World Family Policy Center Newsletter

*News relative to protecting the family worldwide*

Volume 8 Issue 202 – November 14, 2008

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Quote of the Day: "Everyone needs to have access both to grandparents and grandchildren in order to be a full human being."

~ Margaret Mead

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Professor Richard G. Wilkins, Managing Director of the World Family Policy Center, would like to announce the recent decision by the Brigham Young University to close the Center. Professor Wilkins and Acting Managing Director Dr. A. Scott Loveless express their profound thanks to everyone who offered service to the World Family Policy Center. Brief statements from Professor Wilkins and Dr. Loveless will be included in the final edition of the Center's newsletter, which will be sent in late November or early December of this year.

Today’s Contents:

A. Featured Scholar: Steven Rhoads

B. Featured News Articles

1. Uruguay Senate Votes to Legalize Some Abortions

2. Australia Denies German Family Residency Because of Down Syndrome Baby

3. Utah Boycott Urged After Calif. Vote

4. British Pro-Life Advocates Worry about Future Bill to Legalize Assisted Suicide

5. Project Rachel Chapter Expands to Men; They Need Post-Abortion Help Too

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FEATURED SCHOLAR

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Dr. Steven Rhoads

Professor of Politics, University of Virginia, United States

Press release
Taking Sex Differences Seriously
By Steven E. Rhoads
Publication Date: June 1, 2004

"Scintillating and utterly persuasive. For several decades, gender ideologues have aggressively promoted the view that "gender is a social construction." Rhoads marshals massive amounts of evidence showing why they are wrong." - Christina Hoff Sommers

Most contemporary discussions of sex differences assume that they are determined by society rather than biology. It is society that teaches little girls to be feminine and little boys to be masculine--society that tells women to respond to babies and men to respond to sports. Reflecting the fashionable idea that male and female roles have been "socially constructed," most commentators speak of gender instead of sex. Because men and women are virtually interchangeable, so the argument goes, men should do an equal share of domestic and childrearing work so that women can compete equally outside the home

There's only one problem with this beguiling vision of androgyny. Whatever we might like to believe, as Dr. Steven Rhoads shows, sex distinctions remain a deeply rooted part of human nature. In Taking Sex Differences Seriously, Rhoads assembles a wealth of scientific evidence showing that these differences are "hardwired" into our biology. They range from the subtle (men get a chemical high from winning while women get one from nursing) to the profound (women with high testosterone levels are more promiscuous, more competitive, and more conflicted about having children than those with average levels.)

Rhoads explores disparities in aggression and dominance, in sexuality and nurturing. He shows how denial of these differences has helped to create the sexual revolution, fatherless families, and policies such as Title IX, and the call for universal day care. But while insisting that we must take sex differences seriously, Rhoads also advocates discouraging some natural tendencies, like men's desire for irresponsible sex, and encouraging others, like women's greater interest and talent in caring for babies.

In this provocative exploration of the masculine and feminine, Steven Rhoads dispels contemporary clichés and spotlights biological realities. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, Taking Sex Differences Seriously is a groundbreaking look at the way we are.

Steven Rhoads has taught public policy at the University of Virginia for over thirty years. His essays have appeared in the New York Times, the Public Interest and other publications. His books include The Economist's View of the World and Incomparable Worth: Pay Equity Meets the Market.

To learn more about the book, visit http://www.faculty.virginia.edu/sexdifferences/news001.html

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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 World Family Policy Center.

1. Uruguay Senate Votes to Legalize Some Abortions

SeattlePI

November 11, 2008

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay -- Uruguay's Senate voted Tuesday to allow abortion during the first trimester - a rare step in a Latin American nation. President Tabare Vasquez has said he will veto the measure.

Sen. Monica Javier of the governing Socialist Party said 17 of the 30 senators present voted for the bill, which earlier passed the lower house of Congress on a 49-48 vote.

The country's Roman Catholic Church has crusaded against the measure, which would make Uruguay only the second country in South America, along with English-speaking Guyana, to permit abortion without restriction in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

The nation's bishops issued a statement on Saturday saying that any lawmakers voting for the measure would be automatically excommunicated.

Socialist President Vasquez, himself a physician, said last year that he doesn't agree with legalized abortion - "neither philosophically nor biologically" - and would veto any bill to remove penalties.

Abortion is now banned altogether in Uruguay, a nation of 3.3 million people, though researches estimate that about 33,000 are performed each year at a cost of up to $800. Three Uruguayan doctors were sentenced to prison earlier this year for performing abortions.

Most countries in Latin America allow abortion only in cases of rape, when the mother's life is in danger or if the fetus has severe deformities. Only Cuba and Guyana allow abortions without restrictions in the first trimester.

To view the entire article, visit http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102ap_lt_uruguay_abortion.html?source=rss

The Case for Forcing Birth Control on Unfit Mothers

Times Online (United Kingdom)

November 9, 2008

The Dutch are odd. They seem so moderate, so practical, so sensible - a nation of considerate egalitarian cyclists – yet they take their virtues to extremes. They pursue common sense to a fault. For instance, there are plenty of arguments in favor of mercy killing, yet few nations feel quite able to make it legal. The Dutch did, with enthusiasm, long ago. The same is true of legalizing cannabis and prostitution.

Another example of this tendency emerged last week. Reports hit the blogosphere that a Dutch socialist politician, Marjo Van Dijken of the PvDA party (the social democratic Labor party), is putting a draft bill before the Dutch parliament recommending that unfit mothers should be forced by law into two years of contraception. Any babies willfully conceived in that period should be confiscated at birth. Unfit mothers would mean those who have already been in serious trouble because of their bad parenting.

There is, I suppose, a grain of common sense behind all that, but Van Dijken has taken it to what seem like scary extremes. One imagines Dutch do-gooders on bikes, descending on all the imperfect mothers of Holland and bearing away their babies in countless bicycle baskets, like totalitarian ex-post facto storks.

In person Van Dijken sounds less alarming. She explains that the professionals who come into contact with families in difficulties all say the same thing. They see the same problems repeated again and again in certain families. It’s obvious from when social workers are forced to take the first child into care that it won’t be the last.

Dijken’s idea is to try to prevent a new pregnancy in a family whose existing children are already in care until the situation has improved enough for them to be able to come back home. Two years might be a suitable period. If, after the suggested two years of compulsory contraception, the family is still not safe for children, the contraception order could be extended by a judge’s review. “If there’s a better way, a less invasive way, I will never mention my proposals again,” she says.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/minette_marrin/article5114514.ece

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2. Australia Denies German Family Residency Because of Down Syndrome Baby

Canberra Times (Australia)

October 31, 2008

The federal government must overturn an immigration department decision to deny Australian residency to a German doctor because his son has Down syndrome, the opposition says.

Bernhard Moeller moved with his family to rural Horsham, in central-western Victoria, two and a half years ago to help fill a doctor shortage.

Dr Moeller has a temporary 457 visa which is valid until 2010, but has been denied permanent residency because the department believes his 13-year-old son Lukas would be a drain on the health system.

Coalition disabilities spokesman Cory Bernardi says he has asked Immigration Minister Chris Evans to intervene in the case but continues to pass the buck to the department.

"Minister Evans has the discretionary powers to intervene and approve the residency application of Dr Moeller and his family, yet as media pressure has intensified he has chosen to hide behind the department," Senator Bernardi said.

"It is sad that in this modern day we are still viewing people with a disability, such as Dr Moeller's son, as a burden.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/doctor-denied-residency-due-to-down-syndrome-son/1348867.aspx

Woman Facing Forced Sterilization Seeks Asylum

Examiner

November 8, 2008

DENVER (Map, News) - A woman who feared that deportation to China meant forced abortion or sterilization upon arrival at her homeland lost her bid for asylum in the United States.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday denied Xiu Mei Wei's request to reopen her case.

A three-judge panel said that Wei failed to present "material evidence" that her case be reopened based on conditions in China or her personal circumstances, including her fourth pregnancy.

Wei's temporary visa expired in April 1997 but she didn't apply for asylum until November 2002 when she was pregnant with her third child. A message left after business hours for her attorney, Lorance Hockert, was not immediately returned.

As part of her application for asylum, Wei attached a formal notice regarding enforcement of China's one-child policy sent to her mother by authorities in her hometown of Changle City, Fijian Province. It advised her that is she didn't abort her third child, she or husband would be sterilized upon their return.

She also provided proof that her sister-in-law had been forced to undergo an abortion and sterilized when she became pregnant with her third child.

In its ruling, the judges upheld an immigration judge and Board of Immigration Appeals rejection of her application based on her failure to file it within the required one year of arriving in the U.S. and failure to demonstrate changed or extraordinary circumstances justifying the delay.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.examiner.com/a-1680107~Woman_facing_forced_sterilization_seeks_asylum.html

Comatose Woman Weeps at Talk of Abortion

China Daily

November 13, 2008

A comatose woman gave birth to a 1.718-kg boy in the affiliated hospital of Guangxi Medical University last Wednesday. Tang Yulu, 29, suffers from cardiovascular disease and fell into a coma on April 26 when she was just two months pregnant.

In July doctors suggested terminating because the fetus’ existence would jeopardize Tang’s recovery. While Tang’s family was discussing an abortion at her bedside, she shed tears.

Tang’s parents and husband then decided to keep the baby.

With the care of her family, Tang gave birth to the boy via C-section. Although underweight, the boy is in a stable condition in an incubator.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2008-11/13/content_7200734.htm

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3. Utah Boycott Urged After Calif. Vote

Washington Post

November 8, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 7 -- Utah's growing tourism industry and the star-studded Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.dance Film Festival are being targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for its aggressive promotion of California's ban on gay marriage.

It could be a heavy price to pay. Tourism brings in $6 billion a year to Utah, with world-class skiing, spectacular red-rock country and the film festival founded by Robert Redford among popular tourist draws.

Gay rights activist John Aravosis, whose well-trafficked AmericaBlog.com is urging the boycott, is unapologetic about targeting Utah rather than California, where voters defined marriage in the state Constitution as a heterosexual act.

Utah, Aravosis said, "is a hate state," and on this issue, "at a fundamental level, the Utah Mormons crossed the line. . . . They just took marriage away from 20,000 couples and made their children bastards. You don't do that and get away with it."

The Mormon Church, based in Salt Lake City, encouraged members to work for passage of the ballot measure. Thousands of Mormons worked as grass-roots volunteers and gave tens of millions of dollars to the campaign.

Proposition 8, the measure passed Tuesday, overrode a state Supreme Court ruling that briefly gave same-sex couples the right to wed.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/07/AR2008110703786.html

Couple Weds After Gay Marriage Legalized in Connecticut

FoxNews

November 12, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A judge cleared the way Wednesday for gay marriage in Connecticut, a victory for advocates stung by California's referendum that banned same-sex unions in that state.

Minutes after a judge entered a final ruling, the New Haven city clerk's office issued its first marriage license to a gay couple. It went to Barbara and Robin Levine-Ritterman of New Haven, one of the eight couples who successfully challenged a state law prohibiting gay marriage.

The first wedding in New Haven was of Peg Oliveira and Jennifer Vickery of New Haven, who got married next door to New Haven City Hall near a farmer's market. They said their vows and exchanged rings in a brief ceremony led by state Appellate Court Judge F. Herbert Gruendel.

"I feel so happy," said Vickery, a 44-year-old attorney. "It's so much more emotional than I expected."

It was unknown if theirs was the first in Connecticut, as marriage licenses became available in each of the state's 169 communities at 9:30 a.m.

Celebrating couples, some carrying red roses, streamed into the clerk's office to get their licenses.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,450648,00.html

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4. British Pro-Life Advocates Worry about Future Bill to Legalize Assisted Suicide

LifeNews.com

November 12, 2008

London, England -- Leading pro-life advocate John Smeaton of the British pro-life group SPUC is taking on MP Evan Harris, who, as Smeaton says, has attempted to mislead the English people by inventing a false distinction between assisted suicide and the taking of lethal doses at euthanasia centers in Switzerland.

Smeaton says a speech Harris gave yesterday was "disgraceful."

Harris said that, because patients have a legal right to refuse medical treatment, they should also have a right to receive assistance to die (i.e. to commit suicide by lethal dose).

"The end result is the same, and the wish is the same; it is only the activity or passivity that is different," the member of Parliament said.

Smeaton wrote on Wednesday that his group has frequently quoted Dr Helga Kuhse, the utilitarian bioethicist, who, as then-president of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, made some alarming remarks in 1984.

"If we can get people to accept the removal of all treatment and care--especially the removal of food and fluids--they will see what a painful way this is to die and then, in the patient's best interests, they will accept the lethal injection," she said at the time.

"SPUC has also warned that the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which in certain circumstances gives legal force to killings by denial of food and fluids, will lead to calls for killings by lethal dose," Smeaton wrote.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.lifenews.com/bio2626.html

Study Shows People with More Chronic Pain More Likely to Commit Suicide

LifeNews.com

November 12, 2008

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new study from University of Michigan researchers finds that people with more chronic pain are more likely to commit suicide. The study is important now that Washington has become the second state to legalize assisted suicide after Oregon.

The study included 5,700 adults and it found those who have chronic pain other than arthritis were four times more likely to have attempted suicide than adults without pain.

Patients with head pain or pain linked to multiple areas of the body were most likely to consider suicide -- indicating pain relief continues to be a great method of reducing the desire for assisted suicide.

According to a Reuters report, among those with three or more painful conditions, 14 percent said they had at some point thought about suicide, while nearly 6 percent reported an actual suicide attempt.

"Pain is one of those factors that may make someone feel more hopeless and less optimistic about the future and increases the chances that they will think about suicide," lead researcher Dr. Mark A. Ilgen said.

Bioethics watchdog Wesley J. Smith responded to the news.

"I have met people with severe chronic pain in my travels and at my speeches," he said. "These people live very difficult lives that requires strong medical and emotional support from family, friends, and communities to help them keep going."

He said the results show "another reason why the euthanasia/assisted suicide movement is so dangerous."

To view the entire article, visit http://www.lifenews.com/bio2627.html

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5. Project Rachel Chapter Expands to Men; They Need Post-Abortion Help Too

LifeNews.com

November 10, 2008

St. Louis, MO -- The Project Rachel chapter in the Archdiocese of St. Louis is planning to expand its services for post-abortive parents to men, following an eye-opening conference in Chicago this September.

"The men are left out of the mix, and so my interest — for a lot of reasons — is seeing what I can do to help men who have experienced this and offer some healing," said Deacon John Wainscott of Annunziata Parish in Ladue, Missouri.

"Our hope is that we can assure them there is absolution for a contrite heart and access to a priest so they can begin healing," Wainscott continued. "We want to go out in the community and meet men and draw them into the office to help them with healing."

Project Rachel and its many chapters will continue to offer their post-abortion counseling services to women, including retreats, spiritual direction, and counseling. The Reclaiming Fatherhood conference took place on September 8-9 in Chicago, and was organized by the Knights of Columbus and the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing.

"As an organization of lay men that has a strong history and commitment to life, we think it is very important to highlight the issues faced by those fathers whose children are aborted," Supreme Knight Carl Anderson told LifeNews.com. "There are three victims of every abortion, the child and both of his or her parents, and it is our hope that this conference will be the beginning of a ministry within the Church to these fathers, who grieve the death of their unborn child in isolation and silence."

To view the entire article, visit http://www.lifenews.com/nb163.html