Rev. Walter Hoye of Berkeley, California, has been ordered to serve 30 days in jail for unlawfully approaching two persons entering an abortion facility in Oakland. See LifeSite News. Judge Stuart Hing of the Alameda Superior Court had ordered Rev. Hoye to stay one hundred yards away from the abortion facility for three years, but Hoye refused to accept this term of his probation. Because of his refusal, the judge denied a motion by the defense to stay the sentence pending appeal, and Mr. Hoye was taken into custody from the courtroom.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=463320
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Two states facing off in lesbian custody battle
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
Liberty Counsel has intervened in another custody battle between two lesbians.
The case pits California law against Alabama law. Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, says the Alabama Court of Appeals ruled that the state must "recognize and enforce" the California court's decision, stating that the former same-sex partner of the biological mother has parental rights to the child, even though she has no biological or adoptive relationship with the child.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=463344
Liberty Counsel has intervened in another custody battle between two lesbians.
The case pits California law against Alabama law. Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, says the Alabama Court of Appeals ruled that the state must "recognize and enforce" the California court's decision, stating that the former same-sex partner of the biological mother has parental rights to the child, even though she has no biological or adoptive relationship with the child.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=463344
Planned Parenthood 'changing focus' to medical abortions
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
American Life League has released a report on Planned Parenthood abortion facilities.
The report shows that while the number of Planned Parenthood surgical abortion facilities has dropped, the taxpayer-funded abortion provider is simply "changing focus," says Marie Hahnenberg, a researcher for American Life League.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=463438
American Life League has released a report on Planned Parenthood abortion facilities.
The report shows that while the number of Planned Parenthood surgical abortion facilities has dropped, the taxpayer-funded abortion provider is simply "changing focus," says Marie Hahnenberg, a researcher for American Life League.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=463438
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
A Civil Debate
One of the disturbing things about debating same sex marriage is the tone. Defenders of conjugal marriage are automatically presumed to be acting in bad faith. Same sex marriage is a civil rights issue and nothing else. If you bring up any counter-vailing considerations, any concern about negative consequences, any reason to believe the legitimate objectives of same sex couples can be met in some other way, these considerations are not worth taking seriously. We think the issue is about marriage: what marriage is and ought to be, what society needs marriage to be. The other side thinks it is always and everywhere, only about civil rights. I don't think it is a good and civil way to conduct a debate to assume ill-will or bad intent on the part of your opponent.
Tonight for instance: my opponent at Seton Hall did exactly that. But I don't think it helped his cause. The students could see for themselves that I am not "cruel, or insensitive." Nor was I visibly frightened of anyone, contrary to his explicit accusation of "homophobia." Nor was I "prudish." All these words were used against generic opponents of same sex marriage. At no time did he even attempt to respond to my arguments: that same sex marriage will change the definition of marriage for everyone, not just for a few people, therefore it will affect everyone. Same sex marriage will undermine the principle that children deserve a relationship with both parents. It undercuts the biological principle for determining parentage, as well as the principle that the state records parentage, but does not determine parentage.
All of this will harm children and empower the state, not individuals.
But he did not even attempt to respond to these arguments.
Not a good way to debate.
Tonight for instance: my opponent at Seton Hall did exactly that. But I don't think it helped his cause. The students could see for themselves that I am not "cruel, or insensitive." Nor was I visibly frightened of anyone, contrary to his explicit accusation of "homophobia." Nor was I "prudish." All these words were used against generic opponents of same sex marriage. At no time did he even attempt to respond to my arguments: that same sex marriage will change the definition of marriage for everyone, not just for a few people, therefore it will affect everyone. Same sex marriage will undermine the principle that children deserve a relationship with both parents. It undercuts the biological principle for determining parentage, as well as the principle that the state records parentage, but does not determine parentage.
All of this will harm children and empower the state, not individuals.
But he did not even attempt to respond to these arguments.
Not a good way to debate.
Speaking of Maggie Gallagher
She is having a 'discussion' here, with Deroy Murdock over at The Corner at National Review. Deroy got mad because no one on our side is sufficiently incensed over an adultery-promoting website. Therefore, we aren't serious about marriage: our opposition to same sex marriage is suspect because if we really cared about marriage, we'd be railing against this website he found.
The argument is kind of silly, as Maggie said. She has been fighting to strengthen marriage for years. AS far as I know, she was the first person to see the full implications of no-fault divorce, back in her book The Abolition of Marriage
No fault basically removed the state from enforcing the most basic terms of the marriage contract, and that it cause enormous hardship, especially to children.
Back in 2001, when I first published Love and Economics: It Takes a Family to Raise a Village, Streetfighter Edition
people would sometimes ask me about same sex marriage, a topic that I did not mention at all in that book. I would usually say, "I don't deal with same sex marriage. My job is to straighten out the straight people, and that is a full-time job," and then move on. The truth is that there are so many affronts to marriage, that one really can't keep up with all of them, especially if we are to be held to the standard of commenting on each and every outrage.
So,I would just like to point out that my most recent article is entitled The Superstition of Divorce.
Take That, Deroy!
The argument is kind of silly, as Maggie said. She has been fighting to strengthen marriage for years. AS far as I know, she was the first person to see the full implications of no-fault divorce, back in her book The Abolition of Marriage
No fault basically removed the state from enforcing the most basic terms of the marriage contract, and that it cause enormous hardship, especially to children. Back in 2001, when I first published Love and Economics: It Takes a Family to Raise a Village, Streetfighter Edition
people would sometimes ask me about same sex marriage, a topic that I did not mention at all in that book. I would usually say, "I don't deal with same sex marriage. My job is to straighten out the straight people, and that is a full-time job," and then move on. The truth is that there are so many affronts to marriage, that one really can't keep up with all of them, especially if we are to be held to the standard of commenting on each and every outrage.
So,I would just like to point out that my most recent article is entitled The Superstition of Divorce.
Take That, Deroy!
The Amazing Power of Culture: Names Matter
Maggie Gallagher has a very interesting series at National Review and her own iMAPP blog, called The Amazing Power of Culture. Among the many interesting items is this observation about the power of naming things.
I would add one thing: the power to name, in effect, controls how we think. We formulate our thoughts in words. When words become corrupted, or ambiguous, our thoughts change as well.
To give just one example, it used to be a fairly unexceptional statement to say, "Kids need mothers and fathers." That idea now has to be accompanied by an asterisk: kids need mothers and fathers, unless one of their parents is gay, in which case, having an opposite sex parent is completely optional. The plain vanilla thought, kids need mothers and fathers, without qualification, without apology, is becoming more and more difficult to formulate and state.
When people say the "law is an educator," that's true, but it doesn't go far enough. In this case, the law is an arbiter of reality: Who is really married? Who is really divorced? Who is having an out-of-wedlock child? Who, for that matter, is committing adultery?
The law's power to name reality matters.
By the way, I do understand that is why the "name" matters to gay-marriage advocates. That's what makes this battle difficult to compromise. But all I ask, of the intellectual class at least, is they stop saying therefore that the defintion of marriage in law (which matters so much to Adam and Steve) won't matter at all to anyone else.
I would add one thing: the power to name, in effect, controls how we think. We formulate our thoughts in words. When words become corrupted, or ambiguous, our thoughts change as well.
To give just one example, it used to be a fairly unexceptional statement to say, "Kids need mothers and fathers." That idea now has to be accompanied by an asterisk: kids need mothers and fathers, unless one of their parents is gay, in which case, having an opposite sex parent is completely optional. The plain vanilla thought, kids need mothers and fathers, without qualification, without apology, is becoming more and more difficult to formulate and state.
Risks to IVF Kids- Seton Hall
Tonight, I am in Newark, NJ, after debating same sex marriage at Seton Hall Law School. In the questions and answers, a student asserted that there are no developmental issues associated with IVF children being raised in heterosexual married couples, by one bio parent and one non-bio parent. I stopped her right there: do you assert that, or do you know that? She said she asserted it. My argument at the time is that no one has even asked the question of the impact on children's development in those households. Nor, has anyone asked about the divorce rate among married couples using one donor gamete.
Now, I just found a report from the UK that IVF children are at higher risk for medical conditions.
That's nice: now you tell us. After using desparate infertile women and their children as human guinea pigs, you deign to inform us that women should be given more information. What kind of defects are we talking about?
I'd say women have a right to know. They have a right to be informed while they are young, in their twenties, and before they make a plan that "oh, if I don't find a husband, I can always do IVF with donor sperm."
Now, I just found a report from the UK that IVF children are at higher risk for medical conditions.
The British government's embryo research authority has warned potential parents that children conceived artificially through in vitro fertilization have a thirty percent higher risk of genetic abnormalities.
Reports of higher levels of birth defects among IVF children have been making headlines since at least 2003, but the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has only this week issued a warning on the matter. The HFEA said that parents should be told of the risks associated with IVF, but emphasized that not all the risks are fully understood and more research is needed.
That's nice: now you tell us. After using desparate infertile women and their children as human guinea pigs, you deign to inform us that women should be given more information. What kind of defects are we talking about?
The Daily Mail notes that research by the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, published online last month in the Human Reproduction journal, found that IVF babies suffer from heart valve defects, cleft lip and palate, and digestive system abnormalities due to the bowel or esophagus failing to form properly.
For years researchers have warned that IVF children risk complications such as Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome; rare urological defects including bladder development outside the body; heart or central nervous system abnormalities, and dangerously low birth weight.
I'd say women have a right to know. They have a right to be informed while they are young, in their twenties, and before they make a plan that "oh, if I don't find a husband, I can always do IVF with donor sperm."
Parents' rights paramount in Calif. school district
Charlie Butts and Jody Brown - OneNewsNow
One school district in California has bucked the trend and opted to protect parental rights. The board of trustees of the Vista Unified School District voted unanimously to require that pupils obtain parental permission before leaving campus for "confidential medical services" -- including birth control and abortions.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=459736
One school district in California has bucked the trend and opted to protect parental rights. The board of trustees of the Vista Unified School District voted unanimously to require that pupils obtain parental permission before leaving campus for "confidential medical services" -- including birth control and abortions.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=459736
Plan B ruling 'puts politics above women's health'
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
A judge has ordered the Food and Drug Administration to make the controversial Plan B "morning-after" pill available to 17-year-olds without a prescription.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=463218
A judge has ordered the Food and Drug Administration to make the controversial Plan B "morning-after" pill available to 17-year-olds without a prescription.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=463218
VT Senate approves homosexual 'marriage' bill
Associated Press
MONTPELIER, Vt. - Vermont lawmakers have taken a step toward legalizing same-sex "marriage."
The state Senate voted 26-4 Monday to approve a bill that would do away with civil unions in favor of marriage for gay and lesbian couples. The measure now goes to the House, where hearings start today.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=463162
MONTPELIER, Vt. - Vermont lawmakers have taken a step toward legalizing same-sex "marriage."
The state Senate voted 26-4 Monday to approve a bill that would do away with civil unions in favor of marriage for gay and lesbian couples. The measure now goes to the House, where hearings start today.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=463162
Christian school confiscating cell phones to stop cheating
Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, NC - A Christian school in North Carolina plans to confiscate students' cell phones during class hours because teachers have caught students texting test answers twice this year. The Fayetteville Observer says the ban at Fayetteville Christian School takes effect on Tuesday.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=461888
FAYETTEVILLE, NC - A Christian school in North Carolina plans to confiscate students' cell phones during class hours because teachers have caught students texting test answers twice this year. The Fayetteville Observer says the ban at Fayetteville Christian School takes effect on Tuesday.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=461888
Pro-life 'hero' unable to stop legalized killing
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
Luxembourg has become the third nation to legalize doctor-assisted suicide. While that isn't good news to pro-lifers, there is a pro-life hero in the story.
The vote on the bill was 30-26, but it was stalled for some time. Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition explains. "The fact is that they've now gone to extreme measures even to carry this out because the Grand Duke of Luxembourg originally refused to sign the bill into law," he says. That forced Parliament to take drastic action to make it legal. "They went as far as to change their constitution in order to make sure that he didn't need to sign the bill into law for it to become law," says the pro-life activist.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=458380
Luxembourg has become the third nation to legalize doctor-assisted suicide. While that isn't good news to pro-lifers, there is a pro-life hero in the story.
The vote on the bill was 30-26, but it was stalled for some time. Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition explains. "The fact is that they've now gone to extreme measures even to carry this out because the Grand Duke of Luxembourg originally refused to sign the bill into law," he says. That forced Parliament to take drastic action to make it legal. "They went as far as to change their constitution in order to make sure that he didn't need to sign the bill into law for it to become law," says the pro-life activist.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=458380
Saving, helping marriages in Texas
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
The Texas Legislature is trying to reduce the state's divorce figures.
Jonathan Saenz, a spokesman from the Free Market Foundation, found a sponsor for the bill. "The legislation is aimed at attacking no-fault divorce," he explains. "In our state one person can walk away from a marriage, even when kids are involved, and leave the other spouse to raise the kids and having to fend for themselves."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=458074
The Texas Legislature is trying to reduce the state's divorce figures.
Jonathan Saenz, a spokesman from the Free Market Foundation, found a sponsor for the bill. "The legislation is aimed at attacking no-fault divorce," he explains. "In our state one person can walk away from a marriage, even when kids are involved, and leave the other spouse to raise the kids and having to fend for themselves."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=458074
Napolitano's absence benefits AZ pro-lifers
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
Arizona lawmakers are celebrating some success with pro-life bills in the absence of the former governor.
Since Janet Napolitano graduated from the governor's mansion to the federal Department of Homeland Security, two major bills have been passed in the Arizona House and sent to the Senate. John Jakubczyk, president of Arizona Right to Life, says one would provide enforcement for the ban on partial-birth abortions, and the second is the Abortion Consent Act.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=457974
Arizona lawmakers are celebrating some success with pro-life bills in the absence of the former governor.
Since Janet Napolitano graduated from the governor's mansion to the federal Department of Homeland Security, two major bills have been passed in the Arizona House and sent to the Senate. John Jakubczyk, president of Arizona Right to Life, says one would provide enforcement for the ban on partial-birth abortions, and the second is the Abortion Consent Act.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=457974
STDs a growing trend among America's youth
Charlie Butts
A government report reveals a strong need for more attention to abstinence education.
Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America has seen the report on sexually transmitted diseases which comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=458138
A government report reveals a strong need for more attention to abstinence education.
Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America has seen the report on sexually transmitted diseases which comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=458138
More People in Love Than Previously Thought
Clara Moskowitz
Romeo and Juliet would approve: A new study found that romantic love can stand the test of time.
Though it is widely held that romance and sex must ultimately yield to friendly companionship over time, new research found that's not the case. Instead about 13 percent of people reported high levels of romance in their long-term relationships, in a new study published in the March issue of the journal Review of General Psychology.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090320/sc_livescience/morepeopleinlovethanpreviouslythought
Romeo and Juliet would approve: A new study found that romantic love can stand the test of time.
Though it is widely held that romance and sex must ultimately yield to friendly companionship over time, new research found that's not the case. Instead about 13 percent of people reported high levels of romance in their long-term relationships, in a new study published in the March issue of the journal Review of General Psychology.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090320/sc_livescience/morepeopleinlovethanpreviouslythought
The Pope was right about AIDS in Africa
Who’s the real expert?
Jokin de Irala
Did any journalists ask an epidemiologist whether the Pope might be right about the ineffectiveness of condoms in fighting the African AIDS epidemic? We did.
Pope Benedict XVI ignited a firestorm of controversy earlier this week. On a flight to Cameroon where he later greeted rapturous crowds, he held a press conference. A French journalist asked him about the African AIDS epidemic. What he said was only half a sentence, but the repercussions in the Western media were explosive: “the scourge cannot be resolved by distributing condoms; quite the contrary, we risk worsening the problem.”
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/whos_the_expert/
Jokin de Irala
Did any journalists ask an epidemiologist whether the Pope might be right about the ineffectiveness of condoms in fighting the African AIDS epidemic? We did.
Pope Benedict XVI ignited a firestorm of controversy earlier this week. On a flight to Cameroon where he later greeted rapturous crowds, he held a press conference. A French journalist asked him about the African AIDS epidemic. What he said was only half a sentence, but the repercussions in the Western media were explosive: “the scourge cannot be resolved by distributing condoms; quite the contrary, we risk worsening the problem.”
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/whos_the_expert/
'Gay marriage' in Vermont a possibility
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
A bill to approve homosexual "marriage" is on a fast track in Vermont, even though the state currently has civil unions.
Steve Cable of Vermont Renewal thought the idea of a homosexual marriage bill this year was off the table -- that was until town hall meetings occurred throughout the state.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=457898
A bill to approve homosexual "marriage" is on a fast track in Vermont, even though the state currently has civil unions.
Steve Cable of Vermont Renewal thought the idea of a homosexual marriage bill this year was off the table -- that was until town hall meetings occurred throughout the state.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=457898
Will Sebelius sign 'common ground' abortion bill?
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
The nation's potential Health and Human Services secretary, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, is being tested.
The Kansas legislature has passed a bill requiring that an ultrasound image or heartbeat record be provided to a mother within 30 minutes of having an abortion. Other provisions are designed to reduce coerced abortions and provide women with greater information.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=458252
The nation's potential Health and Human Services secretary, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, is being tested.
The Kansas legislature has passed a bill requiring that an ultrasound image or heartbeat record be provided to a mother within 30 minutes of having an abortion. Other provisions are designed to reduce coerced abortions and provide women with greater information.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=458252
Birth report bodes poorly for children, society
Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow
A spokeswoman from Concerned Women for America says the findings outlined in a new report on U.S. births in 2007 highlight a disturbing trend in American society.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=458082
A spokeswoman from Concerned Women for America says the findings outlined in a new report on U.S. births in 2007 highlight a disturbing trend in American society.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=458082
Pro-lifers' sting tags more AZ abortion clinics
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
A student-led nonprofit has released more undercover videos of Planned Parenthood workers offering an abortion to someone posing as an underage girl, allegedly concealing statutory rape in the process.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=456580
A student-led nonprofit has released more undercover videos of Planned Parenthood workers offering an abortion to someone posing as an underage girl, allegedly concealing statutory rape in the process.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=456580
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The Fluidity of Women's Sexual Orientation
I have been saying that sexual orientation is more fluid for women than for men. Now, of all sources, the Oprah magazine is agreeing with me.
Over the past several decades, scientists have struggled in fits and starts to get a handle on sexual orientation. Born or bred? Can it change during one's lifetime? A handful of studies in the 1990s, most of them focused on men, suggested that homosexuality is hardwired. In one study, researchers linked DNA markers in the Xq28 region of the X chromosome to gay males. But a subsequent larger study failed to replicate the results, leaving the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association to speculate that sexual orientation probably has multiple causes, including environmental, cognitive, and biological factors.
Today, however, a new line of research is beginning to approach sexual orientation as much less fixed than previously thought, especially when it comes to women. The idea that human sexuality forms a continuum has been around since 1948, when Alfred Kinsey introduced his famous seven-point scale, with 0 representing complete heterosexuality, 7 signifying complete homosexuality, and bisexuality in the middle, where many of the men and women he interviewed fell. The new buzz phrase coming out of contemporary studies is "sexual fluidity." "People always ask me if this research means everyone is bisexual. No, it doesn't," says Lisa Diamond, PhD, associate professor of psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah and author of the 2008 book Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire. "Fluidity represents a capacity to respond erotically in unexpected ways due to particular situations or relationships. It doesn't appear to be something a woman can control." Furthermore, studies indicate that it's more prevalent in women than in men, according to Bonnie Zylbergold, assistant editor of American Sexuality, an online magazine.
In a 2004 landmark study at Northwestern University, the results were eye-opening. During the experiment, the female subjects became sexually aroused when they viewed heterosexual as well as lesbian erotic films. This was true for both gay and straight women. Among the male subjects, however, the straight men were turned on only by erotic films with women, the gay ones by those with men. "We found that women's sexual desire is less rigidly directed toward a particular sex, as compared with men's, and it's more changeable over time," says the study's senior researcher, J. Michael Bailey, PhD. "These findings likely represent a fundamental difference between men's and women's brains."
African Americans Need Notre Dame
I just received an e-mail from a friend, with this subject line, "African Americans Need Notre Dame." The body of the e-mail is a letter written to Fr. John Jenkins, the President of the University of Notre Dame. The author of the letter is Fr. John J. Raphael, an African American Catholic priest. The letters, SSJ, after his name stand for the Society of St. Joseph, a religious order with a particular ministry to African Americans. I reproduce the letter here.
Sign the protest petition here.
Dear Fr. Jenkins,
My name is Fr. John J. Raphael, SSJ. I am a member of ND's graduating class of 1989. I am currently the principal of St. Augustine High School in New Orleans, LA and a member of Notre Dame's Admissions Advisory Board.
I am writing to express my extreme disappointment and grave disapproval of the decision to invite President Obama to give the commencement address and to receive an honorary degree from Notre Dame at this year's graduation.
I have spent eighteen years working with blacks and whites, Protestants and Catholics, to bring more African Americans into the pro-life movement. During the last two months the Obama administration has already begun to aggressively roll back the gains made in defense of life over the course of the last fifteen years.
I have written two articles which attempt to show how the historical significance of the first African American president is emptied of its meaning if this same president refuses to embrace the rights of the unborn. I share them with you if you are interested in considering the devastating impact of these pro-abortion policies on the African American community in light of this historic election:
Building a Bridge over Troubled Waters.
Symbol and Substance in Inauguration, life march
As an African American and a priest, as a principal of a Catholic high school and a member of the Admissions Advisory Board of the university, I cannot adequately express in words how deeply this action offends those who are committed to carrying out the task of Catholic education and witnessing to the Gospel of Life in the context of a Catholic school. Even if the university chooses to cooperate with certain policies of the president that are not contrary to the teaching of the faith, the conferral of this type of public honor is wholly gratuitous and incongruous with the mission of any Catholic institution
On this Laetare Sunday, I was happy to note this year's recipient of the Laetare Medal, Mary Ann Glendon, has eloquently and courageously served the nation and more importantly, the Church. How strange it is that at the same time the University chooses to publicly honor an administration with which the American Catholic bishops have already had to address major concerns about the lack of protection of the rights of the unborn in just two months.
Today's first reading from the book of Chronicles speaks as much to us today as it did to Israel during the Babylonian exile:
In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people
added infidelity to infidelity,
practicing all the abominations of the nations
and polluting the LORD's temple
which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers,
send his messengers to them,
for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.
But they mocked the messengers of God,
despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets,
until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed
that there was no remedy (2Chr 36:14ff).
The voice of Notre Dame needs to be raised in defense of the unborn. The African American community in particular is being decimated by abortion on demand as currently supported by the Obama administration. Our Holy Father, mocked and despised by many in popular culture, has called upon all faith Christians to courageously bear witness to life.
By conferring this "honor" upon President Obama at this time, the University of Notre Dame muddies the waters of life and darkens the light in which we are called to walk.
Sincerely in Notre Dame, the Mother of Life,
Rev. John J. Raphael, SSJ, '89
Principal
St. Augustine High School
New Orleans, LA 70119
Sign the protest petition here.
Alert to Catholic Readers
Notre Dame University plans to honor the most pro-abortion president ever elected, by giving him an honorary degree and having him give the commencement address. If you wish to sign the Cardinal Newman Society's protest petition, you can go here.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
School caves to tuxedo-clad lesbian
Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow
A family advocate in Indiana says he understands why an area school would cave to the demands of a lesbian student.
The incident took place in the small farming community of Lebanon, Indiana. The town's high school had a policy concerning prom night that students wear appropriate attire, meaning boys wear tuxes and girls wear dresses. But a lesbian student decided that she wanted to wear a tux to the event. The school initially refused her request, but then the ACLU got involved.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=455118
A family advocate in Indiana says he understands why an area school would cave to the demands of a lesbian student.
The incident took place in the small farming community of Lebanon, Indiana. The town's high school had a policy concerning prom night that students wear appropriate attire, meaning boys wear tuxes and girls wear dresses. But a lesbian student decided that she wanted to wear a tux to the event. The school initially refused her request, but then the ACLU got involved.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=455118
Elevating homosexuality to new heights
Jim Brown - OneNewsNow
The Obama administration and other proponents of a United Nations statement that calls for the decriminalization of homosexuality claim it merely targets the seven countries that put homosexuals to death. But one pro-family activist warns the document elevates homosexual behavior to skin color and religious belief.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=456348
The Obama administration and other proponents of a United Nations statement that calls for the decriminalization of homosexuality claim it merely targets the seven countries that put homosexuals to death. But one pro-family activist warns the document elevates homosexual behavior to skin color and religious belief.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=456348
The Big One
Sheila Liaugminas
No, not the California earthquake.
The one on the deniers-of-life landscape. The shock waves are being felt far and wide.
Within the last month, former president Bill Clinton has done two jaw-dropping interviews at CNN on the subject of embryonic stem-cell research — one with Larry King and one with Sanjay Gupta — that indicate a stunning level of confusion on the basic biological facts of what an embryo is, what stem cells are, what “fertilization” in reproductive biology refers to, and even what can be fertilized or used to fertilize something.
http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/the_big_one/
No, not the California earthquake.
The one on the deniers-of-life landscape. The shock waves are being felt far and wide.
Within the last month, former president Bill Clinton has done two jaw-dropping interviews at CNN on the subject of embryonic stem-cell research — one with Larry King and one with Sanjay Gupta — that indicate a stunning level of confusion on the basic biological facts of what an embryo is, what stem cells are, what “fertilization” in reproductive biology refers to, and even what can be fertilized or used to fertilize something.
http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/the_big_one/
Privatizing Marriage is not the Answer to the Same-Sex Marriage Debate
by Jennifer Roback Morse
Far from settling the marriage debate, ‘getting the state out of marriage’ will reduce liberty, leave cultural questions simmering, and harm our nation’s children.
One proposed solution to the divisiveness of the same-sex marriage debate is to have the government get out of the marriage business altogether. This proposal is appealing because it seems to remove marriage from the realm of political contentiousness. We could mimic a market-type solution, in which individuals can make their own decisions about the meaning of marriage, and we need not make any collective decision. But these appearances are deceiving. We need to think through what it actually means to say that the government should “get out of the marriage business.”
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/viewarticle.php?selectedarticle=2009.03.10.001.pdart
Far from settling the marriage debate, ‘getting the state out of marriage’ will reduce liberty, leave cultural questions simmering, and harm our nation’s children.
One proposed solution to the divisiveness of the same-sex marriage debate is to have the government get out of the marriage business altogether. This proposal is appealing because it seems to remove marriage from the realm of political contentiousness. We could mimic a market-type solution, in which individuals can make their own decisions about the meaning of marriage, and we need not make any collective decision. But these appearances are deceiving. We need to think through what it actually means to say that the government should “get out of the marriage business.”
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/viewarticle.php?selectedarticle=2009.03.10.001.pdart
Orange County cuts Planned Parenthood purse strings
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
Orange County Supervisors in California have sent a strong message to Planned Parenthood.
The county has money to distribute to nonprofit operations from a past tobacco lawsuit settlement. Supervisor Chris Norby says the board discovered part of the money was going to the strongest abortion business in the country.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=453276
Orange County Supervisors in California have sent a strong message to Planned Parenthood.
The county has money to distribute to nonprofit operations from a past tobacco lawsuit settlement. Supervisor Chris Norby says the board discovered part of the money was going to the strongest abortion business in the country.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=453276
Pro-life supporters schedule meeting with White House
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Christian groups that oppose abortion are preparing to meet next week with the head of President Barack Obama's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
The president of Concerned Women for America, Wendy Wright, says she arranged the meeting with Joshua DuBois to discuss two of Obama's stated goals for the office: reducing the need for abortion and encouraging responsible fatherhood.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=454622
WASHINGTON - Christian groups that oppose abortion are preparing to meet next week with the head of President Barack Obama's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
The president of Concerned Women for America, Wendy Wright, says she arranged the meeting with Joshua DuBois to discuss two of Obama's stated goals for the office: reducing the need for abortion and encouraging responsible fatherhood.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=454622
Tiller trial begins, pro-lifers gather
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 3/16/2009
Late-term abortionist George Tiller goes on trial in Wichita today.
Operation Rescue and the Christian Defense Coalition have organized prayer rallies at the courthouse. Troy Newman heads Operation Rescue. "To my knowledge, this is the first time [since 1973 that] an abortionist has been on trial for doing abortions...," says Newman. "And Christians are gathering to pray -- to pray for the jury, to pray for the judge, and ultimately to pray for justice for the preborn children."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=447880
Late-term abortionist George Tiller goes on trial in Wichita today.
Operation Rescue and the Christian Defense Coalition have organized prayer rallies at the courthouse. Troy Newman heads Operation Rescue. "To my knowledge, this is the first time [since 1973 that] an abortionist has been on trial for doing abortions...," says Newman. "And Christians are gathering to pray -- to pray for the jury, to pray for the judge, and ultimately to pray for justice for the preborn children."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=447880
NC keeps abstinence education
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
While some states are dropping abstinence education, others will continue to use it -- including North Carolina.
School districts can teach either abstinence or comprehensive sex education, the latter of which Jere Royall of the North Carolina Family Policy Council believes encourages promiscuity. He tells OneNewsNow that abstinence education has proven itself.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=449216
While some states are dropping abstinence education, others will continue to use it -- including North Carolina.
School districts can teach either abstinence or comprehensive sex education, the latter of which Jere Royall of the North Carolina Family Policy Council believes encourages promiscuity. He tells OneNewsNow that abstinence education has proven itself.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=449216
Sermons on Sex Cause A Stir in Alabama
Apparently a new series of sermons is getting quite a lot of attention in Good Hope, Alabama.
It's one thing for a church in a big city like Dallas or Atlanta to tackle the ticklish topic of sex. It blends in with the urban scene.
It's another thing when a small-town congregation puts up billboards with the phrase "Great sex: God's way" on rural highways to promote a sermon series. You can't even legally buy beer in Cullman County, and a preacher is talking about S-E-X on Sunday morning?
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=450694
It's one thing for a church in a big city like Dallas or Atlanta to tackle the ticklish topic of sex. It blends in with the urban scene.
It's another thing when a small-town congregation puts up billboards with the phrase "Great sex: God's way" on rural highways to promote a sermon series. You can't even legally buy beer in Cullman County, and a preacher is talking about S-E-X on Sunday morning?
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=450694
Steele disappoints conservatives on abortion, homosexuality
Jim Brown - OneNewsNow
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is under fire from social conservatives for telling GQ magazine that abortion is an "individual choice" and homosexuality is not.
Despite declaring to GQ that women have the right to choose an abortion, Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Michael Steele has issued a statement saying he has always been pro-life and supports a constitutional amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=449606
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is under fire from social conservatives for telling GQ magazine that abortion is an "individual choice" and homosexuality is not.
Despite declaring to GQ that women have the right to choose an abortion, Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Michael Steele has issued a statement saying he has always been pro-life and supports a constitutional amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=449606
New job for laid-off moms: stay-at-home motherhood
Jocelyn Noveck - Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Soon after New Yorker Geralyn Lucas was laid off from her television job in January, she took her two-year-old son to the playroom of her apartment building. She realized she had never been there before. Within minutes she had inadvertently broken all the cleanliness rules. "I wore shoes," confesses Lucas, 41. "I brought food. I changed his diaper. I didn't know those things weren't allowed."
When she took Hayden to his playgroup at a toddler center, she had to ask the little boy for directions to his class. And when she went to the pediatrician's office, the nurses were so used to seeing the nanny that they didn't recognize Lucas.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=446400
NEW YORK - Soon after New Yorker Geralyn Lucas was laid off from her television job in January, she took her two-year-old son to the playroom of her apartment building. She realized she had never been there before. Within minutes she had inadvertently broken all the cleanliness rules. "I wore shoes," confesses Lucas, 41. "I brought food. I changed his diaper. I didn't know those things weren't allowed."
When she took Hayden to his playgroup at a toddler center, she had to ask the little boy for directions to his class. And when she went to the pediatrician's office, the nurses were so used to seeing the nanny that they didn't recognize Lucas.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=446400
Valedictorian's free-speech case goes to court
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
A student's free-speech rights are being defended in federal court.
Liberty Counsel is pursuing the case at the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. General counsel Steve Crampton is defending Colorado high school valedictorian Erica Corder. Along with 14 others, Corder was permitted to make a 30-second statement at the graduation ceremony. "And because she mentioned Jesus Christ, she was told immediately after the service that she would not be receiving her diploma along with the other students, but had to meet the principal who then required that she sign an apology, with which she did not agree, as a condition for receiving her diploma," Crampton explains.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=449586
A student's free-speech rights are being defended in federal court.
Liberty Counsel is pursuing the case at the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. General counsel Steve Crampton is defending Colorado high school valedictorian Erica Corder. Along with 14 others, Corder was permitted to make a 30-second statement at the graduation ceremony. "And because she mentioned Jesus Christ, she was told immediately after the service that she would not be receiving her diploma along with the other students, but had to meet the principal who then required that she sign an apology, with which she did not agree, as a condition for receiving her diploma," Crampton explains.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=449586
Real freedom is information
Sheila Liaugminas
No matter what the “Freedom of Choice Act” calls itself, it’s restrictive to historic proportions.
Choice can only be made with information, and people in South Dakota have been working for years to make it available by law, to women considering abortion. How else can they know what the choices are, for goodness sake?
http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/real_freedom_is_information/
No matter what the “Freedom of Choice Act” calls itself, it’s restrictive to historic proportions.
Choice can only be made with information, and people in South Dakota have been working for years to make it available by law, to women considering abortion. How else can they know what the choices are, for goodness sake?
http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/real_freedom_is_information/
Vote pending on 'gender identity' in Gainesville
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
The citizens of Gainesville, Florida, are set to do battle over a gender-identity ordinance passed by the city council. The ordinance passed by the civic leaders defines gender as follows: "An inner sense of being a specific gender, or the expression of a gender identity by verbal statement, appearance, or mannerisms, or other gender-related characteristics of an individual with or without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=449098
The citizens of Gainesville, Florida, are set to do battle over a gender-identity ordinance passed by the city council. The ordinance passed by the civic leaders defines gender as follows: "An inner sense of being a specific gender, or the expression of a gender identity by verbal statement, appearance, or mannerisms, or other gender-related characteristics of an individual with or without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=449098
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Like a Virgin: The Press Take On Teenage Sex
WILLIAM MCGURN
The chain reaction was something out of central casting. A medical journal starts it off by announcing a study comparing teens who take a pledge of virginity until marriage with those who don't. Lo and behold, when they crunch the numbers, they find not much difference between pledgers and nonpledgers: most do not make it to the marriage bed as virgins.
Like a pack of randy 15-year-old boys, the press dives right in.
"Virginity Pledges Don't Stop Teen Sex," screams CBS News. "Virginity pledges don't mean much," adds CNN. "Study questions virginity pledges," says the Chicago Tribune. "Premarital Abstinence Pledges Ineffective, Study Finds," heralds the Washington Post. "Virginity Pledges Fail to Trump Teen Lust in Look at Older Data," reports Bloomberg. And on it goes.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123120095259855597.html
The chain reaction was something out of central casting. A medical journal starts it off by announcing a study comparing teens who take a pledge of virginity until marriage with those who don't. Lo and behold, when they crunch the numbers, they find not much difference between pledgers and nonpledgers: most do not make it to the marriage bed as virgins.
Like a pack of randy 15-year-old boys, the press dives right in.
"Virginity Pledges Don't Stop Teen Sex," screams CBS News. "Virginity pledges don't mean much," adds CNN. "Study questions virginity pledges," says the Chicago Tribune. "Premarital Abstinence Pledges Ineffective, Study Finds," heralds the Washington Post. "Virginity Pledges Fail to Trump Teen Lust in Look at Older Data," reports Bloomberg. And on it goes.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123120095259855597.html
Making Room for Miss Manners Is a Parenting Basic
PERRI KLASS, M.D.
For years, I took care of a very rude child. When he was 3, I called him rambunctious — and I talked to his mother about “setting limits.” At 4, I called him “demanding.” At 5, he was still screaming at his mother if she didn’t do what he wanted, he still swatted me whenever I tried to examine him, and his mother asked me worriedly if I thought he was ready for kindergarten.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/health/13klas.html?_r=2&em
For years, I took care of a very rude child. When he was 3, I called him rambunctious — and I talked to his mother about “setting limits.” At 4, I called him “demanding.” At 5, he was still screaming at his mother if she didn’t do what he wanted, he still swatted me whenever I tried to examine him, and his mother asked me worriedly if I thought he was ready for kindergarten.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/health/13klas.html?_r=2&em
Parents who put their children before work will rescue British society
Gill Hornby
Parenting is vital and absolutely not something to outsource.
Well, at last. For every parent who has ever put family over career, this is your moment. Everybody who has ever been asked "And what do you do?" at a dinner party, who has answered "I stay at home with my children" and who has spent the rest of the evening looking at a turned shoulder – now you can gloat.
If you have ever been told the funny story about how the toddler cried when the nanny left the room and the mother entered, and you didn't get the joke, now you know: it wasn't funny after all. The Children's Society's report into the living conditions of young people in Britain today has published some radical thoughts.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/4438133/Parents-who-put-their-children-before-work-will-rescue-British-society.html
Parenting is vital and absolutely not something to outsource.
Well, at last. For every parent who has ever put family over career, this is your moment. Everybody who has ever been asked "And what do you do?" at a dinner party, who has answered "I stay at home with my children" and who has spent the rest of the evening looking at a turned shoulder – now you can gloat.
If you have ever been told the funny story about how the toddler cried when the nanny left the room and the mother entered, and you didn't get the joke, now you know: it wasn't funny after all. The Children's Society's report into the living conditions of young people in Britain today has published some radical thoughts.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/4438133/Parents-who-put-their-children-before-work-will-rescue-British-society.html
Women can do math careers, they just put motherhood first
Carolyn Moynihan
Why are women under-represented in fields such as computer science, physics, technology, engineering, chemistry and higher mathematics? Four years ago the former president of Harvard, Larry Summers, got into big trouble for suggesting that it may be because of innate differences between men and women. While feminists reached for the smelling salts and consulted anti-discrimination law, researchers from Cornell University got busy and reviewed more than 400 articles and book chapters to reconcile conflicting evidence on why women tend to choose less math-intensive fields (such as biology, medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine), and why, when they do choose math-intensive careers, they are more likely to drop out as they advance.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/women_can_do_math_careers_they_just_put_motherhood_first/
Why are women under-represented in fields such as computer science, physics, technology, engineering, chemistry and higher mathematics? Four years ago the former president of Harvard, Larry Summers, got into big trouble for suggesting that it may be because of innate differences between men and women. While feminists reached for the smelling salts and consulted anti-discrimination law, researchers from Cornell University got busy and reviewed more than 400 articles and book chapters to reconcile conflicting evidence on why women tend to choose less math-intensive fields (such as biology, medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine), and why, when they do choose math-intensive careers, they are more likely to drop out as they advance.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/women_can_do_math_careers_they_just_put_motherhood_first/
International Women’s Day at the UN
Carolyn Moynihan
The annual Commission on the Status of Women is under way at United Nations headquarters in New York with thousands of activists, government and UN officials gathered to discuss the theme of “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS”. The meeting also features sideshows where lobby groups promote their agendas on subjects such as “sexual and reproductive rights” and pro-life groups raise the flag for the right to life and family values.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/international_womens_day_at_the_un/
The annual Commission on the Status of Women is under way at United Nations headquarters in New York with thousands of activists, government and UN officials gathered to discuss the theme of “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS”. The meeting also features sideshows where lobby groups promote their agendas on subjects such as “sexual and reproductive rights” and pro-life groups raise the flag for the right to life and family values.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/international_womens_day_at_the_un/
Weekend sleep-ins bad for teens
Carolyn Moynihan
An amazing amount of research is being done on the subject of sleep -- especially among adolescents. One of the hardest things in the world, apparently, is to get teenagers into and out of bed on time. In an Australian study, a school-based programme of four 50-minute classes over four weeks gave two groups of students aged 15 to 17 advice about healthy sleep habits along with other input on personal well-being, including healthy eating and exercise. Those in the classes were compared with control groups who did not do the programme.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/weekend_sleep_ins_bad_for_teens/
An amazing amount of research is being done on the subject of sleep -- especially among adolescents. One of the hardest things in the world, apparently, is to get teenagers into and out of bed on time. In an Australian study, a school-based programme of four 50-minute classes over four weeks gave two groups of students aged 15 to 17 advice about healthy sleep habits along with other input on personal well-being, including healthy eating and exercise. Those in the classes were compared with control groups who did not do the programme.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/weekend_sleep_ins_bad_for_teens/
Abandoning Hope: young women doctors decline to work in abortion clinics
Carolyn Moynihan
Committed abortion clinic staff are ageing and they worry about who is going to take their place, according to an article in the Fashion and Style section of the New York Times. Anne Baker, head of counselling at Hope (sic) clinic in Granite City, Illinois, has worked there continuously since 1976. She estimates that she has done “abortion counselling” for 25,000 women and girls, some as young as 11. It has been her “dream job…standing by the side of someone who was making a decision that others would condemn her for…and say(ing), You’re a good person making a hard decision…”
The Hope clinic’s director, Sally Burgess, at 50, is the youngest person on the leadership team; the two doctors are in their 60s. A recent survey of 273 abortion clinics published in the journal Contraception found that 64 per cent of their doctors were at least 50 years old and 62 per cent were men. (Women doctors have not seen abortion as their “dream job”.) Two young women doctors came to Hope clinic to train but neither stayed. It’s a similar story at Duluth Women’s Health Centre whose boss, Tina Welsh, is 67 but has been looking for a replacement for three years.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/abandoning_hope_young_women_doctors_decline_to_work_in_abortion_clinics/
Committed abortion clinic staff are ageing and they worry about who is going to take their place, according to an article in the Fashion and Style section of the New York Times. Anne Baker, head of counselling at Hope (sic) clinic in Granite City, Illinois, has worked there continuously since 1976. She estimates that she has done “abortion counselling” for 25,000 women and girls, some as young as 11. It has been her “dream job…standing by the side of someone who was making a decision that others would condemn her for…and say(ing), You’re a good person making a hard decision…”
The Hope clinic’s director, Sally Burgess, at 50, is the youngest person on the leadership team; the two doctors are in their 60s. A recent survey of 273 abortion clinics published in the journal Contraception found that 64 per cent of their doctors were at least 50 years old and 62 per cent were men. (Women doctors have not seen abortion as their “dream job”.) Two young women doctors came to Hope clinic to train but neither stayed. It’s a similar story at Duluth Women’s Health Centre whose boss, Tina Welsh, is 67 but has been looking for a replacement for three years.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/abandoning_hope_young_women_doctors_decline_to_work_in_abortion_clinics/
Light at the end of a stem cell tunnel
Michaela Kingston
There was good news and bad news about human embryo research last week. As usual, everyone ignored the good news.
Last week, scientists from a small Massachusetts company, Advanced Cell Technology, divulged a new technique for the derivation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). They described it enthusiatically in their press release as an ethically acceptable way to obtain hESCs since it theoretically leaves embryos unharmed.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/light_at_the_end_of_a_stem_cell_tunnel/
There was good news and bad news about human embryo research last week. As usual, everyone ignored the good news.
Last week, scientists from a small Massachusetts company, Advanced Cell Technology, divulged a new technique for the derivation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). They described it enthusiatically in their press release as an ethically acceptable way to obtain hESCs since it theoretically leaves embryos unharmed.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/light_at_the_end_of_a_stem_cell_tunnel/
Pardon me, your ideology is showing
Michaela Kingston
Not all barriers to stem cell science are bad, Mr President. And the biggest ones, like greed, one-upmanship, exploitation and hype, cannot be removed by executive order.
"Removing Barriers To Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells" is the title of the Executive Order signed on Monday by President Obama. The alleged barriers are "Presidential actions" that limited the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services over the past eight years. As a stem cell scientist and an American citizen, several things about Obama’s order and his accompanying remarks disturb me.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/pardon_me_your_ideology_is_showing/
Not all barriers to stem cell science are bad, Mr President. And the biggest ones, like greed, one-upmanship, exploitation and hype, cannot be removed by executive order.
"Removing Barriers To Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells" is the title of the Executive Order signed on Monday by President Obama. The alleged barriers are "Presidential actions" that limited the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services over the past eight years. As a stem cell scientist and an American citizen, several things about Obama’s order and his accompanying remarks disturb me.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/pardon_me_your_ideology_is_showing/
Pill linked with low-weight and premature babies
by Carolyn Moynihan
Women who get pregnant within a few weeks of taking birth control pills seem much more likely to have low-weight or premature babies, a new Canadian study indicates. The study does not definitively prove a cause and effect relationship and needs to be confirmed by more research, says lead investigator Xi-Kuan Chen, an epidemiologist at the University of Ottawa. However, babies with low birth weight or who are born prematurely are a growing problem and the cause is not always clear.
The researchers used comprehensive Canadian databases to distinguish three groups of women using oral contraceptives: those who had taken them within 30 days, 31-60 days, and 61-90 days of their last period before getting pregnant -- 1500 in all. They were compared to 6100 women who had not used birth control pills for at least a year before they gave birth.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/pill_linked_with_low_weight_and_premature_babies/#comments
Women who get pregnant within a few weeks of taking birth control pills seem much more likely to have low-weight or premature babies, a new Canadian study indicates. The study does not definitively prove a cause and effect relationship and needs to be confirmed by more research, says lead investigator Xi-Kuan Chen, an epidemiologist at the University of Ottawa. However, babies with low birth weight or who are born prematurely are a growing problem and the cause is not always clear.
The researchers used comprehensive Canadian databases to distinguish three groups of women using oral contraceptives: those who had taken them within 30 days, 31-60 days, and 61-90 days of their last period before getting pregnant -- 1500 in all. They were compared to 6100 women who had not used birth control pills for at least a year before they gave birth.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/pill_linked_with_low_weight_and_premature_babies/#comments
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Brazil: soap opera sociology as birth control
by Carolyn Moynihan
Why would an aid agency be interested in television soap operas? Because the agencies like to see the population growth of developing countries slowing down, and because soap operas in one developing country seem to be linked with lower fertility.
In Brazil, where population growth is down to 1.1 per cent, about 40 million people watch the mid-evening telenovela from Globo, the leading television network. The action often takes place in Rio de Janiero, where Globo is based, among families which are smaller, whiter and richer than average. The scriptwriters have, let's say, an agenda. "Their plots often tilt in a progressive direction: AIDS is discussed, condoms are promoted and social mobility is exemplified," reports The Economist.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/brazil_soap_opera_sociology_as_birth_control/#comments
Why would an aid agency be interested in television soap operas? Because the agencies like to see the population growth of developing countries slowing down, and because soap operas in one developing country seem to be linked with lower fertility.
In Brazil, where population growth is down to 1.1 per cent, about 40 million people watch the mid-evening telenovela from Globo, the leading television network. The action often takes place in Rio de Janiero, where Globo is based, among families which are smaller, whiter and richer than average. The scriptwriters have, let's say, an agenda. "Their plots often tilt in a progressive direction: AIDS is discussed, condoms are promoted and social mobility is exemplified," reports The Economist.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/brazil_soap_opera_sociology_as_birth_control/#comments
Thursday, March 12, 2009
UK Parents Face Charges for Opting Kids Out of LGBT Lessons
LifeSite News is reporting that parents in the United Kingdom could face criminal charges for removing their children from programs held at George Tomlinson Primary School which promoted the homosexual lifestyle. School officials have apparently announced they will prosecute parents of approximately 30 children who did not attend a week's worth of lessons coinciding with "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month."
Parents say they had no choice but to remove their children from classes because the school told them there were no other options if they objected to the content of the program.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=447414
Parents say they had no choice but to remove their children from classes because the school told them there were no other options if they objected to the content of the program.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=447414
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Study: Abortion causes future premature births
Charlie Butts and Marty Cooper - OneNewsNow
A recently released study links induced abortion with subsequent premature births.
LifeSiteNews.com notes the analysis was published in February's Journal of Reproductive Medicine and combined data from 21 studies ranging from 1995 to 2007. The report studied links between preterm births related to induced abortion and spontaneous miscarriage.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=445998
A recently released study links induced abortion with subsequent premature births.
LifeSiteNews.com notes the analysis was published in February's Journal of Reproductive Medicine and combined data from 21 studies ranging from 1995 to 2007. The report studied links between preterm births related to induced abortion and spontaneous miscarriage.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=445998
'Octomom' spawns fertility legislation
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
In the wake of the controversy surrounding the single mom who recently gave birth to octuplets -- and the fertility doctor who implanted the eggs in her womb -- at least two states are actively working on laws to limit in vitro fertilization.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=446320
In the wake of the controversy surrounding the single mom who recently gave birth to octuplets -- and the fertility doctor who implanted the eggs in her womb -- at least two states are actively working on laws to limit in vitro fertilization.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=446320
A closer look at that stem cell order
Sheila Liaugminas
….and the reporting on it. It’s all so Orwellian.
This Reuters article is just one random example of the general tenor or news coverage on President Obama’s executive order yesterday to expand embryo destructive research for unsuccessful stem cell applications. But they didn’t put it quite that way…
President Barack Obama lifted restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research on Monday, angering abortion opponents but cheering those who believe the study could produce treatments for many diseases.
Pause and look at the language here.
http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/a_closer_look_at_that_stem_cell_order/
….and the reporting on it. It’s all so Orwellian.
This Reuters article is just one random example of the general tenor or news coverage on President Obama’s executive order yesterday to expand embryo destructive research for unsuccessful stem cell applications. But they didn’t put it quite that way…
President Barack Obama lifted restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research on Monday, angering abortion opponents but cheering those who believe the study could produce treatments for many diseases.
Pause and look at the language here.
http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/a_closer_look_at_that_stem_cell_order/
Marriage traditionalists in the crosshairs
Charlie Butts and Jody Brown - OneNewsNow
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest homosexual activist group in the nation, is targeting Mormons in Illinois who support traditional marriage.
Illinois is considering homosexual "marriage" and civil unions, so HRC is now challenging Mormons in that state after one ward sent an email to its members to oppose the legislation. Accusing the Church of Latter-day Saints of "fighting an anti-gay crusade" across America, the pro-homosexual group has called to action its Illinois-based supporters and asked them to confront the church for its "deceitful, fear-mongering tactics."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=439300
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest homosexual activist group in the nation, is targeting Mormons in Illinois who support traditional marriage.
Illinois is considering homosexual "marriage" and civil unions, so HRC is now challenging Mormons in that state after one ward sent an email to its members to oppose the legislation. Accusing the Church of Latter-day Saints of "fighting an anti-gay crusade" across America, the pro-homosexual group has called to action its Illinois-based supporters and asked them to confront the church for its "deceitful, fear-mongering tactics."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=439300
Amid hard times, home schooling families persist
Associated Press
A lawyer for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) says the recession may prompt more Christian parents to educate their children at home.
The HSLDA's Chris Klicka says hard times boost home schooling's appeal as private Christian school tuition becomes unaffordable for parents who've lost jobs.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Business/Default.aspx?id=439066
A lawyer for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) says the recession may prompt more Christian parents to educate their children at home.
The HSLDA's Chris Klicka says hard times boost home schooling's appeal as private Christian school tuition becomes unaffordable for parents who've lost jobs.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Business/Default.aspx?id=439066
What about those octuplets?
Jennifer Roback Morse
Government indifference to responsible fatherhood is what made the tragedy of OctoMom possible.
What are we to make of the case of Nadya Suleman, the California woman who gave birth to octuplets through IVF? The case has inspired lots of internet chatter and water cooler talk. I maintain that insurance and government funding are the least of the worries of this case. The case illustrates two deep problems with our current attitudes toward artificial reproductive technology (ART). First, no one has a right to have a baby. Second, the state should not be in the business of deliberately separating father from their children.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/what_about_those_octuplets/
Government indifference to responsible fatherhood is what made the tragedy of OctoMom possible.
What are we to make of the case of Nadya Suleman, the California woman who gave birth to octuplets through IVF? The case has inspired lots of internet chatter and water cooler talk. I maintain that insurance and government funding are the least of the worries of this case. The case illustrates two deep problems with our current attitudes toward artificial reproductive technology (ART). First, no one has a right to have a baby. Second, the state should not be in the business of deliberately separating father from their children.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/what_about_those_octuplets/
Amping up TV, Internet safety for children
Allie Martin - OneNewsNow
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched an inquiry into advanced blocking technology, aimed at keeping harmful material away from minors on television and on the Internet.
The Child Safe Viewing Act was adopted in December and instructs the FCC to look at technologies that can "improve or enhance the ability of a parent to protect his or her child from any indecent video or audio programming."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=437506
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched an inquiry into advanced blocking technology, aimed at keeping harmful material away from minors on television and on the Internet.
The Child Safe Viewing Act was adopted in December and instructs the FCC to look at technologies that can "improve or enhance the ability of a parent to protect his or her child from any indecent video or audio programming."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=437506
NY governor forcing recognition of same-sex 'marriages'
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
New York Governor David Paterson is commanding state agencies to recognize same-gender "marriages" and civil unions that are legal in other states and countries and to revise policies and regulations to accommodate it.
CNN.com reports Paterson sent state agencies a memo on Wednesday alleging that the failure to recognize homosexual marriages violates the state's human rights law. Frank Russo of the American Family Association of New York tells OneNewsNow the governor's decision is disappointing.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=436702
New York Governor David Paterson is commanding state agencies to recognize same-gender "marriages" and civil unions that are legal in other states and countries and to revise policies and regulations to accommodate it.
CNN.com reports Paterson sent state agencies a memo on Wednesday alleging that the failure to recognize homosexual marriages violates the state's human rights law. Frank Russo of the American Family Association of New York tells OneNewsNow the governor's decision is disappointing.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=436702
California court seems skeptical on overturning Prop. 8
Lisa Leff and Paul Elias - Associated Press Writers
SAN FRANCISCO- The mood was somber among radical homosexual activists after a bruising, three-hour hearing before the justices of California's highest court, who expressed considerable skepticism at the idea of overturning the state's voter-approved ban on so-called same-sex marriage.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=438792
SAN FRANCISCO- The mood was somber among radical homosexual activists after a bruising, three-hour hearing before the justices of California's highest court, who expressed considerable skepticism at the idea of overturning the state's voter-approved ban on so-called same-sex marriage.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=438792
Contraception: Why Not?
Janet Smith explains why the Catholic Church keeps insisting, in the face of the opposite position held by most of the rest of the modern world, that contraception is one of the worst inventions of our time.
My topic for tonight is the Church's teaching on contraception and various sexual issues. As you know, we live in a culture that thinks that contraception is one of the greatest inventions in the history of mankind. If you were to ask people if they wanted to give up their car or their computer or their contraceptive, it would be a hard choice to make. It's really considered to be something that has really put us, greatly, into the modern age and one of the greatest advances of modern medicine and modern times. Yet, there's this archaic church that tells us that, really, this is one of the worst inventions of mankind. According to the Church, contraception is one of the things that's plunging us into a kind of a disaster.
So we have this great polarization: a world that thinks contraception is one of the greatest inventions of our time and the Catholic Church that says it's one of the worst. I am going to try to help people see tonight why the Church's teaching certainly deserves serious consideration.
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/sexuality/se0002.html
My topic for tonight is the Church's teaching on contraception and various sexual issues. As you know, we live in a culture that thinks that contraception is one of the greatest inventions in the history of mankind. If you were to ask people if they wanted to give up their car or their computer or their contraceptive, it would be a hard choice to make. It's really considered to be something that has really put us, greatly, into the modern age and one of the greatest advances of modern medicine and modern times. Yet, there's this archaic church that tells us that, really, this is one of the worst inventions of mankind. According to the Church, contraception is one of the things that's plunging us into a kind of a disaster.
So we have this great polarization: a world that thinks contraception is one of the greatest inventions of our time and the Catholic Church that says it's one of the worst. I am going to try to help people see tonight why the Church's teaching certainly deserves serious consideration.
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/sexuality/se0002.html
Study Links Explicit Lyrics to Teen Sex
A new study raises the issue of whether or not listening to sexually aggressive lyrics prompts teenagers to have sex at an earlier age. See Breitbart. The study, in which researchers at the University of Pittsburgh graded the sexual aggressiveness of song lyrics, used songs on the US Billboard chart by popular artists.
First, the investigators graded the song lyrics from the least to the most sexually degrading. Then they asked 711 students, aged 15 to 16, at three local high school about their sexual behavior and their music preferences.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=436184
First, the investigators graded the song lyrics from the least to the most sexually degrading. Then they asked 711 students, aged 15 to 16, at three local high school about their sexual behavior and their music preferences.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=436184
Some doctors oppose 'death-on-demand,' some don't
Charlie Butts and Marty Cooper - OneNewsNow
Washington's doctor-assisted suicide law goes into effect today.
Doctors will now be able to prescribe, by a patient's request, lethal doses of medication to terminally ill patients with less than six months to live. However, many doctors are hesitant to speak publicly about their stance on the "Death with Dignity" law, according to The Associated Press.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=436258
Washington's doctor-assisted suicide law goes into effect today.
Doctors will now be able to prescribe, by a patient's request, lethal doses of medication to terminally ill patients with less than six months to live. However, many doctors are hesitant to speak publicly about their stance on the "Death with Dignity" law, according to The Associated Press.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=436258
Worker arrested in botched abortion case
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
An arrest has been made and formal charges filed in Florida's "Baby Shanice" case. Operation Rescue has been working for two-and-a-half years for charges to be filed in the case involving a botched abortion (see related story). Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, explains the latest.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=436500
An arrest has been made and formal charges filed in Florida's "Baby Shanice" case. Operation Rescue has been working for two-and-a-half years for charges to be filed in the case involving a botched abortion (see related story). Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, explains the latest.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=436500
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Build-A-Bear Babies?
Check out this FOX News segment on a fertility clinic which claims to deliver specific genetic traits to parents looking to "customize" their baby. Dr. Jeff Steinberg says that he has already let thousands of couples decide their kids' gender, and within the next six months will let moms and dads pick the hair and eye color.
Steinberg believes that these reproductive technologies are inevitable. "Genetic health is the wave of the future," he said. "It's already happening and it's not going to go away. It's going to expand. So if they've got major problems with it, they need to sit down and really examine their own consciences because there's nothing that's going to stop it."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=434892
Steinberg believes that these reproductive technologies are inevitable. "Genetic health is the wave of the future," he said. "It's already happening and it's not going to go away. It's going to expand. So if they've got major problems with it, they need to sit down and really examine their own consciences because there's nothing that's going to stop it."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=434892
Conservatives push to protect marriage in NC
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
North Carolina's legislature is considering a marriage amendment to enshrine traditional marriage in its constitution.
Proponents of banning same-sex "marriage" hope to get a bill passed this year to put the issue before voters. Matt Lytle of the North Carolina Family Policy Council tells OneNewsNow it is a tough process.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=433930
North Carolina's legislature is considering a marriage amendment to enshrine traditional marriage in its constitution.
Proponents of banning same-sex "marriage" hope to get a bill passed this year to put the issue before voters. Matt Lytle of the North Carolina Family Policy Council tells OneNewsNow it is a tough process.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=433930
Former Kansas AG under fire for pro-life enthusiasm
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline and two of his associates are facing ethics charges.
StarTribune.com reports Kline received national attention for his investigation of abortion clinics, especially the probe that led to allegations against Planned Parenthood of Kansas City and late-term abortionist George Tiller. Cheryl Sullinger of Operation Rescue in Wichita believes the charges have no standing and are politically motivated.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=433998
Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline and two of his associates are facing ethics charges.
StarTribune.com reports Kline received national attention for his investigation of abortion clinics, especially the probe that led to allegations against Planned Parenthood of Kansas City and late-term abortionist George Tiller. Cheryl Sullinger of Operation Rescue in Wichita believes the charges have no standing and are politically motivated.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=433998
Homosexual activists file suit, challenge DOMA
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
Homosexual activists filed suit yesterday against the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. The lawsuit -- filed in Boston by the group Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) on behalf of several homosexual "couples" and three individuals -- asks a federal judge to declare unconstitutional portions of the measure which places the traditional view of marriage into law. In the suit, GLAD argues that Section 3 of DOMA "creates a system of first- and second-class marriages" in which the former receive all federal legal protections, while the latter are denied them -- "even while taking on the responsibilities of legal marriage."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=435162
Homosexual activists filed suit yesterday against the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. The lawsuit -- filed in Boston by the group Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) on behalf of several homosexual "couples" and three individuals -- asks a federal judge to declare unconstitutional portions of the measure which places the traditional view of marriage into law. In the suit, GLAD argues that Section 3 of DOMA "creates a system of first- and second-class marriages" in which the former receive all federal legal protections, while the latter are denied them -- "even while taking on the responsibilities of legal marriage."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=435162
Young conservatives misled on homosexual issue
Jim Brown - OneNewsNow
A pro-family activist believes there is a huge battle looming between libertarians and social conservatives in the Republican Party. He says this battle was highlighted by a survey he conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, regarding the homosexual agenda.
More than half of the nearly 9,000 conservative activists at CPAC last week in Washington were under the age of 22. Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says most of the young people he surveyed at CPAC were against the legalization of same-sex "marriage," but notes there was a lot of confusion about the issue of homosexual civil unions.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=434116
A pro-family activist believes there is a huge battle looming between libertarians and social conservatives in the Republican Party. He says this battle was highlighted by a survey he conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, regarding the homosexual agenda.
More than half of the nearly 9,000 conservative activists at CPAC last week in Washington were under the age of 22. Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says most of the young people he surveyed at CPAC were against the legalization of same-sex "marriage," but notes there was a lot of confusion about the issue of homosexual civil unions.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=434116
Christians in medical field face 'conscience' challenge
Pete Chagnon and Jody Brown - OneNewsNow
The CEO of the Christian Medical Association says the Obama administration is threatening the civil rights of medical practitioners. The Obama administration is moving to rescind a regulation that protects the civil rights and the exercise of conscience of medical practitioners. Under the regulation, medical workers were allowed to reject procedures if they violated their conscience. The Bush administration instituted the regulation in its last days, but it was challenged in court almost immediately.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=433782
The CEO of the Christian Medical Association says the Obama administration is threatening the civil rights of medical practitioners. The Obama administration is moving to rescind a regulation that protects the civil rights and the exercise of conscience of medical practitioners. Under the regulation, medical workers were allowed to reject procedures if they violated their conscience. The Bush administration instituted the regulation in its last days, but it was challenged in court almost immediately.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=433782
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Fathers Shoved Aside
I predicted that same sex marriage would further marginalize men from the family, and would result in the state determining, not just recording parentage. A report from the UK illustrates that I was not hyperventillating, but in fact, very sober-minded about this issue:
This mean that "father" is strictly a legal term, not a name for a biological reality that exists independently of the state and its laws.
I discuss this issue in Session 3, "Same Sex Marriage and the End of Gender" of my 4 part series, Same Sex Marriage Affects Everyone.
Get all my commentary, as it breaks, by signing up for the free Ruth Institute newsletter.
Single women having IVF will be able to name anyone they like as their baby's father on the birth certificate.
New regulations mean that a mother could nominate another woman to be her child's 'father'.
The 'father' does not need to be genetically related to the baby, nor be in any sort of romantic relationship with the mother.
This mean that "father" is strictly a legal term, not a name for a biological reality that exists independently of the state and its laws.
This raises the spectre of a legal minefield in which female 'fathers' will fight for visitation rights and be chased for child support payments if their fragile relationship with the mother breaks down.
The changes, due to come in on April 6, will apply to many of the 2,000 women a year who have IVF using sperm from anonymous donors.
The regulations are part of the controversial Embryology Bill passed by Parliament last year. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said they will give lesbian couples in civil partnerships who undergo IVF the same rights as married heterosexual couples.
An unmarried man whose girlfriend has fertility treatment will also find it easier to claim full parental rights.
The new rules state: 'The women receiving treatment with donor sperm (or embryos created with donor sperm) can consent to any man or woman being the father or second parent.' The only exemption is close blood relatives.
Critics said the change would lead to the role of father being downgraded to the one of godfather and warned that the child would be the one to lose out.
I discuss this issue in Session 3, "Same Sex Marriage and the End of Gender" of my 4 part series, Same Sex Marriage Affects Everyone.
Get all my commentary, as it breaks, by signing up for the free Ruth Institute newsletter.
Gov. Sebelius' Bishop Weighs In
Archbishop Joseph Naumann, of Kansas City is not happy with the appointment of the governor of Kansas to be Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Obama Adminstration:
Read all of the Archbishop's statement here.
earlier in her political career Governor Sebelius accepted political contributions from Wichita’s notorious late-term abortionist, Dr. George Tiller. When this was no longer politically opportune, Dr. Tiller established a political action committee through which he donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the election and re-election of Governor Sebelius, as well as other equally staunch supporters of legalized abortion.
Kansas has one of the most restrictive laws regarding late-term abortions. Yet, it has become, in large part because of Dr. Tiller, the late-term abortion capital of the Midwest. How is this possible? It is possible because our current laws have not been enforced. Each time the Kansas Legislature has passed statutes in an effort to improve enforcement of late-term abortion restrictions, Governor Sebelius has vetoed these laws.
As you are aware, because of her long history both as a legislator and Governor of consistently supporting legalized abortion and after many months of dialogue, I requested Governor Sebelius not to present herself for communion. I did this in the hope that it would motivate Governor Sebelius to reconsider her support for what is an intrinsic evil – the destruction of innocent human life by abortion. I also took this pastoral action to protect others from being misled by the Governor’s public support and advocacy for legalized abortion.
The appointment of Governor Sebelius as the Secretary of HHS concerns me on many levels. With her history of support for legalized abortion and embryonic stem cell research, it is troubling the important influence that she will have on shaping health care policies for our nation. Having elected President Obama with his own record of support for legalized abortion, our nation should not be surprised by his appointment of a Secretary for HHS who shares his views. Though many people voted for President Obama, not because of his support for legalized abortion but despite it, voters in effect gave him the ability to appoint individuals who share his anti-life views to his Cabinet and even more troubling to the courts.
I am also concerned personally for Governor Sebelius. Her appointment as Secretary for HHS places her in a position where she will have to make many decisions that will in all probability continue her personal involvement in promoting legalized abortion and her cooperation in this intrinsic evil.
Read all of the Archbishop's statement here.
Traditional Anglicans Swimming the Tiber
A group of traditional Anglicans are seriously exploring joining the Roman Catholic Church.
The article helpfully notes the historical origins of the Anglican church.
The Anglican Church was originally formed to provide religious protection to a heterodox sexual relationship. And now, the worldwide Anglican Communion is in dissray over the role of women and same sex relationships. It is not an exaggeration to predict the complete collapse of the Anglican church, with the remnants joining Rome. The delicious historical irony!
The Traditional Anglican Communion formed in 1990 as an association of orthodox Anglicans concerned about what they considered the liberal tilt in Anglican churches, including the ordination of women. Members of the group are generally Anglo-Catholic, emphasizing continuity with Catholic tradition and the importance of the sacraments. The fellowship says it has spread to 41 countries and has 400,000 members, although only about half are regular churchgoers.
The traditional group aims to unify the Anglican and Catholic churches, according to Archbishop John Hepworth of Australia, who is the leader, or primate, of the Traditional Anglican Communion. They have accepted the ministry of the pope, but also want to maintain their Anglican traditions _ one of several potential impediments to unification. ...
The head of that Vatican office, Cardinal William Levada, wrote Hepworth in July 2008, saying he was giving "serious attention" to the TAC's proposal. But he noted that the situation within the broader Anglican Communion, with which the Vatican has an official dialogue, had "become markedly more complex." The Anglican Communion is on the brink of schism because of internal rifts over how it should interpret what the Bible says about gay relationships and other issues.
The article helpfully notes the historical origins of the Anglican church.
Anglicans split with Rome in 1534 when English King Henry VIII was refused a marriage annulment.
The Anglican Church was originally formed to provide religious protection to a heterodox sexual relationship. And now, the worldwide Anglican Communion is in dissray over the role of women and same sex relationships. It is not an exaggeration to predict the complete collapse of the Anglican church, with the remnants joining Rome. The delicious historical irony!
Doug Kmiec has gone completely around the bend
Doug Kmiec has gone completely around the bend. Kmiec, you will recall, is the Catholic lawyer who argued that voting for Obama was consistent with being pro-life. This, in spite of Obama's record as the most pro-abortion Senator. Now, Kmiec argues that Prop 8 should be overturned:
What Kmiec and his coauthor present as a moderate, compromise position, is in fact, a complete capitulation. He accepts at face value the claims that redefining marriage is a civil rights imperative. But this is precisely the claim that the voters of CA rejected. Same sex marriage is much more than a civil rights issue: redefining marriage will have many, many ramifications throughout society. These consequences swayed the voters, but evidently the opponents of Prop 8 do not even consider them worth mentioning. "Getting the State Out of the Marriage Business" is not a compromise, but a capitulation. I will have an article about this soon. Newsleter subscribers will be the first to know. Sign up for the Ruth Institute newsletter here. The fact that same sex marriage supporters have gone to court over this illustrates one thing: they have given up even the pretense of making rational arguments in favor of their position. During the campaign, their argument was, This is unfair, you are hurting our feelings. We responded with real concerns about the impact of redefining marriage on religious liberty, school curriculum and much more. But as long as ssm proponents can keep the spotlight on civil rights, they excuse themselves from even having to face these issues.
Some faiths accept same-sex relationships and others profoundly object. As a matter of religious freedom, both must be accommodated, but how? Separate state and church. Prop. 8 keeps the state - not the church - from using the terminology of marriage to officially acknowledge a same-sex relationship. That's all it does. Prop. 8 should not be thought of, as some argue, as revoking rights granted by an activist judiciary. After all, the official ballot summary recited: "Prop. 8 ... doesn't take away any rights or benefits ...."
To blunt the notion that people can be deprived of fundamental civil or religious liberties by initiative, we recommend the court:
-- Affirm its prior judgment recognizing the equality previously given all citizens by the state Assembly.
-- Honor the stated intent of Prop. 8 (viz., precluding the state from using marriage terminology to officially acknowledge any relationship other than that of a male-female couple) - an important goal to be faithful to the people as well, but one which cannot be accomplished by undermining the principal one of equality.
-- Direct the state to employ non-marriage terminology for all couples - be it civil union or some equivalent. While new terminology for all may at first seem awkward - mostly in greeting card shops - the third step dovetails with the court's important responsibility to reaffirm the unfettered freedom of all faiths to extend the nomenclature of marriage as their traditions allow.
What Kmiec and his coauthor present as a moderate, compromise position, is in fact, a complete capitulation. He accepts at face value the claims that redefining marriage is a civil rights imperative. But this is precisely the claim that the voters of CA rejected. Same sex marriage is much more than a civil rights issue: redefining marriage will have many, many ramifications throughout society. These consequences swayed the voters, but evidently the opponents of Prop 8 do not even consider them worth mentioning. "Getting the State Out of the Marriage Business" is not a compromise, but a capitulation. I will have an article about this soon. Newsleter subscribers will be the first to know. Sign up for the Ruth Institute newsletter here. The fact that same sex marriage supporters have gone to court over this illustrates one thing: they have given up even the pretense of making rational arguments in favor of their position. During the campaign, their argument was, This is unfair, you are hurting our feelings. We responded with real concerns about the impact of redefining marriage on religious liberty, school curriculum and much more. But as long as ssm proponents can keep the spotlight on civil rights, they excuse themselves from even having to face these issues.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Deja new: Prop. 8 challenge reaches Calif. court
LISA LEFF- Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO- A year after the state Supreme Court entertained arguments on extending marriage to gay couples, many of the same lawyers will be back before the same justices this week arguing why California's voter-appproved ban on so-called same-sex marriage should stand or fall.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=433368
SAN FRANCISCO- A year after the state Supreme Court entertained arguments on extending marriage to gay couples, many of the same lawyers will be back before the same justices this week arguing why California's voter-appproved ban on so-called same-sex marriage should stand or fall.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=433368
University presses on toward abortion facility
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
In spite of very vocal opposition, the University of Wisconsin is continuing to pursue plans to do second-trimester abortions at the Madison Surgery Center.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=431212
In spite of very vocal opposition, the University of Wisconsin is continuing to pursue plans to do second-trimester abortions at the Madison Surgery Center.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=431212
Home schoolers swarm to defend education
Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow
A home school defense attorney is warning New Hampshire home schoolers about a piece of legislation being debated in The Granite State.
Mike Donnelly of the Home School Legal Defense Association is warning New Hampshire homeschoolers of HB 367. If passed, the bill would require home schoolers to double the amount of reporting currently required and would allow a school superintendant or principal to determine if the home school program should continue or be terminated.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=431394
A home school defense attorney is warning New Hampshire home schoolers about a piece of legislation being debated in The Granite State.
Mike Donnelly of the Home School Legal Defense Association is warning New Hampshire homeschoolers of HB 367. If passed, the bill would require home schoolers to double the amount of reporting currently required and would allow a school superintendant or principal to determine if the home school program should continue or be terminated.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=431394
Pro-lifers vindicated in court
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
Some Iowa pro-life demonstrators have been cleared of charges levied against them.
Over a year ago, about 40 to 50 demonstrators were at the county courthouse in Iowa City to protest the trial of another pro-lifer when police cruisers arrived. Defense attorney Bob Anderson of Vinton picks up the story.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=430984
Some Iowa pro-life demonstrators have been cleared of charges levied against them.
Over a year ago, about 40 to 50 demonstrators were at the county courthouse in Iowa City to protest the trial of another pro-lifer when police cruisers arrived. Defense attorney Bob Anderson of Vinton picks up the story.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=430984
It’s a murder ring by another name
Sheila Liaugminas
The Death With Dignity movement is trying to fast-track assisted suicide laws through the states.
Final Exit is sidestepping the legal process. And the law.
A wide-ranging investigation into an alleged suicide assistance ring led to charges against four people and raids in nine states as authorities looked into how many deaths might have been involved.
http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/its_a_murder_ring_by_another_name/
The Death With Dignity movement is trying to fast-track assisted suicide laws through the states.
Final Exit is sidestepping the legal process. And the law.
A wide-ranging investigation into an alleged suicide assistance ring led to charges against four people and raids in nine states as authorities looked into how many deaths might have been involved.
http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/its_a_murder_ring_by_another_name/
Beware of twisted ideas of freedom
Edmund Pellegrino
A leading American bioethicist argues that ethics without some constraints is merely moral delinquency.
Bioethics is often seen as a science which set obstacles up before the free self-determination of human beings. What is the correct relationship between bioethics and human freedom, including man’s free search for happiness? Do you think that bioethics themes (abortion, euthanasia and so on) concern only personal consciousness or all of society?
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/beware_of_twisted_ideas_of_freedom/
A leading American bioethicist argues that ethics without some constraints is merely moral delinquency.
Bioethics is often seen as a science which set obstacles up before the free self-determination of human beings. What is the correct relationship between bioethics and human freedom, including man’s free search for happiness? Do you think that bioethics themes (abortion, euthanasia and so on) concern only personal consciousness or all of society?
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/beware_of_twisted_ideas_of_freedom/
Sexual insanity
Bill Muehlenberg
Week by week the stories become more sensational. Blogs were still buzzing over California’s “octomom”, Nadya Suleman, when the story of Alfie Patten, a baby-faced British 13-year-old and putative father, grabbed the international headlines. In Australia, where I live, an appeal court has awarded a lesbian duo hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation for getting two babies from IVF treatment rather than one.
Strangely enough, such dramatic consequences of the erosion of marriage and the explosion of out-of-control sexuality were foreseen -- in some instances long ago. In 1968 Will and Ariel Durant’s important book, The Lessons of History appeared. In it they said, The sex drive in the young is a river of fire that must be banked and cooled by a hundred restraints if it is not to consume in chaos both the individual and the group.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/sexual_insanity/
Week by week the stories become more sensational. Blogs were still buzzing over California’s “octomom”, Nadya Suleman, when the story of Alfie Patten, a baby-faced British 13-year-old and putative father, grabbed the international headlines. In Australia, where I live, an appeal court has awarded a lesbian duo hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation for getting two babies from IVF treatment rather than one.
Strangely enough, such dramatic consequences of the erosion of marriage and the explosion of out-of-control sexuality were foreseen -- in some instances long ago. In 1968 Will and Ariel Durant’s important book, The Lessons of History appeared. In it they said, The sex drive in the young is a river of fire that must be banked and cooled by a hundred restraints if it is not to consume in chaos both the individual and the group.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/sexual_insanity/
Assisted suicide ring defends actions
Greg Bluestein
ATLANTA - Members of an assisted suicide ring say they've done nothing wrong and seem eager for a court battle over criminal charges they helped a Georgia man kill himself, while their supporters are using the case as a rallying cry for more debate about end-of-life issues.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=431956
ATLANTA - Members of an assisted suicide ring say they've done nothing wrong and seem eager for a court battle over criminal charges they helped a Georgia man kill himself, while their supporters are using the case as a rallying cry for more debate about end-of-life issues.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=431956
Partial-birth abortion ban goes forward in Arkansas
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
The Arkansas legislature has passed a partial-birth abortion ban.
Both chambers of the state legislature passed the measure -- and Rose Mimms, executive director of Arkansas Right to Life, indicates Democratic Governor Mike Beebe will sign it.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=429940
The Arkansas legislature has passed a partial-birth abortion ban.
Both chambers of the state legislature passed the measure -- and Rose Mimms, executive director of Arkansas Right to Life, indicates Democratic Governor Mike Beebe will sign it.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=429940
Request denied, abortionist to stand trial
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
Wichita late-term abortionist George Tiller will have his day in court.
After weeks of hearings and deliberations, a Wichita judge has decided that Tiller will stand trial on 19 misdemeanor charges of doing illegal late-term abortions. That word came on Wednesday when Sedgwick County Judge Clark Owens denied a defense request to dismiss charges against the abortionist or throw out evidence because of the conduct of former prosecutor Phill Kline. (See earlier story)
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=429996
Wichita late-term abortionist George Tiller will have his day in court.
After weeks of hearings and deliberations, a Wichita judge has decided that Tiller will stand trial on 19 misdemeanor charges of doing illegal late-term abortions. That word came on Wednesday when Sedgwick County Judge Clark Owens denied a defense request to dismiss charges against the abortionist or throw out evidence because of the conduct of former prosecutor Phill Kline. (See earlier story)
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=429996
Assisted suicide case revives right-to-die debate
GREG BLUESTEIN
ATLANTA- The case against an alleged assisted suicide ring known as the Final Exit Network has revived a long-simmering debate over the right to die.
The network's president, its medical director and two other members are due in court Friday on charges they aided the suicide of a 58-year-old Georgia man who suffered for years from cancer of the throat and mouth.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=430700
ATLANTA- The case against an alleged assisted suicide ring known as the Final Exit Network has revived a long-simmering debate over the right to die.
The network's president, its medical director and two other members are due in court Friday on charges they aided the suicide of a 58-year-old Georgia man who suffered for years from cancer of the throat and mouth.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=430700
Mindful Eating and Mindless Sex?
George Will's column today entitled "Prudes at Dinner, Gluttons in Bed" discusses a new Policy Review essay by Mary Eberstadt, who is a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Eberstadt's essay is called "Is Food the New Sex?" and asks the question "What happens when, for the first time in history, adult human beings are free to have all the sex and food they want?" notes that:
One might think, she says, either that food and sex would both be pursued with an ardor heedless of consequences, or that both would be subjected to analogous codes constraining consumption. The opposite has happened -- mindful eating and mindless sex.
If food is the new sex, Eberstadt asks, "where does that leave sex?" She says it leaves much of sex dumbed-down -- junk sex akin to junk food.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=429648
One might think, she says, either that food and sex would both be pursued with an ardor heedless of consequences, or that both would be subjected to analogous codes constraining consumption. The opposite has happened -- mindful eating and mindless sex.
If food is the new sex, Eberstadt asks, "where does that leave sex?" She says it leaves much of sex dumbed-down -- junk sex akin to junk food.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=429648
Parents Discouraged from Discussing Right & Wrong with Kids
by Marcia Segelstein
Big Brother appears to be alive and well in Britain. Across the pond, the government has put out a leaflet for parents called “Talking to Your Teenagers About Sex and Relationships.” It recommends against stressing values in such discussions so that teens can “form their own values.” At taxpayers’ expense, Britain’s children’s minister (pray that we don’t get one of those here) initiated the effort which advises parents, when talking with their children, “that trying to convince them of what’s right and wrong may discourage them from being open.”
According to a representative of Britain’s Christian Institute, “The idea that the government is telling families not to pass on their values is outrageous.”
Read the full story at The Times Online.
Big Brother appears to be alive and well in Britain. Across the pond, the government has put out a leaflet for parents called “Talking to Your Teenagers About Sex and Relationships.” It recommends against stressing values in such discussions so that teens can “form their own values.” At taxpayers’ expense, Britain’s children’s minister (pray that we don’t get one of those here) initiated the effort which advises parents, when talking with their children, “that trying to convince them of what’s right and wrong may discourage them from being open.”
According to a representative of Britain’s Christian Institute, “The idea that the government is telling families not to pass on their values is outrageous.”
Read the full story at The Times Online.
Want a Blue-Eyed, Blond-Haired Baby Girl? Fertility Clinic Says It Can Deliver
Monday, March 02, 2009 The Wall Street Journal
A Los Angeles clinic says it will soon help couples select both gender and physical traits in a baby when they undergo a form of fertility treatment. The clinic, Fertility Institutes, says it has received "half a dozen" requests for the service, which is based on a procedure called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,503145,00.html
A Los Angeles clinic says it will soon help couples select both gender and physical traits in a baby when they undergo a form of fertility treatment. The clinic, Fertility Institutes, says it has received "half a dozen" requests for the service, which is based on a procedure called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,503145,00.html
Teen Pregnancy on the Rise
After More Than a Decade of Declines, CDC Reports More Teens Giving Birth
By RYAN OWENS and SIDNEY WRIGHT IV
Carmen Sauceda, a 17-year-old high school athlete from Dallas, once dreamed of attending college, but with a newborn baby girl, those dreams will have to take a backseat to motherhood.
Carmen Sauceda, a 17-year-old high school athlete from Dallas, who is one of what the CDC says is a growing number of teens becoming mothers.(ABC News)
The gifts she recently received at her baby shower have done little to calm her anxiety, because she doesn't think she's ready.
"I don't feel like an adult. But now I have to act like one for my child," Sauceda said.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6981558&page=1
By RYAN OWENS and SIDNEY WRIGHT IV
Carmen Sauceda, a 17-year-old high school athlete from Dallas, once dreamed of attending college, but with a newborn baby girl, those dreams will have to take a backseat to motherhood.
Carmen Sauceda, a 17-year-old high school athlete from Dallas, who is one of what the CDC says is a growing number of teens becoming mothers.(ABC News)
The gifts she recently received at her baby shower have done little to calm her anxiety, because she doesn't think she's ready.
"I don't feel like an adult. But now I have to act like one for my child," Sauceda said.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6981558&page=1
Young conservatives misled on homosexual issue
Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 3/3/2009
A pro-family activist believes there is a huge battle looming between libertarians and social conservatives in the Republican Party. He says this battle was highlighted by a survey he conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, regarding the homosexual agenda.
More than half of the nearly 9,000 conservative activists at CPAC last week in Washington were under the age of 22. Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says most of the young people he surveyed at CPAC were against the legalization of same-sex "marriage," but notes there was a lot of confusion about the issue of homosexual civil unions.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=434116
A pro-family activist believes there is a huge battle looming between libertarians and social conservatives in the Republican Party. He says this battle was highlighted by a survey he conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, regarding the homosexual agenda.
More than half of the nearly 9,000 conservative activists at CPAC last week in Washington were under the age of 22. Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says most of the young people he surveyed at CPAC were against the legalization of same-sex "marriage," but notes there was a lot of confusion about the issue of homosexual civil unions.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=434116
Where Dr J Has Been: MN
While I was in Minneapolis, I addressed about 300 high school students and their parents at Providence Academy, on the topic of Smart Sex. Principal Dr. Todd Flanders said my presentation struck just the right tone of academic credibility, along with edginess. I always benefit from interaction with my audiences, but the Providence parents were exceptional. One mom was a doctor, and shared that she often sees young patients who are either pregnant or have STD’s. She always begins by apologizing to them. “My generation lied to you when we told you that you could have sex without consequences. I’m sorry.”
Another Providence Academy mom told us the most poignant story I’ve heard in a long time. This very fashionable, obviously well-educated woman shared that she was the only one of her college circle of friends who got married and had a child. All her friends focused the energies solely on making money. When she visits them, they fawn over her son. These friends live in gorgeous apartments in Manhattan, which are decorated with photos of her child. They know they have missed something of value, something their money will never be able to replace.
In my last update, I told you about meeting Rev. Walter Hoye, an African-American pastor in Oakland. Rev. Hoye has become a symbol of the assault on free speech from the abortion lobby. He stood on a public sidewalk outside an abortion clinic, trying to talk with women as they entered. Rev Hoye did nothing violent or intimidating. Yet he was sentenced last week. We gave an update of his case on the blog.
We realize that the economy is difficult right now. But please consider investing in the work of the Ruth Institute. After all, investments in stocks or real estate aren’t doing so well right now. Investing in the future of marriage will pay dividends for years. Your gift will allow Dr. Morse to visit more campuses with her message of lifelong married love. The future of marriage is in the hands of college students. The market will come and the market will go. If marriage goes down, it will be almost impossible to revive. Donate to the Ruth Institute today.
(This material was originally published in the free weekly Ruth Institute newsletter. Click here to subscribe.)
Another Providence Academy mom told us the most poignant story I’ve heard in a long time. This very fashionable, obviously well-educated woman shared that she was the only one of her college circle of friends who got married and had a child. All her friends focused the energies solely on making money. When she visits them, they fawn over her son. These friends live in gorgeous apartments in Manhattan, which are decorated with photos of her child. They know they have missed something of value, something their money will never be able to replace.
In my last update, I told you about meeting Rev. Walter Hoye, an African-American pastor in Oakland. Rev. Hoye has become a symbol of the assault on free speech from the abortion lobby. He stood on a public sidewalk outside an abortion clinic, trying to talk with women as they entered. Rev Hoye did nothing violent or intimidating. Yet he was sentenced last week. We gave an update of his case on the blog.
We realize that the economy is difficult right now. But please consider investing in the work of the Ruth Institute. After all, investments in stocks or real estate aren’t doing so well right now. Investing in the future of marriage will pay dividends for years. Your gift will allow Dr. Morse to visit more campuses with her message of lifelong married love. The future of marriage is in the hands of college students. The market will come and the market will go. If marriage goes down, it will be almost impossible to revive. Donate to the Ruth Institute today.
(This material was originally published in the free weekly Ruth Institute newsletter. Click here to subscribe.)
Where Dr J has been in February: Virginia and DC
The Ruth Institute exists to promote lifelong married love to the young by creating a social and economic climate favorable to marriage. We accomplish our mission through speaking engagements across the country.
I had two major trips in February. I went to Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia, and then to the Minneapolis area. I spoke on “Alternatives to Feminism” to Federalist Society chapters at Georgetown Law School and the University of Virginia Law School. The UVA students surprised me. A couple of women who identified themselves as feminists came up to me to tell me that had expected to hate me and my talk. But they were astonished by how much they agreed with my message that women have been sold a bill of goods, when they were told to eschew marriage in favor of complete focus on a career. One of them told me that she thought I was a “totally awesome feminist.”
As a result of that encounter, I got to thinking, “what the heck is feminism, anyhow? Do we really need to rehabilitate the word? Or should we start over with new terminology to describe a pro-woman position within the broad conservative context?” So, we have started a discussion over at the Ruth Youth blog. Go check it out and tell us what you think feminism is or should be. If you have college age friends or relatives, send them to the Ruth Youth blog.
Same sex marriage was on the agenda at the George Mason University Law school in Arlington, Virginia and the University of St. Thomas Law school in Minneapolis. At George Mason, I debated same sex adoption with Gabriel Hudson, a young political science professor, (pictured.) I gave a speech about same sex marriage and Proposition 8 at the University of St. Thomas.
By the time I arrived home from my trip to George Mason, I found a nice hand-written note in the mail.
That made my day. We need more civil discussions of these important issues. I’m proud to play a small part in raising the level of the debate.
At the same time, these events revealed just how much work we have to do on campuses. I have often made the point that same sex marriage requires us to believe that mothers and fathers are interchangeable. Many, many young people do not have a problem with that. They insist that we demonstrate things that are intuitively obvious to older people. I am committed to bringing the best arguments and the most respectful presentations of these issues. With your help, I will continue to carry this message to campuses across the country.
(This was originally published in the Ruth Institute free weekly newsletter. Click here to subscribe.)
I had two major trips in February. I went to Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia, and then to the Minneapolis area. I spoke on “Alternatives to Feminism” to Federalist Society chapters at Georgetown Law School and the University of Virginia Law School. The UVA students surprised me. A couple of women who identified themselves as feminists came up to me to tell me that had expected to hate me and my talk. But they were astonished by how much they agreed with my message that women have been sold a bill of goods, when they were told to eschew marriage in favor of complete focus on a career. One of them told me that she thought I was a “totally awesome feminist.”
As a result of that encounter, I got to thinking, “what the heck is feminism, anyhow? Do we really need to rehabilitate the word? Or should we start over with new terminology to describe a pro-woman position within the broad conservative context?” So, we have started a discussion over at the Ruth Youth blog. Go check it out and tell us what you think feminism is or should be. If you have college age friends or relatives, send them to the Ruth Youth blog.
Same sex marriage was on the agenda at the George Mason University Law school in Arlington, Virginia and the University of St. Thomas Law school in Minneapolis. At George Mason, I debated same sex adoption with Gabriel Hudson, a young political science professor, (pictured.) I gave a speech about same sex marriage and Proposition 8 at the University of St. Thomas.
By the time I arrived home from my trip to George Mason, I found a nice hand-written note in the mail.
“I wanted to thank you for your participation in George Mason Law’s same sex adoption debate. While I may have ideological differences from yours, I found your presentation today very fair and respectful and I respect you for that. Sincerely, … Vice President/Secretary of GALLA, LBGT Law Association.”
That made my day. We need more civil discussions of these important issues. I’m proud to play a small part in raising the level of the debate.
At the same time, these events revealed just how much work we have to do on campuses. I have often made the point that same sex marriage requires us to believe that mothers and fathers are interchangeable. Many, many young people do not have a problem with that. They insist that we demonstrate things that are intuitively obvious to older people. I am committed to bringing the best arguments and the most respectful presentations of these issues. With your help, I will continue to carry this message to campuses across the country.
(This was originally published in the Ruth Institute free weekly newsletter. Click here to subscribe.)
The Sebelius Nomination
George Weigel has an excellent analysis of the proposed nomination of Kansas Governor Katherine Sebelius.
read it all here.
Stay Informed. Sign up for the Ruth Institute free newsletter here.
President Obama’s first choice for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services was former South Dakota senator Tom Daschle—a pro-abortion Catholic Democrat. President Obama’s second choice for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius—another pro-abortion Catholic Democrat, with what some would consider a public record even more disturbing than Tom Daschle’s.
The Sebelius nomination is fraught with danger on several fronts. The next secretary of HHS will be in a key position to shape policy on a number of crucial questions. Will conscience-rights protection for pro-life physicians and health-care workers be sustained, amended, or eliminated? Will over-the-counter abortifacients in the guise of “Plan B” contraceptives be available to minors without a doctor’s prescription or counsel? Will the government continue to sanction the sale and use of RU-486, the “abortion pill” that has killed seven women since the Clinton administration rammed its approval through the Food and Drug Administration shortly before leaving office?
These issues are grave enough, both for physicians and for women’s health. At the same time, there may be more than public policy at stake here. Vigorous, Internet-based support for Sebelius’ nomination is already being offered by many of the same Catholic intellectuals who argued that Barack Obama was the real pro-life candidate in 2008.
And this, despite the fact that Kathleen Sebelius is an abortion radical by any reasonable definition of the term, whatever occasional gestures toward pro-life positions she has made. In her years as a state legislator in Kansas, for example, she voted to weaken or eliminate modest regulations of the abortion industry, including parental notification, informed consent, and “reflection periods” for women considering their options in a crisis pregnancy.
read it all here.
Stay Informed. Sign up for the Ruth Institute free newsletter here.
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