Prop 8 Upheld!

One month ago, United Families International gave you a short update on the marriage battle as it was playing out across the United States. Today, as policy discussions come to an end before the break of summer, we have additional information to share regarding the targeted New England area of the United States, as well as Washington DC and California’s Prop 8.

Gay rights activists who aimed to legalize same-sex marriage throughout New England by 2012 are certainly building momentum. It appears that they will have passed laws legalizing same-sex marriage in at least 4 of the 6 New England states by the end of May. The win is a blatant attempt to “normalize” gay marriage one area of the United States at a time, but also to redefine marriage through the state legislative process instead of through the court system.

Before this year, the gay rights activists only saw success in the court room. Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, and Iowa were legalized through their state courts, allowing proponents of marriage to point out that the will of the people was overturned by liberal courts involved with policy making. Unfortunately, last month Vermont became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage through legislative action.

Voters believe that when it comes to who should decide whether same-sex marriage should be legal, 43 percent of voters say their state legislature, and 25 percent say the courts should. Only 16 percent say neither should make the decision.

Book Your Travel Through www.travelUFI.com and DONATE TO UFI!

United Families is pleased to announce a new and convenient way to donate to UFI! Simply book your travel arrangements using www.travelUFI.com and 100% of the commission earned off the trip will be donated to UFI. This awesome travel booking source offers the greatest rates on flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, condos, travel activities, and dream trip vacations and 68% of the time offers better rates than can be found on sites like Traveloicy and Expedia!

Book all your future travel arrangements using www.travelUFI.com and you will have the confidence of knowing you are getting a great rate and helping a great cause at the same time! This great opportunity comes as a result of PYC Ventures, LLC generously offering to donate 100% of the commission earned off these bookings to UFI!

What are you waiting for? Book an awesome trip and donate to UFI at the same time TODAY!

THE FAMILY VOICE SPEAKS AT WORLD CONGRESS – AND YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND!

In less than two months, United Families International and many of our international colleagues will gather to form pro-family strategy during the World Congress of Families V (WCF V) in Amsterdam, Holland in the Netherlands – August 10-12.

The World Congress of Families (WCF) was founded in 1997 by Dr. Allan C. Carlson There have been four Congresses to date – WCF I (Prague, 1997), WCF II (Geneva, 1999), WCF III (Mexico City, 2004) and WCF IV (Warsaw, 2007).

The theme of this year’s Congress is “Modern Families – Traditional Values.” No doubt the theme reflects the current and mostly heated debate on marriage and family that is occurring in state legislatures and courts in America, and around the world. World Congress of Families has set the tone this year to address this most important discussion that will address what the family will look like today and tomorrow.

“Marriage, the cornerstone of healthy family life, brings security, contentment, meaning, joy and spiritual maturity
to the man and woman who enter this lifelong covenant with unselfish commitment.”
Excerpt from The Mexico City Declaration

Carol Soelberg, acting president of UFI will have an opportunity to participate in a panel discussion on Education and the Family . We will come away from WCF V with new strategies, energy and commitment to secure a future for the family that will allow us to keep you in the forefront of the issues.

Along with the focus and direction we gain from the Congress, we need financial support to maintain our place in the public square of family policy debate. We have made solid contributions around the globe and we will continue to do so — as long as we have the funding to do so.

Will you please help us with a donation of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, or EVEN $1000 Today? Or, if you decide to attend WCF V, use www.travelUFI.com to make your travel arrangements, and a donation from PYC Ventures, LLC will be given directly to United Families International. Click HERE for more information.

Any contribution we receive from you will enable us to do the following:

• Fight to keep the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in place – as any change or repeal would severely undermine the efforts to preserve man/woman marriage.
• Promote marriage initiatives at the state level through our state chapter efforts.
• Demonstrate why marriage between one man and one woman serves the greatest benefits for society: A loving and compassionate society never creates motherless and fatherless families, but it does come to their aid.
• Raise awareness about the adverse impact that same-sex “marriage” has where it is legal including the fact that marriage between heterosexuals is in decline, religious liberty is in jeopardy and parental rights are at risk.
• Demonstrate the suffering that abortion causes families: Post-abortive women run risks for numerous physical and psychological complications. . For additional information, see the UFI publication, “Guide to Family Issues: Abortion.”
• Continue to produce and update our “United Nations Negotiating Guide“. This Guide is viewed as the “Bible” of pro-family language in negotiating United Nations documents.

Consider being part of the family movement by joining us at the World Congress of Families as we work with like-minded organizations, including the Family Research Council; the Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society; American Family Association; Heritage Foundation; Real Women of Canada; Human Life International; and others.

This will prove to be an opportunity of a lifetime.

The latest information on WCF V is at www.worldcongress.org and www.worldcongress.nl (site in English and Dutch). Or go to our website and read more about the World Congress of Families IV, taking place August 10-12.

We will be there to speak for the family, along with thousands of pro-family activists from dozens of nations who are concerned about the militant, anti-family ethos prevalent in the post-modern West.

Together, with your support, we will make a difference in the future of the family.

Did you miss Voice Of The Nation yesterday?

Voice Of The Nation: Family Values Blog Talk Radio show is a joint effort between United Families International, the Digital Network Army, and other Pro-Family organizations. The show highlights current Family Values news and discusses the logic behind the Pro-Family Movement.

Yesterday we updated on what is happening on the marriage front including the start of the People’s Veto in Maine, and the newest fight opening up this week in New York. Joining us this week to talk about the situation in New York was Jason McGuire, Legislative Director at New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom and Chief Operating Officer of the NYFRF (NY Family Research Foundation).

Click HERE to listen to yesterday’s show.

Abstinence Education in Schools

The world we live in has been sexualized in just about every way. Our children can’t turn on the television without being inundated with racy images and messages. How do children growing up in this environment learn about respecting themselves and others as they contemplate sexual activities? How do they learn what is or isn’t appropriate, and at what age? How can they learn the skills necessary to resist what pop-culture tries to constantly force upon them in terms of sexuality and self-image?

One effective method of arming our children with important information is through Abstinence Education programs at schools. Schools in the U.S. generally begin teaching some type of “maturation” classes in the upper grades of elementary school and then introduce sex education classes in junior high or middle school. This is sometimes followed up with more extensive sex education classes in high school. In many cases, a sex education program is part of the health curriculum. The topics discussed and the methods used to teach are often a concern to many parents and lawmakers. Through Abstinence Education, teens are taught that abstaining from sex is the only way to avoid all physical and emotional risks associated with casual sex. Some Abstinence programs give limited information about contraception and STDs, but they focus on the importance of delaying sexual activity and resisting the pressures of our sexualized society. When teens are given appropriate medical information and taught abstinence they can make decisions that will maintain their sexual health and well-being. Abstinence Education programs empower teens to say “no” and mean it, without being scared of sex.

Funding for Abstinence Education Cut by Obama

Congress first allocated $80 million in grants for Abstinence-only Education programs in 1999. Eligibility for abstinence funding is based on guidelines that limit the introduction of content related to contraception, sexual orientation, etc. The focus of the programs receiving abstinence funding must actually be abstinence – refraining from sex. In 2005 the Bush administration backed the movement with $168 million. Programs throughout the U.S. have been implemented mostly in schools, where children and teens can be given good information at an early age.

Unfortunately, President Obama’s new budget indicates that he will fulfill his campaign promise to cut funding for Abstinence Education. His budget would eliminate most money for Abstinence-only Education and shift it to a different program aimed at teen pregnancy prevention. The new budget allocates nearly $178 million for teen pregnancy prevention, with a portion of that going to “innovative” programs.

The executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) responded to Pres. Obama’s budget cut by saying, “At a time when teens are subjected to an increasingly sexualized culture, it is essential that common-sense legislators from both sides of the aisle reject this extreme attempt to defund the only approach that removes all risk. Members of Congress would be well advised to listen to youth and parents in their districts who overwhelmingly support these valuable programs.”

Abstinence-only vs. Comprehensive Sex Education

There is a fierce debate between supporters of Abstinence-only Education and Comprehensive Sex Education as to which program is most appropriate and really has a significant positive effect on children and teens. Supporters of Abstinence-only say that traditional sex education sends mixed messages and that abstinence is the only method that is 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). An excellent article by the Heritage Foundation outlines important facts about early teen sexuality and the effectiveness of Abstinence Education. For example, studies have shown that sexual activity at an early age has multiple harmful consequences including increased rates of infection with sexually transmitted diseases, increased rates of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and birth, increased rates of single parenthood, decreased marital stability, etc. The article also explains that “there are currently ten evaluations showing that abstinence education is effective in reducing teen sexual activity. Half of these evaluations have been published in peer-reviewed journals.” On the other side of the debate, the ACLU and others claim that Abstinence-only programs are ineffective, medically inaccurate and are there to promote religion. These groups question the validity of studies that repeatedly show how effective Abstinence Education really is.

As parents, school boards, policy makers, etc., grapple with finding the right balance for sex education in schools, some are trying to mix a variety of approaches. Some have implemented “Abstinence Plus” programs that do not focus on the message of true abstinence or refraining from sex until marriage. Unfortunately, the danger with these programs is that in the end, little or no emphasis is placed on encouraging students to abstain from sexual activity. Instead, a significant number of these programs heavily endorse condom use and condone sexual activity among teens, and simply give a mention of abstinence as one choice among many. Nearly all such programs contain material and messages that would be offensive and alarming to the majority of parents.

There is a great need for our teens to receive good information about sexual behavior, and receive it in a way that allows them to make good choices. The cultural norm in societies around the world accepts the fact that teens are sexually active, but with proper information about the positive effects of abstinence, teens will be able to resist society’s pressures. In a 2007 report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 47.8 percent of all U.S. high school students 9th through 12th grade report they have had sexual intercourse. The percentage of high school students who have had sex decreased 16 percent between 1991 and 2007 (54.1 percent to 47.8 percent). Teen pregnancy rates among teens aged 15-19 also decreased 38 percent between 1990 and 2004 according to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen an Unplanned Pregnancy. Abstinence Education can help continue this downward trend to give our children a chance to grow up and mature before engaging in sexual activity.

The Role of Parents and Families

Schools will always struggle to find the right balance when dealing with sex education. There will always be strong voices on each side of the issue trying to persuade us that their side is the right one. Ironically, however, it is not the school that can have the most significant influence on our children’s attitude toward sexual activity. A recent survey by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that parents are more influential than peers, the media, teachers, and sex educators when it comes to a teen’s decisions about whether to have sex. Most parents don’t think their kids listen to what they say, but that is untrue. Parents have a tremendous opportunity if they will be vocal and upfront as they discuss expectations and acceptable actions with their children.

United Families supports Abstinence-only Education to help families as they confront a culture that has become extremely sexualized. Parents have an especially important role as they teach their children important concepts about self-worth and proper sexual health. The debate over funding for Abstinence-only programs continues and it is more important that ever to raise our voices in support of Abstinence Education as President Obama and members of Congress cut funding for this important program. We can make a difference in educating and empowering our youth to make good decisions that will benefit them now and throughout the rest of their lives.

ACLU: Same-Sex Marriage Is Top Priority

Gary Bauer reports:

Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, thinks so. In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Romero says, “Clearly, the momentum is on our side,” and he calls the nationwide legalization of same-sex “marriage” a “sure thing.” According to Romero, the issue is the ACLU’s top priority, “behind only national-security issues.” That’s very telling. The ACLU has been leading the charge to expose our national security secrets in the war against Islamofascism, shutting down GITMO and pursuing the absurd notion that terrorists captured on a foreign battlefield deserve the same constitutional protections as American citizens. Undermining our national security is the ACLU’s first priority; undermining our cultural security, its second.

While it is undeniable that the drive for same-sex “marriage” has picked up steam in recent months, it is also undeniable that the upsurge is a direct consequence of recent elections. The militant homosexual rights movement had a very clear strategy to fundamentally alter the political environment in key states by defeating pro-family, pro-traditional marriage legislators. If just one or two of them could be defeated, it would send the message that supporters of traditional marriage had a bull’s eye on their backs, creating a chilling effect on sympathetic politicians. If enough could be defeated, it could potentially change the makeup of the state legislature, putting pro-homosexual rights candidates in control – politicians who would use their power to prevent marriage protection amendments from getting on the ballot. That is exactly what happened as a result of the 2006 elections in Iowa and in other states where “gay marriage” has advanced in recent months.

Is same-sex “marriage” inevitable? Romero is right when he says that the momentum is on his side. But, I’m not willing to concede that the coast-to-coast redefinition of marriage in America is “inevitable.” As we saw in California, the courts do not get the final say. The United States Supreme Court once declared slavery to be legal. But the people, through the democratic process, amended the Constitution to guarantee no man could be held as property. The Supreme Court declared in 1973 that our unborn children had no rights we were bound to respect. But men and women of faith have fought the good fight for more than three decades, and, as recent polls indicate, we are changing hearts and minds.

If pastors speak up and if men and women of faith and of all races and backgrounds unite to defend the institution of marriage as it has existed from the dawn of civilization, I believe we will prevail. The culture war is real and the public policies that we must all live under are determined by the men and women we elect to public office. This is why it is so important for men and women of faith to remain engaged in the public policy battles and to speak up and defend their values.

FRC Releases Powerful Video – ‘100 Days of Change for the Family’

From LifeSiteNews.com: Washington D.C. – On April 29, the Family Research Council (FRC) released a powerful video report on the devastating first 100 Days of the Obama presidency. The report dramatically exposes the negative impact of the Obama Administration on life, marriage, the justice system and other family issues.

“This video provides indisputable evidence of the current Administration’s hostility to the values of faith and family,” said FRC President Tony Perkins. “This President and his advisors have a very purposeful agenda, one that is seeking to take our country in a radically different direction. Mr. Obama is personally winsome, but his agenda is destructive.”

The video reveals Obama’s 1. Change for the unborn, 2. Change in the stem cell debate, 3. Change in our justice system, 4. Change for marriage, 5. Change in government spending, 6. The planned radical reduction or elimination of charitable deductions and 7. Change in the economy.

The report uses the President’s own spoken words to emphasize how the change he is bringing about is radically different from what he has led the American people to believe he would do.

The video concludes with a repeated clip of Obama’s words, “Change has come to America”, which FRC says is a radical social agenda which preys on the most vulnerable members of our society.”

Gender Discrimination Achieved Through Sex-selection Abortions

One of the most discussed topics over the last 50 years is gender discrimination, formerly known as sexism or chauvinism. Whatever term used, the meaning is the same; one gender or sex is viewed as more valuable than the other.

Throughout most cultures, women have historically been the object of gender discrimination. Feminist groups have pointed out many ways in which women are discriminated against. Some include domestic violence, legal status, wage gap, rape, etc. Rarely is sex-selective abortion discussed, but it should be for many reasons.

The potential has always existed for discrimination through abortions but this issue is not often headline news. Since the mid-1980’s the capacity for discrimination has been greatly increased due to the development of advanced medical technologies, including the use of ultrasound machines that identify the gender of a child before it is born.

For the past 20 years, a world wide holocaust is taking place. Millions of unborn baby girls have been aborted…simply because they are girls. This practice is called sex-selection abortion and is defined by the United Nations as the “intentional killing of unborn females due to the preference for male offspring (also known as “son preference”).”

According to the United States CIA World Fact Book, China and India have the most skewed ratio of male to female new births. For every 100 baby girls born in China and India, about 120-130 baby boys are born. This pattern is alarming because the average ratio in other countries and formerly in both of these nations is much lower, closer to 105 boys for every 100 girls.

Cultural norms in both of these countries and the Chinese government’s mandated birth limit of one child, has the potential to wreak havoc on those countries and the rest of the world.

Sons are preferred for social and financial reasons, and government and norms create incentives for families to value sons, not daughters – the worst kind of gender discrimination. This results in sex-selection abortion as a means to provide a way for couples to ensure that their offspring will be boys. Unintended consequences include huge losses in female population.

In fact, according to a UNICEF report released in December 2006, about 7,000 fewer girls than expected are born daily in India, and about 10 million fewer girls than expected were born in the past 20 years.

China is fast becoming the land of missing women. A 1996 study conducted by a Chinese researcher claimed that 85 percent of aborted fetuses in Zhejiang, a rural county in China, were female. More recent studies conclude that sex-selection abortion of baby girls and female infanticide, the killing of new-born baby girls, are prevalent in every sector of Chinese society, more so in rural China.

The situation in China and India is cause for great concern. Serious ramifications and unintended consequences echo throughout the world. The consequences from sex-selection abortion, female infanticide and the imbalance of male and female ratios include increased rape, sex trafficking and prostitution, crime, societal unrest and obstruction to the development of democracy and prosperity. Ironically, reducing the female population increases female discrimination.

The practice of sex-selection abortion carries with it many complicated issues that involve ethics, morals and fundamental human rights. Although it is most often discussed in the realm of medical ethics, sex-selection can easily be viewed as a breach of human rights. The selective elimination of females in the prenatal state is an infringement of their right to equality and existence.

Arizona Congressmen Trent Franks wrote in The Washington Times, “Regardless of one’s position on abortion, this form of discrimination should horrify every American. The idea of killing a baby simply because she is a girl is reprehensible. Unsurprisingly, a March 2006 Zogby International poll found that 86 percent of Americans supported a prohibition on sex-selection abortion. Indeed, what good are the hard-won liberties of voting and other women’s rights if babies may still be aborted simply for being girls?”

Another concern among population experts is the frequency with which sex-selective abortions are performed and the reason they are executed.

“Designer families” are becoming more and more popular with European and American couples. Using today’s technology to “design” the number, type and sex of their families has geneticists, ethicists, pro-life and pro-family experts alarmed over the potential harm this practice will have on children, families and society as a whole, and especially on women.

United Families International has been watching the progression of sex-selection abortion for several years and has watched in horror as those that fight for the rights of women at the UN and around the world neglect to stop the worst violation against women; one that all NGOs (non-government organizations) can and should passionately rally behind.

Hopefully the “choice” crowd will recognize that this practice is not about the right to have an abortion, it is about a woman’s right to live and be valued as a human being. Being a girl should not be a choice. Being a girl should be a right. Being a girl should be valued.

State Lawmakers Clash with Planned Parenthood Officials Over Undercover Footage; Unedited Undercover Videos Submitted to TN Law Enforcement

MEMPHIS, April 30 — Following the release of undercover footage from a Memphis Planned Parenthood clinic, state lawmakers have introduced legislation that could divert taxpayer subsidies from Planned Parenthood in Tennessee. In response to Planned Parenthood of Greater Memphis Region’s contesting the veracity of the footage, the group responsible for filming, Live Action, has sent the state Attorney General and Memphis District Attorney an unedited version for review. The full footage is also on YouTube for public viewing at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=IvAGwJcs6c8

Lila Rose, 20-year-old president of Live Action, says the unedited video further exposes Planned Parenthood’s reckless counseling practices. When Lila, posing as a 14-year-old girl impregnated by a 31-year-old man, mentions, “My boyfriend said he could pay for everything–But he shouldn’t come here to pay ’cause you’ll see him, right?” the counselor replies, “It doesn’t matter. As long as your parents are not here and can’t identify him, he can just pay and that’s it. He could be like your older brother or whatever.” Tennessee law states that a minor must have parental consent before undergoing an abortion.

Rose commends the Tennessee state lawmakers, led by Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey and Sen. Jack Johnson, who have questioned the state’s over $700,000 funding of Planned Parenthood. “Why would citizens tolerate paying the bills of an organization that protects statutory rapists and victimizes young girls? This is the sad result of the careless abortion-first mentality that has persisted at Planned Parenthood for decades.”

On Monday, Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region CEO Barry Chase sent an email to state legislators asking them to stop the bill and claimed that Live Action’s president, Lila Rose, refused to send his organization the unedited footage, even though neither Rose nor Live Action received any correspondence from Planned Parenthood.

“We have not received a request from Planned Parenthood for the raw footage, so their efforts to raise doubts about the validity of the tapes are made only to mislead,” Rose said in response. “The typical last-ditch effort of Planned Parenthood is to wantonly suggest that the unedited tapes might prove them innocent. But to better illustrate the deliberate cover up of statutory rape and abuse by Planned Parenthood, we have made the entire video public.”

Live Action has also responded to gross errors in Mr. Chase’s email to legislators: “It is all the more troubling to think that even a novice counselor at Planned Parenthood would know to recommend this law-evasion strategy. How prevalent must law-evasion be at Planned Parenthood clinics when even the ‘interpreters’ are implicated?” states Live Action’s letter to TN lawmakers. See the letter here: LiveAction.org/memphis/letter.html.

Live Action has released similar footage from five other clinics, located in Arizona and Indiana, as part of its Mona Lisa Project, which shows Planned Parenthood employees as they respond negligently to reports of statutory rape and offer secret abortions instead. Find out more at LiveAction.org.