Millions Stand For Life!

SPAIN – March, 2009
The forces of life stood together in support of an amazing movement called Rallies for the Right to Live, which was held in the country of Spain on Sunday, March 29th. Momentously, over 800 world wide organizations representing over 250 million men and women supported one of the greatest shows of support for the unborn. United Families International was one of the organizations that voiced its support.

The Spanish Government got the message loud and clear as 500 thousand individuals protested in over 80 cities across Spain on behalf of the defense for the right to live.

Protesters called on socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to stop the proposed legislation that would liberalize the abortion laws and threatened to continue a wave of pro-life demonstrations throughout the legislative session. In Madrid alone, over 100 thousand marchers were heard chanting the slogan, “There is no right to kill, there is a right to live”.

Under the current law abortion is permitted up to 12 weeks in cases of rape and 22 weeks in cases of “fetal malformation”. The proposed legislation allows abortion on demand up to 14 weeks and 22 weeks if a threat to the health of the mother or “fetus” is certified by a doctor. The legislation takes consent away from parents of girls 16 to 18.

One of the organizers of the movement, Ignacio Arsuago of Hazte Oir (Make Yourself Heard) said, “This is only the beginning, a true plan of support for pregnant women (is needed) so that they can give birth to their children and as a last resort, if necessary, give them up for adoption.”

At the Madrid Rally, the Madrid Declaration on Abortion was read. The document, signed by over 300 medical experts – including researchers, professors, journalists, professionals, and specialists in humanities and social sciences, defends the “absolute value of the right to life by taking sides against the initiative promoted by the Zapatero’s Government of changing the juridical status of abortion with the aim of introducing abortion without restrictions in Spain.”

Lola Velarde- President of the European Network of the Institute of Family Policy, another organization that sponsored the Rallies was quoted as saying, “The protection of the rights of the child in the prenatal period is a value shared through all civilizations and is a generator of authentic alliance. This fact has been manifested through the support shown from so many associations from around the world.”

Groups from France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Malta, Poland, United Kingdom, Portugal, Slovakia, Hungary, United States, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Panama and Brazil among others have supported Spain’s initiative in defense of the rights of the unborn child.

United Families International lent its support to our allies across the Atlantic. We were quoted as saying, “We at United Families International give thanks to our pro-life friends in Spain for all they are doing to stop the needless destruction of human life and the institution of the family. Government liberalization of abortion laws must be stopped. We encourage all to be involved in this most important battle of our lives”

International Committee Meets in Amsterdam to Plan World Congress of Families V

The International Planning Committee for World Congress of Families V met in Amsterdam last week to put together a program for the Congress. Meetings took place at Amsterdam’s RAI Convention Centre, also the site of WCF V (August 10-12, 2009).

Sessions were co-chaired by Larry Jacobs (WCF Managing Director) and Simon Polinder (head of the Local Organizing Committee). Dr. Patrick Fagan of The Family Research Council acted as moderator.

The Congress will include keynote speeches such as: “How Traditional Are Modern Families In The Netherlands?” “The Family As The Fundamental Unit of Society,” “The Value of Marriage As The Basis of Family Life,” “The Family as The Foundation of Social and Economic Development,” “The Future Depends on Human Life,” “Effects of Government Policymaking on the Family,” and “The Influence of International Law on the Family.”

Break-out sessions include titles such as: “The Role of The Family In Overcoming Addiction (Drugs, Gambling and Pornography),” “Demography and Declining Birthrates Worldwide,” “Sexuality: Faith, Family and Freedom of Speech,” “Barriers to Adoption: National and International,” “Human Trafficking,” “How Biotechnology Affects The Family (Abortion, Euthanasia and Embryonic Stem-Cell Research),” and “The Family And The Future of Nations.”

WCF V will also include a report from Abuja, Nigeria on “World Congress of Families Dialogue of Civilizations” (June 4-7). Like past Congresses, WCF V will be guided by the “Natural Family” philosophy, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948.

Jacobs commented: “We’re delighted that World Congress of Families V will be in Amsterdam this coming August. Our last Congress (WCF IV) was in Poland, a religious and socially conservative country. Now we are raising the World Congress of Families banner in a part of Europe where the ‘natural family’ and religion are viewed as roadblocks to development and progressive society. Our challenge is to communicate our message and data that proves that the ‘natural family’ is best for children and society. In doing so, we will challenge the efforts of the European Union and the left to deconstruct the family.”

The International Planning Committee included representatives from the following organizations: The Dutch Local Organizing Committee, World Congress of Families, Human Life Int’l, Europe (Poland), New Generation Church (Latvia), Focus on The Family, Family Research Council, Tradition, Family & Property, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, United Families International, Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, Institute of Family Studies (Poland), European Forum for Human Rights And Family (France), GrassTopsUSA, Georgia Family Council, Pakistan Family Forum, HarzteOir (Spain), The Institute for Family Policies (France), REAL Women of Canada, Dutch Association of Large Families, Alliance Defense Fund, Human Life International and Concerned Women for America.

United Families International President, Beverly Rice will be a speaker at the World Conference of Families V.

From Smart Girls Politics: A Profile in Conservatism: Beverly Rice, President of United Families International

Smart Girls Politics (SGP) was formed in the aftermath of the 2008 US Presidential Elections as a mechanism to join like-minded conservatives together in several unique ways.  Recently, SGP interviewed UFI President, Beverly Rice.

Beverly Rice is the President of United Families International. In addition to the following interview, she has also provided a video addressed to the members of Smart Girl Politics, SGP. You can find the video here.

 

SGP: What is United Families International, UFI, and why was it started?

BR: United Families International was started thirty years ago in response to the pro-ERA forces. When the backers of the Equal Rights Amendment were not successful in getting the amendment ratified, they turned their focus to the United Nations with the thought that they would have better luck there. UFI leaders testified before Congress on the ERA and then began working at the UN to combat the anti-family voices there.

SGP: What are the primary issues that UFI currently stands for or against?

United Families International works on five issues which are the basic tenets of our orgniazation. They are: Traditional Marriage, Sanctity of Life, Parental Rights, Religious Liberty and National Sovereignty. These are the same tenets which are fought against us by the anti-family forces at the UN, in Congress, in State Legislatures and in governing bodies around the world.

SGP: What issue poses the single greatest threat to families under the new administration?

BR: We feel that the greatest threat to the family that the Obama administration brings is the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. If this is repealed, then all the marriage amendments and statutes that have been enacted by state and local governments will have no validity. Without this protection we feel that marriage will be undermined, religious liberty will be weakened, and parental rights will be diminished. The agenda of the radical gay movement is to take away many of the rights that currently protect families.

SGP: What are your organizations fears if the new administration loosens the controls on all forms of abortion?

BR: The problem with the administration loosening the controls on all forms of abortion is that is will have world-wide repercussions. While abortion is legal here in the US , there are many countries across the globe where it is not legal. These countries have been able to withstand the pressure of many organizations and countries to legalize abortion because of the support they have enjoyed from the US these past 8 years. However, with the new administration, that support will vanish and many countries will feel they have no choice but to embrace the culture of abortion.

Additionally, here in the US , doctors will be forced to perform abortions regardless of their religious beliefs and parents will lose the right to be informed when their child is seeking an abortion and finally, abortions will be allowed through the full pregnancy term. People will become desensitized to the destruction of life in the unborn.

SGP: United Families International is against same-sex marriage. However, does the organization support civil unions? Why or Why not?

BR: We are opposed to anything that causes damage to the family. There is a movement throughout the world to redefine “family”. We support the definition of the “natural family”. Social science research shows that children do best in families that have a father and a mother. One of the problems with supporting civil unions is that it is an attempt to redefine what a family is. When civil unions are accepted then other changes to family life begin to be accepted. Soon people are saying that any two people who live together, love each other and are committed to each other should be considered a family unit. It is a slippery slope and the opposition understands this better than our side does. Whenever society accepts counterfeits to the natural family, they then find themselves giving additional credence to the idea that family can mean many things.

SGP: UFI is an advocate for family issues at the United Nations. What do you believe is the biggest challenge families face from United Nation members and policies?

BR: The biggest challenge we face at the United Nations is the attempt to reinterpret the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document, which was adopted by the UN sixty years ago is an amazing document. In this document the countries of the United Nations agreed that the family is the fundamental unit of society; that marriage between a man and a woman should be protected; that motherhood and childhood should be protected; that parents have the right to raise and educate their children; and that all people have the right to practice their religious beliefs. It is an astounding document in its breadth and depth of addressing the human rights of families.

The forces at the UN would like to have that document reinterpreted to fit the times of today. They suggest that abortion, sexual orientation and gender identity should be human rights. They would like to have it be a criminal act to restrict anyone from enjoying these rights as human rights. If they are successful in persuading the UN countries to accept this reinterpretation then we will find that the protection that families currently enjoy will be severely curtailed.

SGP: What do you believe is the leading cause of the decline of the American Family today?

BR:I believe that many people are simply not educated on the issues. Many people are not aware of what is happening – not only in our own country – but also in countries and governing bodies around the world to destroy the family. There is an agenda out there that seeks to establish a genderless, parentless society. It will be a society where the state will have say over what children learn and believe. It is a society that wants to free all women to be able to work outside the home unencumbered with the responsibilities of rearing children. It is a society that seeks to curtail the old, tired verbiage of the religious organizations, in favor of new verbiage that talks about the secular nature of our world. It is a society where families, as we know them today, do not exist but have been replaced with varying forms of relationships that meet the physical needs of the adults involved.

There is an urgent need for people who believe in families to become educated on the issues and join with others to fight the creation of this society.

SGP: What can members of SGP do to support your organization?

BR: Members of SGP are welcome to visit our website, sign up for our weekly emails and learn all they can about the issues. We are currently in the process of setting up leadership in all 50 states and abroad. We are looking for people who are interested in helping to lead the efforts in their states. We would love to hear from anyone who might be interested in helping with this effort.

Most importantly, we want everyone to become educated on the issues affecting today’s families. Societies are only as strong as the families within those societies. United Families International is dedicated to helping protect and defend strong families.

International News Headlines: January ‘09 Edition

U.N. Treaty Might Weaken Families

One of the issues American families could face this year is the ramifications from a treaty called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Why should passage of the CRC be of concern? It likely would have a negative impact on domestic law and practice in the United States. Article VI of our Constitution makes treaties—and remember, conventions are viewed as treaties—“the supreme law of the land.” The CRC would be treated as superior to laws in every state regarding the parent-child relationship. This would include issues regarding education, health care, family discipline, the child’s role in family decision-making, and a host of other subjects.

Two central principles of the CRC clearly are contrary to current U.S. laws related to parent-child relationships. The CRC provides that in all matters relating to children, whether private or public, or in courts, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. Additionally, nations should ensure that children are capable of expressing their views freely in all matters affecting them, giving due weight to the age and maturity of the child.

This is contrary to traditional American law, which provides that absent proof of harm, courts and social workers simply do not have the authority to intervene in parent-child relationships and decision-making. The importance of this tradition and practice is that the government may not substitute its judgment for that of the parent until there is proof of harm to the child sufficient to justify governmental intervention. It is clear that in two very important areas of the parent-child relationship, religion and education, there will be potential for tremendous conflict.

EU Votes this Week to Push Same-Sex Civil Unions on all Member States

The European Parliament is set to vote this week on a resolution that will promote abortion and same-sex unions throughout the European Union. The resolution, authored by Giusto Catania, an Italian Communist MEP, calls upon EU member-states to guarantee access to “sexual and reproductive health and rights” and represents the next step in the work of European homosexualist activists.

Cameroon Tells Pro-Abortion UN Committee “Abortion is Murder”

The committee that monitors state compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) will begin a new session in Geneva next week, but even prior to the meeting six of the eight states who will be reviewed have already been questioned on abortion. In a stinging written response to the CEDAW committee’s advance questions, Cameroon fired back that “abortion is murder.”

In article 75, the resolution, which bases its arguments on the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, calls for Member States that have already recognized same-sex civil unions in law to also recognize similar unions contracted by homosexual couples in other Member States.

Mexican president warns breakdown in family values increases crime

The Sixth World Meeting of Families opened Jan. 14 with a warning from the Mexican president that a breakdown in family values is leading to increased social problems and crime.

“Many of those that die in confrontations are young people that are detached from a nuclear family, something that results in an absolute lack of values,” President Felipe Calderon told attendees while opening the five-day meeting.

Third “Window of Life” for Unwanted Babies Inaugurated in Poland

The “Window of Life of Blessed Edmund Bojanowski” was inaugurated in the city of Czestochowa during the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth last week, by Archbishop Stanislaw Nowak.

The “Window of Life” is a place where mothers who do not want to or cannot provide for their children, can anonymously and safely bring newborns in order for them to be cared for and placed for adoption.

And Its Not Even Halloween

Isn’t a half-human, half-animal creature the stuff of mythology? Well not any more. The British House of Commons has just this week passed an animal-human hybrid law. British MP’s have granted scientists the license to create any kind of hybrid (human and animal combination) including those derived from cloning, animal eggs and human sperm, genetic engineering and more. The Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill will allow researchers to empty an animal egg and fill it with human genetic materials. The caveat: these cloned human-animal hybrid embryos are then allowed to live for just 14 days before they are to be destroyed.

The folks in charge claim that this is necessary for the progress of embryonic stem cell research. Human eggs are just too hard to come by—too painful for human females to donate and too expensive for researchers to obtain. So we gotta have animal-human hybrids… It doesn’t matter that embryonic stem cell research has yet to yield even one successful medical treatment for humans and adult stem cell research (which doesn’t destroy human embryos) has given the world, at last count, some 75 new and successful treatments.

Has Britain shown us the slippery slope? Is the next step to legalize the “production” of biological chimeras—creatures that are composites of several animals, including part human. We are well on our way toward having the technology. We could create a creature made from an equal number of cells from two species that would look like one species, but contain the organs, genes and intelligence of another species. Just think of the possibilities and the positive benefits to mankind! We can then send these creatures to fight our wars for us, spend them to do space exploration, keep our full-human brothers and sisters safe from any dangerous or unpleasant situation. Or imagine some creature having the appearance of a human, but stuck with the intelligence of a cow.

The people who block the production of genetically-engineered (GE) foods to feed a starving developing world are the same people who champion laws such as this new “Frankensteinian” law in Britain. I guess they have a problem with genetically modified ears of corn, but don’t see any problem with animals having a human’s ears, DNA, or brain.

UFI vs. European Union: The Fight to Keep Abortion Rights Language out of UN Document

Marcia Barlow, UFI’s director of international policy, is at the United Nations attending the annual International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). She filed this report today:

What seemed like a very tame day Wednesday turned out to be not so great. Late that day, Nan Kennelly, leader of the U.S. delegation here, introduced family-friendly language to the ICPD’s outcome document, in several places. She used language that I drafted — eight words in total. The United States delegation is one of the key allies for UFI and our coalition efforts to defend the traditional family from the ongoing assault by anti-family change agents.The family language is included the document at present, but isn’t popular. Kennelly said that when she introduced the language there was a “huge groan” from the assembly of delegations. The negotiating group permitted the European Union (EU) to pack the document with sexual and reproductive health services language. Thus, the standoff that we face at all of these social conferences at the UN was set.

The EU refuses to accept any descriptive terms that refer to the traditional family in singular terms, preferring instead to promote the more politically correct term “families.” As in the multiple forms of families — broken, headed by homosexual adult(s) and cohabiting households that result in extraordinary costs to government social agencies. UFI believes it is in the best interests of governments to work to strengthen marriages and the family in order to assure healthy communities which require less drain on taxpayer-funded social costs. A group of EU member nations introduced an amendment to the ICPD document which would add three sentences on “reproductive health services” – code language for abortion. Now we’ve got a real problem. Our pro-family coalition was greatly alarmed by this development. It will take hard work to remove the reproductive health services language, and it may result in losing the pro-family language introduced by the U.S. That is precisely what has happened during past ICPD assemblies.

It is pretty much a waiting game now. We have our usual vigil going outside the negotiating room. Utilizing UFI’s “United Nations Negotiating Guide,” we are pulling up all the past conference documents and language precedents that we can to refute the bad language and we are doing everything we can to persuade delegations to remove the EU-preferred terminology.
More as things develop …