Free Republic

Pro-Abortion Measure EU Rejected Would Have Also Taught Sex Ed to 4-Year-Olds by Dr. Peter Saunders | LifeNews.com | 10/28/13 5:58 PM The European Union voted last week to deny acceptance of a draft report which would have established abortion as a human right, and simultaneously squelched conscientious objection as well as established a perversion of sexual education for children.In a resounding victory for common sense, following a short but lively debate in the European Parliament, a majority of MEPs voted to refer the highly controversial resolution on the Estrela report back to the Committee on Women’s Rights and...

Scientists say babies remember lullabies played for them in the womb by Kirsten Andersen Thu Oct 31 11:52 AM EST HELSINKI, Finland, October 31, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – There’s no shortage of products on the market designed to help parents expose their unborn babies to music. Experts and savvy marketers alike have long speculated that prenatal musical exposure might make babies smarter, or at least help them develop similar tastes to Mom and Dad. Others dismiss the “Mozart Effect” as a myth and a sales gimmick. A new study out of Finland, however, may send sales of belly-mounted headphones skyrocketing,...

Last night, my husband Jimmy and I were talking about how fast time, at least as it pertains to our children, has flown. Our 14-year-old daughter, Maggie, is planning her first Halloween trick-or-treating adventure away from home and out with friends. She spent her first Halloween dressed as a pumpkin when she was less than a month old, too small to even hold her head up by herself. The next year, she was an angel, and we pulled her around in a little red wagon to gather treats. Our younger child, Robert, who is 12, arrived 22 months after...

An immigrant living in America sent her daughter home to Novosbirsk in 2011 because she allegedly misbehaved. She tried to commit suicide in Siberia, according to reports from American television company WUSA 9 and publication USA Today that Sib.fm’s correspondent examined. 17-year-old Sofia Roberts was born in Russia, but left to live in America when she was two years old with mother Natalia. According to the broadcaster, in 2011 the mother sent her daughter, then 15, from the town of Chantilly, Virginia to Novosibirsk to meet her biological father. But after Sofia arrived in Russia, her mother changed her plans...

A Brownsville mother is facing criminal charges after she left her five children home alone while she went to go eat dinner. Brownsville police arrested 23-year-old Janerit Velez on child abandonment charges early Wednesday morning. Investigators told Action 4 News that officers were called to a home on the 3600 block of Ramirez Lane around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Neighbors told police that five children, ranging in ages 2 to 8 years old, were left home alone. Officers reported that they waited an hour before Velez showed up. Velez allegedly told officers that she had only been gone for an hour...

On my daily commute home from work I passed a small shopping center in Chichester, PA where I saw a young boy and girl holding signs in front of the Family Dollar store. I initially thought they were raising money for something but as I slowed down I read the words "I STOLE" on the boy's sign. I turned around and drove by again to get a closer look at what the signs actually said. photo 2.jpg I STOLE CANDY FROM FAMILY DOLLAR. MY MOTHER DID NOT RAISE ME THAT WAY. photo 1.jpg I STOLE A $100 CELL PHONE FROM...

“My Fair Wedding” reality-show host David Tutera announced last week that he and estranged partner Ryan Jurica would split their infant twins when in their custody agreement. The explanation is that each man is the biological father of only one of the twins. (They are “heteropaternal superfecundation,” or twins who share a mom but have different dads.) Jurica lives in Connecticut and Tutera lives in California. Jurica has said this is not the arrangement he hoped for, and he wants the twins to be in each other’s lives. Many experts, and people on social media, agree that this is a...

A couple weeks ago, I was out to lunch with an old friend of mine. This friend lost his young son in a car accident a couple years ago, and we got to talking about parenting and how life has been for him as a dad ever since. As a dad, I can only tell you that my heart was ripped in two as he told me not just how he has had to find his own peace with it, but how he wished that there was a place he could share some of the things he’s learned from it...

When Shen feared her daughter Cheng Cheng was becoming 'spoilt and arrogant' she tried a controversial parenting techniqueA Chinese mother lied to her daughter for 13 years saying that she was adopted to give her 'more independence'. The mum, known only as Shen, married into a wealthy family and had a child called Cheng Cheng. But Shen struggled while bringing her daughter up and thought she was becoming spoilt and arrogant, Chinese media claim. So instead of disciplining her, Shen thought it would be a good idea to try a new parenting technique. She told Cheng Cheng when she was...

A Utah dad made a "small" change to teach his daughter a big lesson about modesty. Fed up with his daughter's love for short denim shorts, Scott Mackintosh, a father of seven from Salt Lake City, left the house for a family outing in a pair of very short shorts after the teenager refused to change into something more modest. "I heard my wife ask our daughter if she would please change into some longer shorts before leaving. She said 'NO!'" MacKintosh wrote on his wife's blog. "Instead of turning her response and disrespectful attitude into a major battle, I...

The singer Billy Ray Cyrus was supposed to be interviewed on television this week, but he canceled. And who could blame him? His daughter, Miley, embarrassed herself and her family on worldwide TV. Her narcissism on full display, the 20-year-old pop star simulated sexual activity with an older male singer while singing some kind of suggestive song. With millions of young people watching, the scene was as degrading as it was unnecessary. As her father, Mr. Cyrus should be mortified by Miley's behavior. He's made no direct comment about it, but he should. Generally speaking, there is an epidemic of...

One of the biggest and most divisive debates among parents of young children and preteens deals with the age at which children should be allowed to have their own smartphone. The advent of kid-friendly apps and the ability to watch streaming videos in the palm of your hand have made the decision even more difficult for parents. A recent survey conducted by mobile service provider Zact found that 56 percent of children ages 10 to 13 have a smartphone, while a shockingly high 25 percent of children ages 2 to 5 have a smartphone. But should children so young have...

With their biological clocks ticking, time poor and cash rich 40-something singletons are turning to the internet to find their man. But these broody women are not looking for a relationship - instead they are looking for someone to father their child. More and more people across the U.S and UK are opting for the so-called 'co-parenting’ relationships – biological parents who have an otherwise platonic relationship, but who both contribute to raising the child. Emma Elms reports on the rise of the unconventional trend. WANTED Male co-parent to father at least one child with an attractive, financially independent 42-year-old...

Think the anti-sleepover movement is the result of overprotective parenting? Read on to learn the seven top reasons that some moms and dads are just saying "no" to sleepovers. Click for slideshow

You can drive through residential neighborhoods and never see a single child out playing. We should worry about what this means for the future. There are still kids in those neighborhoods to be sure; you can see them at the schools getting dropped off by their moms. Few kids seem to walk to school anymore. My old elementary school got rid of the bike racks and turned the enclosure into a garden. Maybe it’s the phenomena of helicopter parenting. It’s not the cool helicoptering of Wagner and “Ride of the Valkyries” but the lame kind of Barney and songs about...

My dad used to say, "Life is a great trainer. You make your choices, and you live the consequences." Did you hear any of these statements in your home? "No pain no gain." "Don't buy what you can't afford." "Waste not; want not." "You hang out with trouble, you get trouble." Mom would add, "You're not leaving the house dressed like that!" We had parents who weren't afraid of "destroying" our self-esteem by lecturing us, disciplining us, and letting us experience what comes from handling our own disappointments and obstacles. When a teacher called, my parents didn't blame the teacher;...

Assembly member Tom Ammiano has introduced a bill that would require public schools to allow children to change their gender identities, and then have access to the bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams of that gender. I have nothing but sympathy for people who feel they are trapped in the wrong body. I cannot think of anything that would be harder for a person to do than tell the world that he is a she or she is a he. Still, I do not like Ammiano’s bill because it overrides parental authority and basically encourages kids to change their gender...

California's marijuana advocates need to inhale a breath of fresh air and take a long look at their judgment -- or lack thereof. On Monday, I attended the "International Summit on Cannabis" news conference at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco to hear why Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico, supports legalizing marijuana as a means of curbing drug cartel corruption and violence. Also onstage were Oakland medical marijuana biggie Steve DeAngelo, a Washington state lawmaker, a budding marijuana venture capitalist, an attorney -- and Oaksterdam University Executive Chancellor Dale Sky Jones and her 2 1/2-year-old son. What,...

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) — As Father’s Day approaches, children are reminded to appreciate their dads and the impact on their lives. Today dads around the city were honored a week in advance of Father’s Day. Celebrate Fatherhood 2013 was held this afternoon at the Collegiate School Aquatics Center. While these dads and their children enjoyed the moon bounce and competed in contests, an alarming amount of children in the area won’t have fathers around to celebrate the holiday. First Things First, an organization dedicated to keeping dads involved in kids’ lives, reports that 60 percent of all families in the...

(article photo) Stephanie Pappas, writing for LiveScience.com, recently penned an article titled, “Why Gay Parents May Be the Best Parents” (2012). In that article she attempted to make the case that same-sex couples provide an environment that is better for raising children than the environment provided by heterosexual couples. To bolster her case, she cited various studies, quoted numerous “experts,” and fleshed out the details with copious statistics. Her thinly veiled attempt to appear unbiased about the issue is extremely transparent, and her clear agenda to advance tolerance for homosexuality, in spite of its real impact on society, was...