nations
official briefed on the decision.
The nomination, which requires the approval of the General Assembly, is
expected to be announced early next week. Judge Pillay
would succeed Louise Arbour,
a prosecutor and judge from Canada whose term ended June 30.
Judge Pillay was born in 1941 to a family from the ethnic Tamil
minority in South Africa. Her father was a bus driver, and her mother had no
formal education, but she rose in legal circles to become the first nonwhite
woman to serve as a High Court judge in South Africa.
She has served since
2003 as a judge at the International
Criminal Court in The Hague, but she became prominent in her
previous post as the presiding judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda.
Some human rights
advocates said they feared that Judge Pillay would be
more low-key than her predecessor, in a job that requires encounters with
governments that often resent the human rights commissioner’s intervening in
their affairs.
If confirmed, Judge Pillay will also work with the 47-member Human Rights
Council, a separate United Nations organization that has been trying to gain
more control over the Office of the High Commissioner. The office and the
council are based in Geneva. The high commissioner works with the rights
council but reports directly to the United Nations secretary general.
By choosing an
African, Mr. Ban could sway the agenda of the council, which during Ms. Arbour’s tenure accused the high commissioner’s office of
having a “Western” and “white” agenda…
The United States has
privately raised concerns about Judge Pillay,
including her strong support for reproductive rights, according to an official
briefed by the Secretary General’s office. And some human rights activists
questioned her management skills and whether she would bring sufficient energy
and drive to the job.
To view the entire article, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/19/world/africa/19nations.html?_r=2&ref=africa&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Related Article
Social Scientist Head
Warns GMA on Repro Health Bill Ill Effects
CBCPNews
July 25, 2008
MANILA, July 25, 2008─There is no such thing
as a “population crisis” in the Philippines and the controversial “Reproductive
Health and Population Development Act of 2007 “is not needed to solve a
problem,” said a leading social scientist.
Dr. Stephen M. Krason,
J. D., President of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists and Professor of
Political Science and Legal Studies at the Franciscan University of
Steubenville, Ohio, USA said the Philippine birthrate has steadily declined
since 1970. United Nations projections revealed that by 2030 “merely 22 years
away – the Philippine birthrate will be below 2 per woman-under the replacement
level of 2.1.”
Krason, based at the Franciscan
University at Steubenville said “once countries sink to very low birth rates
and people have become accustomed to an anti-natal way of thinking─as
is typical in Europe─it is very difficult, even
with incentives, to increase births.”
He said the outcome can be disastrous to a
developing nation like the Philippines.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the Catholic
bishops of the Philippines are correct in their assessment of the dangers that
it represents,” he said.
He said Pope Paul VI had some sober lessons from
the encyclical Humanae Vitae where the Successor of
Peter “warned about all the personal and social maladies that would result from
the acceptance of contraceptive use, and they have
happened…”
“As a social scientist, I have readily seen the
adverse effects of contraceptive family planning in the USA and other Western
countries,” Krason said.
He declared the practice of contraception and “its
further encouragement by government policy has led to the breakdown of sexual
morality and the further acceptance of a range of deviant and unnatural sexual
behaviors, including massive premarital sexual activity, cohabitation,
adultery, and homosexual acts.”
Krason noted the developer of
the birth control pill “lamented how the pill’s availability had made young
people sexually irresponsible.” He added he could tell from his extensive
research on the abortion issue in the United States “that the acceptance of
contraception leads sooner or later to the acceptance of abortion” because
“self-restraint is weakened and an atmosphere of laxity about sex takes hold
and abortion becomes a back-up contraceptive.”
He also pointed out the increase in divorce and
family breakdown as another adverse effect to society of the legalization and
ready availability of contraception.
To view the entire article, visit http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/3919
Related Article
US Congressional Panel Advances Rights Measure Linked to Olympics
Voice of America News
July 24, 2008
A resolution calling on China's government to end
human rights abuses, cut links with brutal governments, and end media
restrictions has moved ahead in the U.S. Congress. VOA's
Dan Robinson reports, action by the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs
Committee is designed to put pressure on China ahead of the 2008 Olympics.
The resolution calls on China to immediately end abuses of the human rights of
its citizens, including what it calls repression of Tibetan and Uighur people
in China.
Although it is non-binding and will not carry the force of law when it passes
the full House next week as expected, it also takes Beijing to task for its
support of two widely-criticized governments in Burma and Sudan.
Lawmakers expressed discomfort with President Bush's decision to attend the
Olympics, including the opening ceremony.
"The situation in Tibet and the support for the PRC for those regimes in
Myanmar [Burma] and of course its horrendous policy in Sudan, that it is a
shame that our president has decided to attend the opening ceremonies of the
Olympics. I think it was an opportunity, by saying you can get by without
boycotting the Olympics but just don't attend the opening ceremonies.
President Bush felt that it was important, said he didn't want to anger the
Chinese, so he is going," said New Jersey Democrat Donald Payne.
President Bush, the resolution says, should make a strong public statement on
China's human rights situation before leaving for Beijing, and similar
statement while in China, and should meet families of jailed prisoners of
conscience.
To view the entire article, visit http://www.voanews.com/english/mobile/displaystory.cfm?id=494257
................
3. American Psychological Association May Hide Abortion's Risks
in August Report
LifeNews.com
July 25, 2008
Washington, DC -- A
leading psychology professor and a liberal pro-life group are concerned that
the American Psychological Association will hide the risks of abortion when it
released a new report in August.
Last year, the
psychological group began a new review of abortion and emotional issues.
The APA created a task
force to review all the existing research regarding the negative psychological
consequences following abortion. Based on their evaluation of the data, they
will release a report that will influence their members and the media for years
to come.
That report is due next
month but concerns are cropping up regarding the timing and composition of the
task from a liberal pro-life group called Consistent Life, formerly the
Seamless Garment Network.
Bill Samuel, the
president of the group, noted in his letter that the APA has taken a
pro-abortion position since 1969 "and therefore has a clear political
stand."
He complained that the
task force had no call for nominations and was composed of "strong public
advocates of the pro-choice view."
"Advocates of the
view that abortion is violence to both unborn children and to women, which
could balance such biases, are ominously absent,' Samuel lamented. "There are several well-qualified researchers who
would have been pleased to serve on the panel, had the panel been selected with
balance in mind."
To view the entire article, visit http://www.lifenews.com/nat4074.html
Related Article
New Canada Poll Finds Citizens Opposed to Award for
Abortion Practitioner
LifeNews.com
July 22, 2008
Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll of Canadian residents that is
much more massive in scope than a previous one, finds a clear majority oppose
abortion practitioner Henry Morgentaler getting the
Order of Canada award. The KLRVU survey has a 95% confidence level and a margin
of error of just 1.5 percent.
That's because the poll included 13,324 respondents when the firm conducted
it from July 17-21.
The random telephone poll of Canadian households founds 55.8% of Canadians
oppose the awarding of the medal to the man who helped ushered in unlimited
abortions in Canada paid for at taxpayer expense.
The poll found opposition to the award across the provinces.
Beginning with a wave on the east coast of Newfoundland, ebbing slightly in
Quebec and then continuing with a surge in Ontario right to the west coast --
the tide of opinion against awarding Morgentaler has
risen, dramatically.
"Whatever side of the abortion debate you are on, many Canadians from
all walks of life felt this appointment went way too far and offended too
many," Jim Hughes, the national president of the Campaign Life Coalition,
said.
"The mass media coverage of the Morgentaler
award has given us the largest abortion debate this country has seen in twenty
years, and Canadians when they are forced to think about abortion realize it is
horrible," he added in a statement to LifeNews.com.
Opposition to awarding the abortion practitioner is highest in Nova Scotia
(68%), Prince Edward Island (67%), Manitoba (66%) and Saskatchewan (65%).
To view the entire article, visit http://www.lifenews.com/int834.html
Related Article
Woman Gives Birth to Her 18th Child
CNSNews
July 28, 2008
Abbotsford, British
Columbia (AP) - A Romanian immigrant has given birth to her 18th child in
British Columbia, making her the province's most prolific mother in 20 years.
Proud dad Alexandru Ionce
said Saturday that his 44-year-old wife, Livia, gave
birth on Tuesday. Their daughter Abigail weighed in at seven pounds, 12 ounces.
"We never planned how many children to have. We just let God guide our
lives, you know, because we strongly believe life comes from God and that's the
reason we did not stop the life," said Alexandru
Ionce.
The couple immigrated to Canada from Romania in 1990 and now
live in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Their 17 other children range in
age from 20 months to 23 years old.
Ionce said he did not know if the couple would have more
children. The family now has 10 girls and eight boys.
To view the entire article, visit http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33146
................
4. Cord Blood Stem
Cells Reverse Girl's Cerebral Palsy
Fox News
July 28, 2008
When Chloe Levine was 9-months-old, her parents
noticed she couldn’t hold her bottle with her right hand.
That wasn’t her only developmental setback. Chloe,
of Pinetop, Ariz., was unable to raise both hands above her head, and she could
not crawl.
At 12 months, a CAT scan showed a portion of the
left side of Chloe’s brain had not developed and contained fluid. Seeking
answers, Chloe’s parents, Ryan and Jenny Levine took their daughter to a
neurologist who diagnosed the toddler with right-side hemiplegic cerebral
palsy.
“The cerebral palsy had only affected the right
side of her body,” Jenny Levine said Monday morning on FOX & Friends. “The
neurologist told us we were looking at 17, 18 years of therapy…”
Two months ago, Chloe, 2, received an infusion of
her own stem cells and her progress is remarkable, said her father, Ryan
Levine.
“Her therapist said she’s made a 50 percent
recovery,” he said. “She can walk, run, and do sign language with her right
hand.”
“It’s a miracle,” agreed Jenny Levine. “To hear
your baby’s voice is a gift.”
To view the entire article, visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,392061,00.html
................
5. Fame-Courting Biotech Running Short of Cash
Boston.com
July 17, 2008
For the past decade, Advanced Cell Technology Inc. has
claimed one spectacular success after another.
The Worcester biotech firm said it was the first to clone
an endangered species, an Asian bovine. Executives said they pioneered research
that could one day be used to reverse the aging process and grow replacement
body parts. And ACT said it cloned the first human embryo, a discovery that
sparked headlines worldwide.
But all the publicity likely backfired. Former chief
executive Michael West was compared in news reports to famed circus promoter
P.T. Barnum. Some scientists said some of ACT's
claims were overstated. And a former ACT executive said the company's work in
controversial areas such as stem cell research and cloning scared away
pharmaceutical firms and life sciences investors that traditionally fund young
promising biotech companies.
Now, ACT could be on the verge of shutting down. In a
Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday, the company warned that it
doesn't have cash to continue operating after July 31 without raising
additional money or drastically slashing operations. It reported $17 million in
current liabilities, but only $1 million in cash and other current assets, an
indication it could be forced to file for bankruptcy protection. And ACT's stock, which was as high as $8 per share three years
ago, closed yesterday at 2.5 cents a share.
"They may have had some useful technologies, but
people in the biotech community have learned not to make wild claims,"
said Una Ryan, a veteran biotech executive and former
chairwoman of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. "People want to
know you are not just full of fluff and that you are going to deliver."
To view the entire article, visit http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2008/07/17/fame_courting_biotech_running_short_of_cash/
................
And in the curiosity department:
6. Mice Produce Human Sperm to Raise Hope for Infertile Men
Times Online (United Kingdom)
July 6, 2008
Mice have been used to make human sperm for the first
time in a breakthrough that could lead to a treatment for infertile men.
The discovery shows the animals can be used as surrogate
sperm producers for men who cannot produce viable sperm of their own.
The research could, however, prove controversial because
it gives a separate species an intimate role in human reproduction.
“Our data indicate that the mouse can yield human sperm
cells,” said Irina Kerkis of the Roger Abdelmassih clinic and research centre in Sao Paolo, Brazil…
In an advance summary, Kerkis
describes how she and her colleagues first extracted dental pulp from the tooth
of a male donor.
The pulp, found in the soft material in the centre of
teeth, is rich in stem cells. These are the precursors of almost every type of
cell in the body with the power to develop into anything from heart muscle to
brain cells.
Kerkis then isolated the stem cells
from the dental pulp and injected them into the testes of live male mice.
The mice were killed at various intervals after the
injection and their testes examined to see if the stem cells had survived.
Kerkis found the human stem
cells had not only settled into the mouse’s testes but had also successfully
“differentiated” into cells that were producing viable sperm.
In practice, once sperm had been extracted from the
mouse’s testes they could then be used to fertilize a donated egg. This could
then be transplanted into a prospective mother.
The discovery means that an infertile man could have a
baby by giving up one of his teeth and agreeing to involve a mouse in the
process of reproduction.
To view the entire article, visit http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article4276551.ece
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Note: The Featured Articles
excerpts are highlights of current events and
do not necessarily
represent the views of the
or
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Newsletter created and
distributed by:
J.
Acting Managing Director: A.
Scott Loveless
Newsletter Editor: Elena Starovoitova
If you have any articles,
editorials, or papers you would like
circulated through the WFPC
News network, you may submit them to
wfpcsec@lawgate.byu.edu
If you do not wish to receive
a copy of WFPC News you may unsubscribe
by sending an email
to listserv@listserv.byu.edu. The subject should be
left blank and the body
should read, "unsubscribe wfpc-news".