2010 Census will recognize same-sex marriage

The LGBT community is anxiously awaiting the 2010 U.S. Census. The Census has had a difficult time the past twenty years deciding how to recognize the relationship of same-sex couples living together.

In 1990, if same-sex couples identified themselves as married, the data readers would alter the sex of one of the persons in the couple. In 2000, if same-sex couples identified themselves as married, the data readers would change their status to unmarried.

The 2010 Census will make no such alterations and will report the relationship of all same-sex couples as they report it. The LGBT community is encouraging all couples to report their relationships as they view them. This means if they view themselves as husband and wife, whether or not legally married, they are encouraged to report themselves as such.

Why is this of concern?

First of all, many conservative groups are claiming it is a violation of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which establishes that marriage is between a man and a woman under federal law. By recognizing non-legal same-sex marriages, the 2010 Census will violate this federal law.

More importantly, however, the Census will validate non-legal same-sex marriages by giving them federal recognition and greater visibility. This validation translates into more federal funding and more political power for the LGBT community, which translates into a greater threat for traditional marriage.

US Heath Care Bill Language Revealed To Public

The most recent version of the US health care bill was unveiled by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday.  The massive bill is 1,990 pages and will cost $1.05 trillion in the first ten years alone.

Click here to read the bill.

Here is what you can do to stop this bill:

Go to tea parties – click here to find a listing of tea parties in your area.

Educate your friends, family, and neighbors on the issue – click hear for a list of talking points.

Call your representatives in congress and let them know they must stand for the voice of the people and vote against the heath care bill – click here to find your representatives’ & senators‘ contact information.

United Families Announces New VP For International Policy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: MICHAEL N. DUFF

Phone: 480.632.5450
Toll Free: 877.435.7834

Fax: 480.892.4417

ufi@unitedfamilies.org

PO Box 2630
Gilbert, AZ 85299

Gilbert, AZ – Michael N. Duff, President of United Families International (UFI) has announced the appointment of A. Scott Loveless, PhD. as Vice President for International Policy.  The appointment takes effect immediately.  “I am pleased to add Dr. Loveless and his extensive experience in education, the law, and international family policy to the UFI team.  Our expanding international policy programs will be enhanced under Scott’s leadership,” Duff said.

“Dr. Loveless brings to UFI the years of experience, the scientific expertise, and the commitment to the family necessary to elevate our international efforts to a whole new level,” said Duff. “He will make UFI an even more effective proponent of the family at the UN and in the international arena as a whole.”

“I am thrilled to join the UFI team and help expand their courageous efforts to defend the family here and abroad,” said Dr. Loveless. “I hope my skills will complement their effectiveness in supporting the family worldwide.”

UFI is committed to protecting family, marriage, and life at all levels of international affairs, particularly the UN. UFI focuses their efforts on educating UN ambassadors and delegates about family policy issues, by providing legal analysis and scholarly research defending the family and sending representatives to support pro-family delegates in their efforts. UFI’s UN Negotiating Guide is the most widely used tool at the United Nations for defending the family in UN documents.

“The consequences of international law for societies and families are very real,” Loveless concluded. “I am anxious to begin working to ensure these consequences are positive ones.”

Dr. Loveless comes to UFI after serving as the Executive Director of the World Family Policy Center at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. He served as an attorney with the U.S. Department of the Interior, but left this work to pursue a Ph.D. in Family Studies (BYU 2000). His dissertation focused on the human-relational effects of personal philosophies of happiness on the marriage relationship. He has continued to write and publish on related themes, most recently in the 3-volume set, The Family in the New Millenium.

He currently resides in Provo, Utah with his wife of 35 years, Cheri. They are the parents of 3 sons, 5 daughters, and 8 grandchildren.

###

Google supports domestic partnerships for same-sex couples

On Tuesday, two lead execs for Google’s Seattle and Kirkland offices sent an editorial to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer urging the approval of Referendum 71. Referendum 71 is a ballot initiative to maintain a Washington state law that would extend domestic partnership rights nearly equivalent to that of marriage to all same-sex couples.

Here is the text of the editorial:

To the Editor:

Google has a reputation for actively participating in policy debates surrounding information access, technology and energy. However, we do not generally take positions on social, legal or political issues that arise beyond our normal, day-to-day business. With that said, there are issues that are so important and so clear cut that we feel compelled to lend our voice. Supporting Referendum 71 is one of those issues.

To be clear, we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument. Nevertheless, we see this debate as one that comes down to equality, plain and simple. If we believe in equal protection under the law we must, in our view, support a man or woman’s right to enjoy the legal benefits of domestic partnerships — no matter who they love.

For the residents of Washington who want for themselves or their children the right to engage in domestic partnerships, we urge the voters of this state to APPROVE Referendum 71.

Brian Bershad – Engineering and Site Director, Google Seattle

Scott Silver – Engineering and Site Director, Google Kirkland

Google is just the latest among many major US companies to support the referendum, including Microsoft, Nike, Puget Sound Energy, RealNetworks, and Vulcan.

If you want to help counter the negative efforts of these big businesses, you can help protect marriage by donating at Protect Marriage Washington.

Switzerland considers changing position on assisted suicide

The Swiss government is considering altering its position on assisted suicide due to an influx of so-called ‘death tourism.’ The Swiss cabinet is currently considering two different proposals on the issue—one for tighter regulation and one for an outright ban of the procedure which has been legal since 1940.

Swiss authorities are concerned both with increasing numbers of foreigners coming to Switzerland to die and also mounting evidence that more and more patients seeking assisted suicide are not terminally ill. Apparently, around 400 assisted suicides are reported every year, 132 of which are performed on foreigners.

The Swiss government is anxious to ensure that assisted suicide is the very last option for patients and the country as a whole gives human life the highest value. “Suicide must only be a last resort,” said the Swiss justice prime ministry. “The government believes that protection of human life must be uppermost.”

Now the government must figure out if it can promote the sanctity of life while maintaining a procedure the directly undermines it. The two proposals are open for public comment until March 1, at which point they will be sent to parliament for drafting.

South Australia working to legalize euthanasia

South Australia is frightfully close to passing a bill that would legalize voluntary euthanasia. According to the bill’s sponsor, Mark Parnell, passage of the bill is not a matter of if, but when.

The legislation is closer to passage than any previous bill on euthanasia. It passed  a second reading in the Upper House today with a vote of 11-10 and now will move on to the committee stage of the debate. If passed, it will move to the Lower House for a conscience vote to determine if the bill is to become law.

Unfortunately, it appears that most citizens of South Australia are in favor of legalizing voluntary euthanasia. According to a survey by Death with Dignity (a source that may cast some doubt on the results), 87% of South Australians support voluntary euthanasia, while only six percent oppose it. Similar but somewhat lower numbers are found throughout the rest of the country.

If passed, the bill would expand current medical treatment laws to include a five-person board of medical and palliative care experts who would provide approval for all voluntary euthanasia procedures. The board looks uncomfortable similar to the feared ‘death panels’ much discussed in the US.

The American People Have Said They Don’t Want It… Why Is the Government Still Pushing Obamacare?

Scare Tactics on Parade:

“Health authorities say almost a hundred children have died from the flu and 46 states now have widespread flu activity.  More than 5,000 people have reportedly died from swine flu since it emerged this year and developed into a global epidemic. In Houston, Texas, there were two swine flu deaths… What do we say to that child’s parents?  I can only imagine that there might have been some difficulty in that child receiving that flu shot.  So many are in that predicament, so many do not have access to doctors and clinics and health insurance or a vigorous, robust public option”

—Sheila Jackson Lee, Congresswoman

On Thursday– This week on “Voice of the Nation” we will be discussing the healthcare scare being pushed through congress.  Polls show that the American people do not support government run healthcare.  Why is it that after a summer of discussion, concern and voicing our objections to the healthcare policies being put forward by this congress that the concerns of the people are not being heard?

Join us as we speak with Cheryl Flake, wife of Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona. With personal experiences involving their son, Cheryl believes that if they didn’t live here in the US with the great medical care and advancements available here, her son would be severely handicapped.

Guest: Cheryl Flake – Cheryl is the wife of Congressman Jeff Flake who represents the 6^th district of Arizona.  She has worked on Capitol Hill for Senator Heinz, and has taught private piano and voice for 14 years.  Besides being a dedicated mother to her five beautiful children, Cheryl also serves on her elementary school’s PTO board and is active in Mesa Republican Women, church and community.

TUNE IN HERE

Pro-abortion groups outraged by latest Law & Order episode

There was a lot of hype leading up to last Friday’s Law & Order episode addressing the issue of abortion. The episode, which deals with the murder of a late-term abortion doctor, didn’t seem of much interest until after reading the responses of pro-abortion parties outraged that a network show would present the other side of the abortion debate.

They are upset, first of all, that the show would air an episode that so closely mirrors the real-life events of the murder of lionized abortionist Dr. George Tiller. But even more so, they are angered by the discussions between series regulars Detectives Lupo and Bernard who rather than deciding emphatically that an abortion is a matter of choice, leave open the possibility that the choice of abortion may involve the life of a child.

Pro-abortionists were even further angered by the episode addressing the connection between late-term abortion and infanticide. They argue that the depiction of the murdered doctor stabbing the baby of a failed abortion was false and medically inaccurate. However, there are several documented cases of infanticide following failed abortions in recent years. The LifeSite.com report on the episode sites examples:

In one case that drives close to home, an abortionist working for George Tiller, Shelley Sella, was accused of stabbing a born-alive infant in the ribcage until the baby died. In addition, former nurse turned pro-life activist Jill Stanek has also related that while working at a hospital in Illinois, numerous babies born alive after failed abortions were simply left to die in the “soiled utility room.”

I’m not sure if the Law & Order episode, in which a pro-life perspective is packaged around the murder of an abortion provider, is the publicity the pro-life movement would hope for. However, perhaps the vehement opposition of pro-abortionists indicates that the episode is an indicator of a greater threat: a public trend towards valuing life.

Update: Obama signs sexual orientation and gender identity hate-crime bill

President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill into law during a White House ceremony earlier today. The law inserts sexual orientation and gender identity into existing federal hate-crime legislation and expands existing federal legislation, which only allowed the federal government to prosecute hate-crimes that affected federally-protected activities, to now permit the federal government to prosecute individuals previously tried by state courts.

Not only is this new law a threat to the free speech of any who oppose homosexual behavior, but it is also a dangerous expansion of the power of the federal courts, allowing them to retry individuals previously acquitted or found guilty of ordinary crimes by state courts. It threatens both protections against double jeopardy and the power of independent state courts. Read more about the legal repercussions of the new law here.

Supreme Court Justices are trying to manufacture new rights

Or so Justice Antonin Scalia claimed at an appearance Monday at The University of Arizona College of Law. According to an article by Howard Fischer, Scalia argued that the more liberal Justices are “trying to manufacture new constitutional rights that were never intended by the drafters.”

The brief summary of Scalia’s appearance in the Phoenix East Valley Tribune is actually a really interesting and short read. It perfectly punctuates the difference between more conservative judges who take a literalist approach to the constitution and more liberal justices who take what Scalia called an “originalism” approach.

Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, who accompanied Scalia, explained this more liberal approach: “You don’t look to the details. You look to the value.” Which means, judges identify the values they believe the writers of the constitution intended to encapsulate in the document and then apply those values to current circumstances according to their interpretation.

Scalia warned against taking such a liberal approach to interpreting the document, arguing that loose interpretation could just as easily constrain rights as provide them.

“It goes both ways,” he said.

“The only thing you can be sure of is the Constitution will mean whatever the American people want it to mean today,” Scalia continued. ”And that’s not what a constitution is for. The whole purpose of a constitution is to constrain the desires of the current society.”

It is this loose interpretation of the constitution that allows pro-abortion and anti-family groups to side-step the legislative process and force their agenda upon the nation.

You can read more about Scalia’s defense of constitutional restraint here.

Race for the Cure helps to fund abortions

Susan G. Komen for the Cure is synonymous with the battle to fight breast cancer. It is currently the largest and most widely known organization fundraising and educating to protect women against this medical threat. Race for the Cure, the organizations fundraising 5k, is also one of the largest and most successful fundraising events in the U.S.

Yet what most people do not recognize is that all of the funds donated to Komen for the Cure do not go to fight breast cancer. In fact, over the years the organization has donated a significant amount of money to abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood is the leading provider of surgical abortions in the US and a very vocal proponents of pro-abortion and anti-family legislation. According to LifeNews.com, Komen donated nearly $1.5 million dollars to Planned Parenthood in the 2005 and 2006 fiscal years.

Komen acknowledges the connection and asserts that the money is used to support breast cancer screening at Planned Parenthood centers for women who could not access the services otherwise. However, this money is fungible and frees up more money to support abortion procedures at these facilities. There is no way to distinguish between funds for abortions and funds for breast cancer screenings.

Additionally, there is scientific evidence that suggests abortion increases a woman’s vulnerability to breast cancer. Accurate or not, it seems counterproductive to provide funds to an organization that is even possibly increasing the threat of breast cancer to women.

So next time you are called upon to donate to Race for the Cure, be aware that your funds will not be used simply to save lives.

The Freakonomics of Prostitution

The authors of bestselling book Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, released a segment from their new book SuperFreakonomics in last week’s The Sunday Times. And what was the topic? The economics of prostitution.

The article was presented under the guise of moral neutral, by focusing primarily on the reasoning behind the pay discrepancy between a high-class, high-paid prostitute named Allie, and a low-paid prostitute named LaSheena. The authors argue that Allie is making $500 an hour for her services, compared to LaSheena’s $27, by providing more than simply sexual services. They argue:

Allie is essentially a trophy wife who is rented by the hour. She isn’t really selling sex, or at least not sex alone. She sells men the opportunity to trade in their existing wives for a younger, more sexually adventurous version — without the trouble and long-term expense of actually having to go through with it.

They then go on to conclude: “So the real puzzle isn’t why someone like Allie becomes a prostitute, but rather why more women don’t choose this career. “ So what began as a morally neutral economic explanation of prostitution becomes a more or less veiled promotion of the profession for women.

The excerpt from the upcoming book has obviously stirred up a fair amount of debate about both the morality and economics of prostitution. But I cite the article here as an example of the intellectual dishonesty and moral bankruptcy that surrounds debates over the legalization of prostitution. For believe it or not, these debates are very real and very present.

In Britain, for example, where prostitution is currently legalized, this debate was recently revived as Nick Davies of The Guardian wrote an article last week attacking the opposition to legalized prostitution by arguing their numbers on sex-trafficking were inflated and inaccurate. He concludes this study of the numbers on sex trafficking with the traditional argument for legal prostitution: prostitution should be completely legalized without limitations in order to ensure the safety of women who choose to be in the trade.

However, what both of these arguments fail to recognize is the unseen social, moral, and economic costs of legal prostitution. It has been repeatedly shown that legalized prostitution:

• increases sex trafficking (although that number may be open for debate),
• disproportionately victimizes the most impoverished and vulnerable women,
• submits women to exploitation, sexual harassment, disease, rape, and frequently homicide
• encourages corruption and crime
• incentivizes the government to draw tax dollars from the exploitation of women and children.

If they want to talk about the economics of prostitution, let’s look at simple supply and demand. Legalizing prostitution increases the demand for prostitution. And anyone who is intellectually honest will admit that those who select prostitution as a profession are 99.9% of the time the most economically and socially vulnerable. Most of the time, only those who see no better alternative would choose the exploitation of their bodies as a profession.  The examples of happy prostitutes such as Allie are grossly misrepresentative of the actuality of those subjected to prostitutions brutality. In truth, legalized prostitution is essentially no different than legalized slavery—it rips profits from the bodies of those who most often than not are the most oppressed, impoverished, and brutalized.

The threat of legalized prostitution may seem distant and unreal. But it is clear from these two articles that the mentality that supports the legal brutalization of women is widespread and intellectually fashionable. This is not a threat to be dismissed.

Jennifer Stinson on UFI and the UN

We just posted a copy of Jennifer Stinson’s outstanding speech to the first ever Smart Girl Summit on our website and we recommend everyone read it.

Jennifer Stinson is an advocate with UFI where she lobbies the United Nation and other governmental entities for policies and practices that strengthen families. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Chicago Law School and is the mother of three sons.

The speech provides a concise and very clear outline of UFIs work in the UN, why the UN is important and how you can get involved. For those of you who have wondered why UFI places such an emphasis on the UN, Stinson explains both the UNs history and its consequences in the US and abroad. She provides two examples of UN treaties that are currently posing a very real threat to not only the family, but also to every nation’s sovereignty:

“The CEDAW treaty is really an international version of the Equal Rights Amendment, but it goes further in its language that discounts marriage, motherhood, families and the unborn. CEDAW was the result of a very effective strategy by those feminists defeated in the Equal Rights battles. When they could not pass the laws they desired in the United States, they took their agenda to the United Nations and have successfully influenced the CEDAW working groups and the CEDAW Committee. This Committee plays an extremely powerful role through oversight and implementation of treaty provisions and the trends that we have seen are alarming. We have documented the CEDAW Committee wielding its great political, as well as financial, power to direct governments to change laws to allow abortion, legalize prostitution, and disallow religious influence in government decision-making. In fact, 37 pro-life governments have been instructed by the Committee to change their laws on abortion. This is why the UN is relevant to us. This is why we need to pay attention to what is happening. President Obama has indicated that he will try to get CEDAW ratified in the Senate and then we will also be subject to the provisions in the CEDAW document itself, as well as the judgments of the CEDAW Committee.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child has equally dangerous implications for us and our families. While outwardly masquerading as a document promoting human rights for children, the CRC actually circumvents parental rights by imbuing governments with the ultimate authority to determine “the best interests of the child.” If ratified, this treaty would override virtually all American laws affecting children and families. A committee of 18 experts from other nations sitting in Geneva would have the authority to issue official interpretations of the treaty that are entitled to binding weight in American courts and legislatures. Make no mistake, this reality is at our doorstep. This Administration and some current U.S. legislators have indicated their desire to see these treaties ratified soon.”

As Jennifer so clearly outlines, the threat from the UN is very real. But we need not despair. As Jennifer also illustrates in her speech, even one person can make a huge difference, even at the international level. Read the full speech to see how Richard Wilkins changed the hearts and minds of nations by firmly defending the marriage, family and the things we value most.

Like Wilkins, we all can make a difference; we just need to act. So how can you get involved? Here are a few suggestions from Jennifer

1. Be informed – watch the news, read books, read what is available on the internet in terms of news sources, blogs and other informational sites. Remember – Information is power!

2. Register to vote & then GO VOTE! Help other people in your neighborhood and community register to vote. Remind your neighbors and friends to vote on election day.

3. Actively address issues of concern – there may be issues of concern to you at a local school, at work, in your neighborhood, or city. Once you are informed, actively address your concerns by contacting those involved.  If you have a particular concern, there are probably many other people just like you. Raise your voice – make phone calls, send emails, blog, Twitter – let people hear from you, or they will never know there is a problem.

4. Join or volunteer for an organization in your community – You can volunteer, join, or financially contribute to groups that promote the things you believe in, at local levels as well as higher, more distant levels like the UN. We would love to have you join us at UFI! Let your talents and your interests guide you as you decide where to spend your time and energy.

5. Run for an elected position – school board, city council, state representative – we need good people in elected positions!

6. Teach your children and others around you to be civically minded – Through your example you will have a profound impact on your family, friends, neighbors and others. They will see your dedication and willingness to get out there and be involved, and many will feel inspired to participate also.

A Successful Month For the Homosexual Movement – A Wake Up Call For Conservatives

The Homosexual movement, during the month they declare “GLBT Month,” has made some very dangerous advances. Their success should be a call of warning to any and all who believe in traditional marriage, the value of family, and the importance of freedom of speech.

Here are just a few of the advances they made this month against marriage and the family.

On Oct. 10 Obama made a speech to the Human Rights Campaign reconfirming that he will work to push the LGBT agenda as quickly as he can. In the speech, he recommitted to approving the Employment Anti-Discrimination Act, to reversing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, to signing into effect LGBT hate-crime legislation, and finally to repealing the Defense of Marriage Act.

He encouraged  the attendees:

“My expectation is that when you look back on these years, you will see a time in which we put a stop to discrimination against gays and lesbians — whether in the office or on the battlefield. You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman.”

Gov. Shwarzenneger of California signed three separate bills advancing a similarly dangerous agenda at the state level. The Harvey Milk Day bill established a special day of significance for the openly gay public official honored only for his homosexuality. The day will be celebrated with lessons on his life and influence in the public schools. The Family Protection and Marriage Recognition Act will explicitly recognize all same-sex marriages made in California and other states prior to Prop. 8. And finally, the LGBT Domestic Violence Programs Expansion Bill will expand funding for domestic violence programs specifically targeted towards LGBT individuals.

On the federal level, US Representative Pete Stark introduced The Every Child Deserves a Family Act on Oct. 15. If passed, the legislation would essentially coerce states into providing homosexual adoption by cutting federal funds to states that limit adoption to heterosexual or married couples.

Additionally, yesterday the Senate passed a hate-crime bill that adds gender identity and sexual orientation to the list of protected categories in federal hate-crime legislation. This goes one step further to promoting the fallacy that LGBT behavior is an identity, rather than a behavior, and deserving of special civil rights protection.

However, despite all these advances against the family, we should not be discouraged. This is a call to action to work harder and speak louder in order to defend marriage and families. At UFI we are constantly working to provide you the information and support you need to make a difference in this fight and we need your help. A small donation of $25, $50, or $100 will help us keep you up-to-date and educated on the most pressing issues of our time with our weekly alerts, daily updates, Guides to Family Issues, and more. Your contribution is need now more than ever!

Update: Senate Passes Hate Crime Legislation

Yesterday the Senate passed the LGBT hate crime bill we encouraged you to oppose earlier this week.

The bill, The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, will extend the federal definition of hate crimes to include crimes committed based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability and provide the federal  government power to intercede when they believe states are not properly pursuing hate crime prosecution.  Pres. Obama has already promised to sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk.

The bill was attached a larger defense authorization measure that outlines a $689 billion budget for the Petagon, including $130 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate passed it 68 to 29.

It appears we will have to fight even harder to protect our freedom of speech and stop the steady progression of the homosexual agenda.

Obama Nominee Argues Homosexuality Is Morally Good

Since Obama’s nomination of Chai Fledblum for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the press has released a series of startling quotations from Feldblum that reveal not only her agenda, but make evident the radical politics of many of President Obama’s nominees and staffers. She, like other Obama selections, has made no attempt to disguise her political agenda and openly supports the advancement of homosexual rights and same-sex marriage, even if it means overriding the will of the public.

Since her nomination the right has raised serious concerns about her personal neutrality and her general regard for the opinion of the public at large, arguing her nomination is a clear attempt to advance LGBT workplace rights outside of legislative channels. Their concern is rightly place.

I’ve selected here a sample of quotes from Feldblum that provide a strong perspective on her political position:

My own view, reflected in my writing over the past decade, is that government often appropriately legislates on a shared social vision of morality and that changing the public’s moral assessment of same-sex sexual activity is thus key to achieving true equality for LGBT people. For some time, I have articulated this view as a requirement that the public must come to view homosexuality and heterosexuality as morally equivalent – that is, the public must believe that both straight sex and gay sex encompass equivalent moral ‘goods’…that there is nothing inherently immoral or wrong with two people of the same gender engaging in sexual conduct.

I, for one, am not sure whether marriage is a normatively good institution. I have moved away from the belief that marriage is clearly the best normative way to structure intimate relationships, such that government should be actively supporting this social arrangement above all others. I currently believe that marriage is a normatively ‘good’ framework for most people to aspire to (I think), because it serves some very deep and legitimate human needs. But I also believe all of us are harmed, as members of a society seeking a common good, when society fails to acknowledge the wide array of non-marital intimate social structures that we as humans have ingeniously constructed to negotiate and make sense of the world.

And:

As a general matter, once a religious person or institution enters the stream of commerce by operating an enterprise such as a doctor’s office, hospital, bookstore, hotel, treatment center and so on, I believe the enterprise must adhere to a norm of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Feldblum’s nomination came late last month and if confirmed, Feldblum would be one of five commissioners of the EEOC, which interprets and enforces federal equal opportunity laws.

Senate to Vote on Homosexual Hate Crime Legislation

The Senate is expected to vote in the next few weeks on a new piece of hate crime legislation that would provide special protections to homosexuals and transgender individuals. The legislation would give the federal government authority to prosecute violent crimes “motivated by prejudice” against “the actual or perceived . . . sexual orientation [or] gender identity” of an individual.

If passed, the bill would be another step forward in promoting the mistaken belief that the homosexual agenda is part of the larger civil rights movement and would provide special protections to individuals already sufficiently protected under current violent crime laws. Furthermore, it poses a very real threat to the religious freedom of those who oppose homosexual marriage and transgender behavior by implicating religious teachings in any wrongful attacks on LGBT individuals.

The bill already passed the House on Oct. 8 with a vote of 281-146 and Pres. Obama promised on Oct. 10 to sign the bill if passed by the Senate.

Unfortunately, the proposed policy is attached to an essential $681 billion military policy bill which authorizes military pay, weapons programs and other necessary services for the military. Republicans have accused Democrats of legislative blackmail by using essential legislation to advance a liberal social agenda.

The Senate vote has not been schedule yet, but we will be sure to notify you when it is. Until then, be sure to contact your senators and urge them to either pull the hate crimes measure from the military defense bill or, if necessary, to defeat the bill outright. We need to stand now against the advances of the homosexual agenda and oppose the manipulation of legislative procedures.

You can contact your senator through the capitol switchboard, 202-224-3121, or contact them online.

Let UFI Know What You Think!

Sex-ed Program Taught by Planned Parenthood: A Model for the Nation

The sex-ed program in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District is to become a model for the nation. At least that is what organizations like the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States hope.

Why is this a concern?

First and foremost, because 50% of the curriculum for 9^th and 10^th graders is taught by representatives of Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is one of the largest opponents to the pro-family movement and one of the most outspoken proponents of unlimited abortion.

Proponents of the Cleveland program claim that a handout listing 20 other organizations providing medical resources outweighs the explicit advertisement for Planned Parenthood by having them in the room presenting the information. In reality, this sends a very direct message to students that premarital sex is perfectly acceptable behavior and abortion is a right.

Additionally, the classes taught by Planned Parenthood are only the last stages of a sex-ed curriculum that begins in Kindergarten. The program, entitled “Responsible Sexual Behavior,” is a “comprehensive” program exploring varied aspects of family and human development.

CNSNews.com provided a brief overview of the material:

Kindergarteners are asked to define the word “family,” identify family members and relationships with family members, explain how families are alike/different and “describe the difference between good and bad touch.”

First graders are asked to define the term “feeling,” and “physical, emotional and sexual abuse.”

In 2nd grade, students are asked to define “friend” and “bully” and to “identify ways of getting along with people.”

Third graders are asked to define “puberty,” “self-esteem,” and “appropriate touch.”

The “F.L.A.S.H.” program for grades four, five and six includes students being asked to “identify common gender stereotypes” and “identify who is at risk for HIV/AIDS and other STDs, and how disease transmission can be prevented, including abstinence and consistent, correct condom use.”

The “Making Proud Choices” program for 7th and 8th graders includes information about STDs and HIV/AIDS and “sexual coercion and acquaintance rape.”

In Cleveland, facilitators from Planned Parenthood and five other organizations helped teach this curriculum to students K-12. And Planned Parenthood was provided direct federal funding to promote its beliefs and practices in these public schools.

Just another reminder that sex-ed involves so much more than educating students about “safe-sex.”

Update: Schwarzenegger signs bill honoring homosexuality

Last week we told you to contact Gov. Schwarzenegger in opposition to a bill that would establish May 22 as “Harvey Milk Day,” in honor of the openly homosexual politician. Yet, despite the objections of the people of California, Schwarzenegger signed the bill into effect Sunday night along with another bill recognizing all same-sex marriages performed in the U.S. before the passage of Prop. 8. Now every year, public schools in California will set aside May 22 to study and commemorate a man known only for his homosexuality.

In discussing the governor’s switch in position from last year, when he vetoed the same bill, most sighted the well-known 2008 film Milk, which glorified the life of the politician, and President Obama posthumously awarding Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom as the two primary reasons for the governor’s change of heart. It appears that Schwarzenegger listens more to Hollywood and the capitol than to the people of California.

This is another victory for the homosexual lobby in their strategic attempts to normalize homosexual behavior through the public education system and formalize the belief that homosexuality is an identity, rather than a behavior. At United Families California, we are working to defend the family and stop this progression through education and action.

United Families California is working to keep you up-to-date and aware of the issues impacting the family.  But to make a difference for the future of California families we need your help.

Volunteer with UFCA: Click here to let us know how you want to help United Families California make a difference!

Over 1 million protest abortion in Spain!

Here are two videos showing the massive support for life at the pro-life march in Madrid Spain!

Spain Pro-life Rally a Huge Success.

This weekend demonstrators took to the streets in Madrid  to opposes the socialist government’s proposed liberalization of national abortion laws. The proposed alterations would make abortions widely available and allow girls as young as 16 to obtain abortions without parental consent.

United Families joined with the 42 other Spanish groups that gathered to denounce this legislation and stand up for life.  And it was a huge success. Estimates of attendance run anywhere from 250,000 to almost 2 million.

Whatever the actual number may be, it was a large crowd with a large voice in favor of life. The many demonstrators carried signs such as:

• “Every Life Matters”
• “For Life, Women and Motherhood”
• “Women Against Abortion”
• “Madrid 2009, Capital of Life”
• “Right to Life”

During the demonstration, individuals across the political and social spectrum addressed the crowd with fervent support for life, mother hood, and even fatherhood.

Actor Eduardo Verástegui, who starred in and produced the pro-life film Bella, told the crowd:

“Men in society have taken as their own the radical feminist message that men have nothing to do with the decision to go ahead with the life that they have had a part in conceiving. This paternal responsibility has been drowned and many men, the young especially, have come to believe that they have nothing to say and that their ’50 percent’ is of no value in defending human life. Let us put an end to the padlock that gender ideology has placed over the mouths of men!”

The magnitude of the march has made it abundantly clear that despite the government’s liberal agenda, Spain is still a country that honors life and the family, and the people of Spain will not allow a radical government to violate those values.

$15 Million Campaign to Promote Same-Sex Marriage

California gay marriage advocates just announced today a three-year campaign to promote same-sex marriage in California. The campaign, headed by gay-rights group Equality California, is called Let Freedom Ring and will spend over $15 million on paid advertising and grassroots efforts to win over public opinion.

According to Mark Solomon, the Equality California Marriage director, the goal of the campaign is to enable “hundreds of thousands of Californians to learn first-hand why marriage matters so much to same-sex couples.”

Solomon said:

“The idea is to have television, radio and other means of delivering a message, combined with on-the-ground field work so there’s a a groundbeat of information and discussion of the issue. The more people talk about the issue and get to know gay couples either on TV or in person, the more they come our way.”

The campaign will directly target marginal demographics currently opposed to same-sex marriage but more flexible on the issue. Presumably, the objective is to overturn Prop. 8 within that 3 year period.

Carol Soelberg Stands Up For Marriage In Mesa, AZ

United Families International Vice President of Chapter Development, Carol Soelberg, was featured in a East Valley Tribune article this week defending marriage and speaking against domestic partnership registry in the state.  Carol sent her full remarks to Tribune author Sonu Munshi (listed below).  Munshi took her remarks and wrote a very Pro-domestic partnership registry article with a small spotlight on Carol’s remarks.

Read the Tribune article here.

Carol Soelberg’s Remarks on Mesa’s Proposed Domestic Partner Registry

The City of Mesa is known as a community committed to families and children.  As a resident of Mesa and a representative of United Families International, I share that commitment and wonder why the city is considering an ordinance that is not only unnecessary, but has the unintended consequence of undermining marriage and family.

This “domestic partner registry” has the legal effect of creating an imitation marriage status for persons who are unwilling to marry or who are ineligible to marry under state law.   This ordinance gives some legal recognition to domestic partnerships and cohabitation of the same or opposite sex.  It sends a message that alternative relationships are good for society.  There is a wealth of empirical data and studies that show that domestic partnerships and cohabitation are relationships that are less stable and more burdensome on society in matters of child welfare, health care, drugs and alcohol, poverty, domestic violence and crime.

Proponents of this bill rely heavily on the argument that there is a problem with hospital visitation rights for unmarried couples.  We understand these couples’ concerns and their desire for visitation rights, but this is a straw man argument.  Since 1997, the Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act requires hospitals to recognize visitation and surrogate decision-making designations contained in advanced health-care directives.  In the absence of such a directive, the statute requires hospitals to recognize “an individual in a long-term relationship with the patient…with a commitment similar to a spouse.”

This federal provision is especially suitable for meeting all hospital-related needs of unmarried couples whether heterosexual or same-sex.  If Mesa, Arizona, hospitals are not complying with this law—and there is no evidence that I’m aware of that they are not—then the solution is in requiring compliance with the existing law—not creating a new and unnecessary ordinance.

If indeed the proposed ordinance is about protecting visitation rights, I am hard pressed to think that individuals in any type of relationship would choose to go to city hall, fill out paper work for a domestic partner registry and pay funds when they could go the admitting area of any Mesa hospital and for free obtain a Medical Power of Attorney form.  The hospitals will also notarize the form for free if you are planning to be a patient there and some will notarize for free even if you’re not.  A notarized Medical Power of Attorney in your possession is a more reliable instrument, than a name on a registry down at city hall.  If this ordinance is about something more than hospital visitation rights then let’s be more forth coming with that information so that it can be openly discussed.

Strong traditional marriage benefits individuals and society as a whole:   economically, physically, and emotionally; something that alternative relationships cannot match.  I urge the members of the City council to devote their time and energy to developing policies that are truly necessary and policies that support, rather than undermine, marriage.

Thank you.

Carol Soelberg
Vice President of Chapter Development
United Families International

Senate sneaks federally funded abortion in the back door.

After months of deliberation and debate the Senate Finance Committee finally passed its health care bill on Tuesday. During debates pro-life lobbyists and Senators worked to guarantee that federally funded abortion would not be included in the bill. And despite defeating Sen. Orrin Hatch’s proposed amendment explicitly prohibiting federal funding for abortion, the bill’s supporters claimed it would leave abortion off the table.

Well, they were half-way honest.

The bill does not explicitly provide federal funding for abortions; however it does provide alternative means for low-income families to receive federal subsidies for abortion.

According to the Baptist Press, the bill:

– allows tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies for lower-income people to be used to purchase private insurance plans that cover elective abortions. The bill requires the insurance companies to segregate their internal funds and not use federal dollars to pay for the abortions. Critics call it an accounting gimmick.

– requires that each area of the country provide at least one plan that pays for elective abortions and one plan that does not pay for them.

The bill still has to be combined with the another bill before heading to the Senate floor, but it appears likely that future iterations of the health care bill will demand our tax dollars to support the abortion of unborn children.

Voice of the Nation Interviews Jennifer Stinson

This week “Voice of the Nation” will be talking with Jennifer Stinson, opening speaker for Smart Girl Summit 2009 in Nashville Tennessee.  Speaking on the importance of family values and national sovereignty (the right of nations to determine their own laws and customs), Jennifer urged citizens to make a stand for family values and to be proud of it.  Politics strives to educate and empower women and men to engage in the political process.  Join us as we talk with Jennifer and increase our knowledge of activism and leadership on a variety of arenas.  Stand up, speak out, and let your voice be heard!  TUNE IN 2PM (PST) THURSDAY BY CLICKING HERE!!!

Guest: Jennifer Stinson – Jennifer Stinson is an advocate with United Families International where she lobbies the United Nations and other governmental entities for policies and practices that strengthen families.  She also conducts research and helps write educational material for United Families. In addition, she serves on the Board of Arizona Family Council.

Before joining UFI and AZ Family Council, Jennifer was an active leader in the successful passage of the Arizona Marriage Amendment.

Previously, Jennifer served on the Board of Directors for Prairie Crossing Charter School.  In this position she was responsible for fundraising efforts related to the school’s expansion and co-authored the renewal of the school’s charter. Further responsibilities included hiring staff and administrators and curriculum development.

Additionally, Jennifer has been active in school and neighborhood organizations where she has held positions on the PTO and Booster Club Boards.  As a community leader she has served on a Block Watch Board and as a neighborhood organizer.  She has also led the children’s and young women’s groups at church.

Jennifer graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School.  She and her husband are the parents of three sons.

Woman Confesses to “Abortion Addiction” in New Memoir

A new memoir was released yesterday detailing the experience of a woman “addicted to abortion.” In the memoir, Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of an Abortion Addict. Irene Vilar not only admits to having 15 abortions in 17 years, but also chronicles the pathology that led to each intentional pregnancy and subsequent abortion. She claims her intention in writing the memoir is not to enter into the abortion debate, as she is adamantly pro-choice. Rather she and her publishers are promoting the book as a tale of female suffering, failure, and, ultimately, triumph that will inspire other woman.

However, with a foreword by feminist Robin Morgan and the less than subtle title, it is hard to imagine the book cannot contribute to the abortion debate. People are already beginning to take positions. Those on the pro-abortion side claim the memoir reaffirms only that all women have abortions for different reasons that laws cannot account for and that Vilar’s pathology is another indicator of the mental strain suffered by women in a male dominated society. Those in support of life, obviously, site the book as a fitting example of the barbarism of abortion and the violence it causes in the lives of woman and children alike.

Yet, what I find most appalling and disquieting about the memoir is how easily the lives aborted by Vilar are entirely ignored and her abortions equated to anorexia, drug abuse, and alcoholism. The publisher, Judith Gurewich, emphasized this point as she described her response to the memoir:

I never saw this story as having much to do with abortion, except that it happened to be the target of her pathology or her neurosis. Her behaviour is very, very similar to anorexia or bulimia. It’s some kind of an addiction where she wants to impose her own rule on her own body. The fact that, of course, this involves a more complicated target makes it rather different.

The memoir radically reconfirms how important it is for the pro-abortion community to refuse to acknowledge the tie between abortion and the life of a baby. And it even more radically confirms how necessary it is us to never stop reminding the world of the tiny lives lost with a woman’s right to choose.

Center for Reproductive Rights Attacks Rights of Unborn in Oklahoma

The Center for Reproductive Rights is once again attacking the rights of unborn. Last week they filed a suit challenging a new Oklahoma state law (H.B. 1595) that would put a stop to sex-selective abortions and increase the state’s abortion reporting requirements beginning November 1.

The ban on sex-selective abortions would protect female babies from being aborted due to the surprisingly prevalent cultural preference for male over female babies, and the enhanced abortion reporting requirements, the most comprehensive in the country, would provide qualitative as well as quantitative analysis of abortion practices. With information on why and when women seek abortion, the state and other institutions would be better equipped to establish programs that address the needs of women who resort to abortion without better alternatives. Both pieces of the legislation would go a long way to protecting our state’s women, born and unborn alike.

Yet, the Center for Reproductive rights, an organization that claims to protect female rights, is not interested in protecting unborn girls or finding solutions. Their concern is only for securing the unfettered right to abortion at any time and for any reason.

Stand For Marriage Maine Needs Your Help!!!

Maine is in desperate need of financial assistance in the fight to protect marriage.  If they do not receive additional financial support soon they are at risk of losing the fight.  Your support can make all the difference.  What happens in Maine will affect the rest of the US.  Because of the support from people across the US and Canada California was able to overturn its same sex marriage ruling.  We must not stand aside now and let Stand for Marriage Maine’s efforts fail due to lack of funding.

Please read the message from Stand for Marriage Maine below and consider what you can do TODAY to make a difference!

We knew we were being vastly outspent from the fact that the No on 1 campaign was able to air their advertising upwards of 50% more than our Yes on 1 campaign ads. We had a clue that the other side was awash in money because of the dozens of paid staff members they have on board their campaign. But we never dreamed the situation was as dire as it is: our opponents have raised approximately $1.6 more than we have and are conducting a financial assault on the institution of marriage. Overall, they have raised an astonishing $2.7 million from gay marriage supporters across the country!

We are in desperate need of additional financial support or we risk losing because our opponents are attempting to buy themselves an election – and destroy the institution of marriage in the process.

The latest financial reports detailing the amount of money that has come in for both sides of the Question 1 campaign shows that our committee, Stand for Marriage Maine has raised approximately $1.1 million while our opponents have raised about 2.5 times more than we have. This is an astonishing financial advantage our opponents have amassed. It explains why they were able to be on the air with ads nearly three weeks before our campaign was able to begin advertising. It explains why they can afford to operate multiple campaign headquarters. It explains how they can afford a statewide staff of field organizers and operate dozens of phone banks. And it explains why the institution of marriage is teetering on the ledge – at risk of being forever redefined in Maine. Our opponents are raising money from across the country from gay marriage supporters who see an opportunity to win their first victory at the ballot box in the history of the nation.

We cannot let them get away with this. We cannot let homosexual marriage activists from virtually every state in the nation decide that marriage will be redefined in Maine. Please don’t let our opponents succeed with this financial assault on marriage. Will you please, right now, make a generous donation to our campaign?

The good news is that even though we are being vastly outspent, we have run a financially prudent and efficient campaign. Our polling shows that we are dead-even right now and in a good position to win the campaign. Voters recall our advertising more so than the ads from the other side. We are defining Question 1 on our terms. And we know that we will win when voters come to understand the many consequences to families, children and society as a whole if same-sex marriage is legalized in Maine.

The only way our opponents can win is if they try to confuse the issue by running millions of dollars in advertising with false claims that we are lying about the consequences of legalizing homosexual marriage. They don’t want to defend the teaching of homosexual marriage to young children in public schools, so they are spending millions to try to deny and deny. They don’t want to talk about individuals, small businesses and religious groups being sued for refusing to support homosexual marriage, so they are spending millions to calls us liars. And they don’t want to explain to voters why the law they sponsored and advocated strips from Maine’s marriage statutes the interests of nurturing children, so they are spending millions making the oxymoronic claim that we are trying to “harm children.” We are trying to prevent 5, 6 and 7 year old children from being taught about homosexual marriage in school against the wishes of their parents and we are accused of “harming children?” If it weren’t so serious, this would be like describing an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ situation.

But it IS so serious. Our campaign strategists, who helped pass Proposition 8 in California and who have won dozens of initiative campaigns around the country, tell us that we cannot win if we continue to be outspent as we have to this point. It is amazing that we are still in a dead heat. We’ve had to cut our voter contact program dramatically. Every week we’ve cut our advertising budget. We’ve eliminated a statewide bus tour that we had planned for next week. We’ve had to cut back on staffing. And collateral materials. And direct mail. Our grassroots organizing has suffered.

Yet still we are in a position to pass Question 1. This is a testament to your strong support and to the common sense of average Mainers who know in their heart that marriage is worth preserving.

But let’s not fool ourselves. We have to raise more money, right now, if we are to pass Question 1. Please make a sacrificial contribution today, as if the survival of marriage depended on it. Because, quite literally, it does.

The campaign reports made available today lay bare the falsehood of our opponents’ claim that they have a homegrown, grassroots Maine-based campaign. The truth is their support has come mostly from the gay activist political elite from all corners of the nation, including Hollywood, Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, and the Democratic national political machine, Act Blue.com. They have raised money from virtually every state in the nation.

Why are homosexual marriage activists pouring money into Maine? Because never before have they been able to convince voters to approve homosexual marriage. Voters in thirty states have considered this issue, and in all thirty states they have voted to preserve traditional marriage and reject homosexual marriage. But our opponents think they can win in Maine. We are a small state. Raising millions of dollars to spend here will make a big difference. Recruiting hundreds of volunteers to come to Maine will make a big difference. And if they can win in Maine it would be historic. They will use a victory to attempt to convince the media that the mood of the nation has changed and that it is time for America to also abandon the God-created idea of marriage.

Will you let them get away with it?

So much is riding on the Question 1 election. We have three weeks left. We have three weeks to close the financial deficit we are in. We have three weeks to add to our advertising campaign. We have three weeks to buttress our grassroots operation. We have three weeks to talk to Maine voters about the importance of traditional marriage, and the consequences of abandoning it in favor of homosexual marriage.

But all this must start right now – today – and it must start with you and me. We’ve learned an important lesson. Our opponents are determined to do whatever they can to secure victory. We must respond, and respond now. It is up to you. There is no one but you. The only question is, will you be there for us when the fight for marriage needs you the most? We pray you will be.

Thank you for all your efforts to defend God’s precious institution of marriage. We look forward to your continued help. We are counting on you at this critical time.

Sincerely,

Marc Mutty
Chairman
Stand For Marriage Maine

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Guide for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Students Issued to Irish school

Irish public school published the nation’s first guide to sexual equality yesterday. The guide, entitled Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Students in Post-Primary Schools – Guidance for Principals and School Leaders, instructs principals and faculty on how to better support and improve the experience of LGBT students.

The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) had a central role in compiling the guide, in concert with Ireland’s Department of Education. According to Sandra Gowran, GLEN’s Director of Education Policy, the guide is necessary to stop bullying in schools and eliminate the negative experiences of many LGB students that result in poor self-esteem and low performance.

However, the guide will end up serving a much larger purpose than preventing the negative experience of  LGB students. The guide is designed to assist in the development of classroom awareness programs and encourage school-wide acceptance of such behaviors. Ms. Gowran said GLEN hoped the guide would assist principals and faculty in implementing measures for the positive visibility of LGB students.

As the publisher of the guide, Sean Haughey, so aptly pointed out, schools are an important forum for delivering societal values. This sex equality guide will now dictate for Irish schools what those values relating to homosexual behavior will be.

UN Human Rights Council Votes in Favor of Traditional Values

The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) concluded its twelfth session last week by passing a resolution in favor of traditional values.

The Resolution

The resolution, introduced by the Russian Federation, is entitled “Promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind.” It requests that the UN convene a workshop in 2010 to study traditional values as the very foundation of international human rights. It will also study how supporting traditional values promotes and protects human rights and fundamental freedoms. This is a boon for the pro-family movement as the HRC has been co-opted to directly promote the radical anti-family agenda under the guise of human rights.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

United Nations Human Rights law began in 1948 with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), drafted partially in response to the atrocities of WWII. It promotes a number of human, civil, economic and social rights that should be universally recognized.

As a result, human rights are believed to supersede national sovereignty. If a nation infringes upon any of the human rights designated in UDHR, the international community has the right to directly interfere with the domestic affairs and national law of sovereign nations in order to stop the violation.

The Threat from the UN Human Rights Council

In many cases, such as the gross oppression of ethnic, racial, or religious minorities, such intervention is positive and necessary. However, the assumed universal jurisdiction of UDHR poses a direct threat to national sovereignty and the family, as it provides the UN Human Rights Council unlimited jurisdiction over nation states. As an independent body of non-elected officials, the Council alone controls the scope and definition of human rights under UDHR, and can expand this definition to defend any behavior or value they choose. Nation states are then subject to this determination.

Anti-family activists are well aware of the Human Rights Council’s power.  They are actively working to impose their agenda on the world by including sexual orientation, abortion, and other anti-family practices in the definition of human rights. Through the UN, they have been able to side-step national legal and judicial channels and impose their agenda upon the world’s sovereign states. The Council has imposed newly created “human rights” that directly ignore long held values and principles spelled out in historic UN documents.

The New Resolution

This most recent resolution may mark a change in that trend. However, this resolution was passed only after extensive controversy, and opposed by some of the strongest voices in the UN, namely the European Union (EU) and the United States (US).

Opponents of the resolution argued that introducing “traditional values” into any discussion of human rights would lead to the validation of ill-regarded “traditions” such as female genital mutilation, sex-selective abortion, child sex trade, etc. However, they seem not to recognize the important distinction between values and practices.

A Sign of Hope

The resolution is a sign of hope-particularly considering the Russian Federation introduced the resolution. For many years, Russia has been beholden to the population control and feminist lobbies. Yet, it appears in light of their impending demographic winter, Russia is beginning to recognize the importance of traditional values and strong families.

UFI’s Commitment

Those countries most controlled by the anti-family agenda, including the EU and the US, have openly opposed traditional values and morals and are now dominated by the radical homosexual and feminist activists.  Despite this opposition to traditional values, UFI promises to support traditional values and fundamental freedoms in next year’s HRC debate.  We are proud to represent you in fighting imposition of an anti-family political agenda on you and your homeland.

You Can Make A Difference!

Fighting for traditional values at the UN is not free.  The fight requires much travel, materials, research, and much more.  United Families International needs your help so that we can make a difference for the future of the family.  Your contribution will send UFI team members to work with the delegates promoting traditional family values in countries around the world.

Donate now to make a difference for the future of your family and families around the globe. You can make an online donation of $25, $50, $100, $500 or whatever you can afford now.  Or if you prefer print this form and mail a check, or donate using PayPal.  Your contribution is needed now more than ever!   Thank you for your support.

Senate Finance Committee votes on Health Care Reform bill Today

The Senate Finance Committee is voting today on its $829 billion version of the health care reform bill. President Obama is in favor of the bill; however, the health insurance industry is vocalizing their opposition to the plan. The health care reform bill currently being voted on doesn’t contain a public option.

Call Congress today and tell them NO to Obamacare.  Click here to find your congressmen.

Ben & Jerry’s give homosexual marriage its own flavor

We came by this news a little late, but thought it notable enough to share, even though a bit outdated.

Last month, Ben & Jerry’s renamed one of their most popular flavors “Hubby Hubby” in celebration of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Vermont. Throughout the month of September, Ben & Jerry’s joined with Freedom to Marry to offer the flavor across the state in packaging with two grooms in tuxedos kissing. They began the month long celebration of “marriage equality” by offering up free “Hubby Hubby” at various locations across the state, including the state capitol.

Another company has made their position on same-sex marriage abundantly clear. Perhaps, in return, you can let them know where you stand on “the freedom to marry.”

UFI Talk Show Host Heather Sandstrom Addresses Healthcare

United Families International Board member and Voice of the Nation talk show host Heather Sandstrom speaks from her personal experience as a Canadian citizen regarding government controlled healthcare.

Sex education starts at age 4 in Glasgow

The city of Glasgow announced a new comprehensive sex education program yesterday that will begin teaching students as young as four. The program will begin with Primary 1 students and build each year upon previous knowledge, following the students all the way through secondary school. According to the British TimesOnline:

“In the early years, youngsters will learn the names of different parts of the human body and discover how animals reproduce. By P3 — aged about seven — they will ‘know and understand where humans come from.’ In their final year of secondary school, they will be taught about issues around Aids and HIV.”

The deputy leader of Glasgow City Council, Councillor James Coleman reported in the announcement that this is the first comprehensive sex education curriculum designed to span throughout students’ school careers

According to the city, the concerns of students and parents heavily influenced the development of the program, and teachers, parents, and students are all very pleased with the curriculum that has already been piloted in 13 primaries and two secondary schools. The city emphasized in its announcement that the program welcomes and encourages the involvement of parents at every level of the program

However, conservatives in Glasgow are rightly concerned. In a city with higher than average teenage pregnancy and almost half of all new cases of HIV in Scotland, a systematic and impersonal sex education program beginning with students as young as four may not be the most effective approach to encouraging safe sexual practices.

Stop Governor From Honoring Homosexual Activist, ACT NOW!

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has until Sunday to decide on a bill that would establish a day of significance for slain politician Harvey Milk, the first openly homosexual official to be elected to public office in California. The bill, promoted as a day to commemorate the life of a fallen civil rights activist, would directly undermine the parental rights and religious freedom of all Californians, and further the attempts to promote homosexual behavior under the banner of civil rights.

Harvey Milk, revered as “a martyr for homosexual rights,” served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for 11 months when he was murdered with Mayor George Moscone by fellow supervisor Dan White. During his political career, Milk actively promoted homosexual lifestyles, promiscuous sexual practices, and the entire LGBT agenda. Although Milk’s murder was in no way associated with his homosexuality and his time in public service insignificant, his life, career and death became symbolic icons for the gay rights movement.

If passed, the bill would officially establish May 22 as Harvey Milk Day and “encourage public schools and educational institutions to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that date.” This means that schools would conduct activities commemorating and promoting the life of a man recognized solely for his homosexuality. It would not simply commemorate the life of a “civil rights activist,” but rather it would pressure schools to present homosexuality as an identity (rather than a behavior) entitled to civil rights protection and those morally opposed to homosexual behavior as discriminatory bigots. The homosexual agenda would, thus, become a state-sanctioned part of all public education in California.

Furthermore, the primary assumption behind the bill is inherently false and directly undermines the battle to defend traditional marriage. If passed, the bill would reinforce and write into law the belief that LGBT behavior is in fact a minority identifier equivalent to race, religion, gender or ethnicity, as it would establish Harvey Milk as a civil rights activist equal to Martin Luther King Jr. The entire homosexual agenda is dependent upon normalizing the fallacy that homosexual behavior is entitled to specialized civil rights protection and this bill would be just one more step in that process.

Therefore, the time to defend religious freedom, protect parental rights, and stop the state-sponsored promotion of homosexuality is now. You have until Sunday to let Gov. Schwarzenegger know that the people of California oppose this bill. Call him at 916-445-2841 or email him by clicking here and tell him he must VETO bill number SB572.

Sex selective abortion will leave 30 million Chinese men without wives

Recent studies show that within the next 20 years over 30 million Chinese men will be without wives. This huge gender imbalance is the direct result of highly abnormal male-to-female birth rate rations. The current ratio is 120 males born for every 100 female babies and that number is projected to grow to 130 to 100 in the next few years.

So where have all the girls gone? Simple. They are the victims of sex-selective abortions. China’s crippling one-child policy combined with a cultural preference for male children and widely available abortions has resulted in an unprecedented number of sex-selective abortions and female infanticides, leaving an entire generation without wives.

Earlier this week we sent out an Alert showing that by promoting abortion in the developing world, the radical feminist agenda opened the door for this mass murder of those it most sought to protect; but now, feminists must also confront the secondary consequences of their agenda as the enormous number of men without wives put women directly at risk.

Study after study shows that a shortage of women leads directly to societal instability, sexual crime, prostitution, and forced marriage. As early as 1997, a Chinese magazine sensed these consequences of too few women already developing in their own country. They noted, “such sexual crimes as forced marriages, girls stolen for wives, bigamy, visiting prostitutes, rape, adultery … homosexuality … and weird sexual habits appear to be unavoidable.”

Clearly, the radical feminist agenda does not only attack the values we hold must dear, but it endangers the safety of women—born and unborn alike.

Message from UFI President Mike Duff

Energy and motion, two keys aspects of the Laws of Physics that govern the Universe, have new meaning to me now.  In a few short weeks, United Families International (UFI) has made phenomenal progress in the fight to protect family and marriage.   The frenetic pace that has accompanied this progress has been both exhilarating and daunting, but I am proud to say that the organizational and programmatic enhancements undertaken have UFI positioned, as never before, to be an effective voice for you.

As you read in my inaugural President’s Spotlight, we have initiated a new and expanded vision for UFI. This plan is both aggressive and focused, leaving us with much to do.  Yet, I want to share with you the progress made during September:

Initiated an expanded international communications and outreach program.  Our new UFI Daily Updates, the UFI Weekly Alerts, the President’s Spotlight, and other official electronic correspondence exceeded the 2 million mark during September alone!

Increased our blogging efforts to you keep up to date on the issues – click here to see UFI’s informative blog.

Increased our Twitter and Facebook updates.  Hits on these sites have increased exponentially!

Re-introduced Voice of the Nation, a family values blog talk radio program with new UFI host Heather Sandstrom – click here to tune in.

Launched our new Legal Affairs Division to counter the constant legal attacks on the family and marriage from opposition groups and agenda driven judges legislating from the bench.

Filed an amicus brief before the United States Supreme Court to emphasize the importance of democratic self-determination before the imposition of unratified international law.

Joined our international coalition partners in assisting the government of Albania to resist outside political pressure to recognize same-sex marriage.

Addressed the “Smart Girls Politics Conference” in Nashville, Tennessee USA on the importance of family advocacy in local political processes and how those processes are impacted by the United Nations.

Joined with Stand for Marriage Maine to support a referendum that rescinds legislation creating same-sex marriage.

Entered the fight in the State of Washington to support Referendum 71 which would repeal legislation that effectively destroys marriage as an institution in the State.

Initiated steps to form chapters in Ireland, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the Caribbean Region, an important step in our new global vision.

Started new chapters in Washington, Maine, Virginia, Tennessee, and Iowa.

Established a consistent, full-time fundraising program designed to provide the necessary resources to support UFI in leading the battle to defend marriage and the family around the world.

Re-invigorated the Stay Alive program, teaching the innocent victims of the tragic Aids pandemic in Africa how to build a happy and healthy future through strong families.

We are proud to have accomplished so much in so little time! Much more remains to be done.  And while the task before us is daunting, we are determined to represent your values and your voice in the fight to defend the family, as long as we are needed.  We appreciate your commitment to the cause and UFI.  We have asked for your heart and hands and financial support before, and we are asking again that you will help us carry on with this important work.  When was the last time you contributed financially to support marriage and family?

I understand that in economically challenging times, it is difficult to provide for a family and give to worthy causes.  However, a donation to UFI now is an investment in the future of your family. It is an investment in preserving the values you have instilled in your children and ensuring the prosperity and happiness of your family, community, and nation.  When the realities of day-to-day life keep you from dealing directly with the social, political, and legal encroachments on your family and values, your investment will guarantee that UFI is there to speak for you, locally, nationally, and internationally.  Can we count on your contribution today?

You can make an online donation of $25, $50, $100, $500 or or whatever you can afford now.  Or if you prefer print this form and mail a check, or donate using PayPal.  Your contribution is needed now more than ever!  Can we count on you?

Voice of the Nation Addresses the Healthcare Debate

Join us on “Voice of the Nation” as we talk with Dr. Karl B. Hiatt about the consequences of the healthcare plan currently being pushed in Congress.  How will it affect doctors?  How will it affect you?  Hear how these changes to our healthcare system will stifle innovation, stagnate research and back up our efficiency.  Socialism promises, but does not deliver.  Hear how this plan for socialized medicine will affect you and your family.

Guest: Dr. Karl B. Hiatt M.D. –  Dr. Hiatt has been in medical practice since 1990. He graduated from Duke Medical School in Durham, NC and did his residency in Chapel Hill NC.  Dr. Hiatt is an active member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, whose members are certified in the specialty of Plastic Surgery, by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and are dedicated to the highest standards of patients welfare and surgical excellence.

Dr. Hiatt and his wife, Diana, an R.N. have participated in Medical missions abroad and are fluent in Spanish. Dr Hiatt volunteers his time in “Project X-Tattoo” which is a tattoo removal program helping youth previously involved with gangs to change their lives for better.

CLICK HERE TO TUNE IN!!!

United Families International joins forces with more than 40 organizations to protect life in Spain

On October 17^th over 40 pro-life organizations, including UFI will join together to March for life in Spain.  This huge demonstration will march in support of pregnant woman and in opposition to the Spanish government’s proposal to reform Spain’s abortion laws.

This march will be the second massive demonstration against abortion to take place in Spain this year.  On March 29^th over half a million people took to the streets of Madrid to protest planned changes to abortion lays.  UFI and like-minded pro-life groups hope to presents a strong pro-life message to the Spanish government and prevent changes to the abortion laws.

To view the manifesto in defense of life, women and maternity click here: http://unitedfamilies.org/img/spainmarchmanifesto.pdf

To view the website for the march click here (in Spanish): http://cadavidaimporta.org/

Microsoft donates $100,000 to support same-sex marriage.

Last week, Microsoft Corp. donated $100,000 to Washington Families Standing Together, a gay-rights organization pushing the passage of Referendum 71 in the state of Washington. Referendum 71, if passed, would extend legal protections and rights to domestic partnerships equivalent to that of legally married couples, directly undermining marriage and opening the door for same-sex marriage.

This is just one in a long series of actions by the Microsoft Corporation to assert its advocacy of same-sex marriage and homosexual rights. A position that should make most look a little more carefully to Apple next time they are purchasing a computer.

The Microsoft donation  is a huge blow to the already struggling campaign to defend marriage and the family in Washington. According to the state Public Disclosure Commission, Washington Families Standing Together has raised nearly $780,000 with the addition of the Microsoft donation. Protect Marriage Washington, the campaign opposing the bill, has raised only $60,000 to date and beginning Oct. 13, donations from companies and individuals will capped at a $5,000 maximum.

If you can help support marriage and the family in Washington in this David and Goliath-like battle, we encourage you to visit Protect Marriage Washington and donate. And keep in touch with UFI. We will keep you updated as the campaign develops.

Japan’s Stimulus Package for Fertility Rates

Japan’s most recent election may mean a rise in fertility for the country. The incoming government, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), promised during elections that it would address Japans dropping fertility rate through a financial stimulus package.  The plan, as it was presented, promised 26,000 Yen (about US $270) a month per child in addition to free high school tuition.

Although the affectivity of the package is up to debate, Japan is the first country to instigate a government policy addressing an issue affecting, but largely ignored by, developed countries: population decline.

Japan, for example, was reported as having a fertility rate of 1.26 births per woman. The necessary fertility rate to keep a population stable is 2.1 births per woman. As a result, Japan has the fastest-aging population, with 21.2 percent of its population over the age of 60.

Similarly most Western countries are well below sustainable fertility rates. The U.S. maintains its stable population only through immigration. Some predict that by 2050 countries in Western Europe, where immigration is much lower than the U.S., will go from roughly four people of working age for every retiree to only two.

Many who use population control as an argument for abortion want to argue that this decline is positive, but widespread evidence illustrates that a declining population cannot support a stable economy or society. Japan, with the world’s second-largest economy, has been economically stagnant since the 1990s, despite massive stimulus spending. As a result, Japan’s public debt is 180% of its GDP. Similar problems are becoming evident across Western and Eastern Europe.

For more information on the danger of this rapid population decline, check out Demographic Winter www.demographicwinter.com/index.html, a startling look at the consequences of the dropping fertility rates thanks to the population control movement and the feminist agenda.

Support for abortion dropping!

Good news! Our efforts are not wasted. New research indicates the support for abortion is decreasing.

A new Pew Research Center poll released Thursday shows that support for legal abortions has dropped 11 percent since last year. In 2007 and 2008 the Pew center found 54% of American taking a pro-abortion position, and only 40% taking pro-life position. The most recent study showed those numbers changing to 47% in support of legal abortion and 44% opposed.

This can be added to similarly encouraging findings by another polls earlier this year. In August, a Gallup poll found 47% of Americans identified themselves as pro-life, whereas only 46% supported abortion. Although the numbers are not ideal, they demonstrate that there is definitely a cultural shift taking place in support of life. No matter how you cut it, that is encouraging news.

United Families International Stands for Marriage in Maine!

UFI has joined with Stand For Marriage Maine in their fight to protect traditional marriage.  Recognizing that marriage between husband and wife continues to be the best foundation for strong and effective families and the best environment to prepare each new generation for productive lives and responsible citizenship, we call upon citizens, community leaders and government officials everywhere to take all necessary measures to defend marriage as the exclusive union of male and female, and to promote and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.  Support the people’s veto!  Vote yes on 1 and donate generously to Stand for Marriage Maine!  www.standformarriagemaine.com

Christmas tree controversy at the capitol.

There was another scuffle this week about the place of religious expression at the nation’s capitol. The conservative news site World Net Daily reported earlier this week that the 2009 Capitol Christmas Tree program did would not accept children’s ornaments with religious themes such as “Merry Christmas” or a manger. Apparently there was to be no Christ for our nation’s Christmas tree. The Arizona program assembling the ornaments for the program this year posted the restrictions on their website. When Alliance Defense Fund became aware of the restriction, they sent a letter to Arizona officials questioning the validity of limiting religious speech in a decoration program.

A day after WND reported the controversy, officials from the office of the Architect of the Capitol, who administer the program in Washington, rescinded the restrictions, claiming these were old restrictions that had since been overturned.

“That was old information, improperly distributed. We have rescinded those guidelines,” Eva Malecki, of the office of the Architect of the Capitol, said. “We apologize for any misunderstanding.”

Although a minor misunderstanding, it is another illustration of the illogic of many attempting to limit religious speech in our nation’s capitol and the fact that simply speaking up can reverse the tide.

Good news! Abstinence Education is back in the federal budget.

In a narrow vote earlier this week, the Senate Finance Committee approved an amendment to reinstate abstinence education funds removed from the budget earlier this year by President Obama and abortion advocates.

The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT, restores $50 million dollars in funding through new Title V state block grant programs. It passed by only a narrow 12-11 vote, but it is a hopeful sign for abstinence education advocates who were facing zero federal funding for 2010.

In May of this year, President Obama zeroed out all federal funding for abstinence education in his proposed budget for 2010 and replaced it with $104 million for a new “evidence-based” teen pregnancy prevention program. In the House, representatives offered an amendment that required some of this funding to go towards non-governmental abstinence education but it failed to pass. Two weeks later Title V federal funding for abstinence education expired, eliminating all federal funds for abstinence education.

Thus, the excitement over Tuesday’s vote, which restores the hope of funding for sex-education programs that actually works to protect those most susceptible to teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other negative effects of teen sexual activity.

“The absence of an abstinence only education program has negative health consequences for our nation’s most vulnerable citizens,” Hatch explained. “Teenage pregnancy is a leading contributor to poverty, which in turn leads to poor health outcomes for mothers and children; sexually active teens are more likely to experience mental health issues such as depression or attempted suicide; and sexually active teens are more likely to suffer health consequences such as increased rates of infection with sexually transmitted diseases.”

Unfortunately, the battle is not over. The amendment still needs a floor vote in the Senate. So there is still time to help.

If you want to join in the fight, visit Parents for Truth or the National Abstinence Education Association for information on advocacy. Or to learn more about the proven success of abstinence education, visit AbstinenceWorks.org.

Join “Voice of the Nation” as they talk with Stand for Marriage Maine

Join “Voice of the Nation” as they talk with Stand for Marriage Maine Communications Director, Scott Fish about the People’s Veto effort to repeal gay marriage in their state. With one month to go in the election, polls show that the issue is heating up in Maine. What happens on November 3rd in Maine will affect people fighting for marriage in all states. What is the People’s Veto? What are the issues at stake and will families win?

Guest: Scott Fish – Scott currently serves as the Communications Director for “Stand for Marriage Maine“. He is the owner/editor of Maine’s premier political web site, AsMaineGoes.com which has served Maine since 1998. Scott also writes a political column for Bangor Metro magazine and has been active in Maine politics and media through op-eds, radio and t.v. over the last twenty years, including serving as communications staffer in the Maine State House for Senate and House Republicans 1989-2000.

Spain alters abortion laws to provide abortions for 16 year old girls

Spain’s socialist government has released plans to liberalize the country’s abortion laws against public sentiment. The proposed alterations, approved by the cabinet, would make abortion available on demand for the first 14 weeks of pregnancy and for up to 22 weeks if the mother’s health is endangered or the fetus deformed. The legislation would also allow girls as young as 16 to obtain an abortion without parental consent.

Needless to say, the conservative Popular Party and the Catholic Church are opposing the changes.

The existing abortion laws are currently some of the most restrictive in Europe. The laws, passed in 1985, allow abortion under only three circumstances: after a rape, in the case of genetic defects, and when the mother’s health is at risk.

Many defend the enormous changes arguing that, in practice, many Spanish women are already able to obtain abortions under current laws simply by claiming the pregnancy is endangering their mental health.

The pro-life community is clearly in opposition to such changes. The Popular Party plans on challenging the new laws in the Constitutional Court, and a coalition of Catholic groups, the Spanish Family Forum, has called on its followers to join in a demonstration on October 17 in Madrid.

Conservative groups argue that the new laws go against public sentiment and will encourage young people to view abortion as a form of contraception, a concern with sufficient evidence to support. According to an opinion poll conducted last June 64 per cent of the public is opposed to the new laws allowing 16 year old girls to obtain abortions without parental consent.

This is the latest in a series of clashes between conservative parties in the country and the socialist government. Earlier in his term, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez legalized same-sex marriage and instituted fast-track divorce, radical changes in a country that still predominantly identifies itself as Catholic.

This is just another example of a leftist agenda overriding the cultural and moral foundations of a society in the pursuit of ‘women’s rights.’