Free Republic

NEW YORK — The United Nations is recommending that children as young as five receive mandatory sexual education that would teach even pre-kindergarteners about masturbation and topics like gender violence. The U.N.'s Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a 98-page report in June offering a universal lesson plan for kids ranging in age from 5-18, an "informed approach to effective sex, relationships" and HIV education that they say is essential for "all young people." The U.N. insists the program is "age appropriate," but critics say it's exposing kids to sex far too early, and offers up abstract ideas —...

ABORTION: State lawmakers consider compromise requiring parental notification. By SEAN COCKERHAM scockerham@adn.com JUNEAU -- State legislators are talking about compromising on a major abortion battle over parental consent, but Gov. Sarah Palin isn't interested in the deal. The compromise under discussion would be legislation that requires parental notification but not consent. That means parents would have to be told about their teenager's plan to have an abortion but wouldn't have to give their permission for it to happen. North Pole Republican Rep. John Coghill, with Palin's backing, is still pushing for the full version generally requiring parental consent before girls...

Sen. Barbara Boxer is urging the U.S. to ratify a United Nations measure meant to expand the rights of children, a move critics are calling a gross assault on parental rights that could rob the U.S. of sovereignty. The California Democrat is pushing the Obama administration to review the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, a nearly 20-year-old international agreement that has been foundering on American shores since it was signed by the Clinton administration in 1995 but never ratified. Critics say the treaty, which creates "the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion"...

On Wednesday, January 14th, the Chicago-based Thomas More Society (TMS) will be arguing in the Court of Appeals (7th Circuit) along with Lisa Madigan's Illinois Solicitor General in defense of Illinois' long moribund Parental Notice Law of 1995 which the federal courts enjoined when the Illinois Supreme Court refused to issue necessary procedural rules for "expedited, confidential bypass hearings." TMS's special counsel, Paul Linton, lobbied for a consortium of Illinois pro-life and pro-family groups with DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett, who then petitioned the newly reconstituted Supreme Court (all but one of whose members weren't on the old Court...

A controversial legal ruling that outlawed most forms of home schooling in California will face greater scrutiny because the underlying family court case was dismissed earlier this week. News of the decision broke Friday as thousands of members of the Christian Home Educators Assn. of California met in Long Beach, where they opened with: "We pray God you deliver home-schoolers in California from the mouth of the lion. . . . Change the hearts of these judges, we pray." The issue remains in legal limbo. On Thursday, the family court judge terminated its jurisdiction over two of the eight children...

Poll Question: Should parents need teaching credentials to home-school their kids? Article Quote: “If upheld, the California ruling will send shock waves nationwide,” says Richard Kahlenberg, the author of a number of books on education. He says the case “pits those who believe parental rights are paramount against those who place a premium on well-educated citizens.”

"Mom and Dad" as well as "husband and wife" have been banned from California schools under a bill signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who with his signature also ordered public schools to allow boys to use girls restrooms and locker rooms, and vice versa, if they choose. "We are shocked and appalled that the governor has blatantly attacked traditional family values in California," said Karen England, executive director of Capitol Resource Institute. "With this decision, Gov. Schwarzenegger has told parents that their values are irrelevant. Many parents will have no choice but to pull their children out of the public...

Child welfare officials have no duty to parents: top court CBC News - Last Updated: Friday, July 27, 2007 | 12:07 PM ET Child welfare authorities don't owe parents a duty of care, Canada's top court ruled Friday, saying such an obligation would put the treatment of children at risk by creating a conflict of duties. The unanimous Supreme Court of Canada ruling marks the end of a lengthy battle by a southwestern Ontario family for millions of dollars in damages. They claimed a treatment centre and social worker owed them a responsibility and had been negligent by depriving...

<p>Schindler is the brother of Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman who died in 2005 after a decades-long court battle.</p> <p>"What is the rush?" he asked. "This is not the first time we've heard of cases like this where doctors want to write off the chance of recovery, and the family, when they're told this, will make a decision to end a person's life.</p>

Phoenix, AZ (LifeNews.com) -- Arizona resident Jesse Ramirez was severely injured in a car crash in a May 30 car accident and a legal battle ensued over the man's life. It pitted his wife and family against each other over whether his life support should be maintained but now Ramirez has awaken from the coma appears to be on the road to recovery. Ramirez, 36, suffered traumatic brain injury in the accident and he had been in a minimally conscious state for just over a week when doctors told his family he may never recover. His wife made the decision...

A health teacher made 8th graders read aloud explicit questions about oral sex and masturbation during a sex-education lesson at a suburban school this week, outraging parents who demanded the teacher be disciplined. The principal at Wolcott School in Thornton said he learned of the lesson early Friday after numerous phone calls from parents and directed the health teacher to apologize to his class for the two-day lesson. Parents say this apology isn't enough. They plan to attend the Thornton School District board meeting next week to demand that the 27-year-old teacher, Scott Groff, be suspended or fired. "My daughter...

SACRAMENTO — A new bill wants to outlaw parents from spanking their children. The assemblywoman sponsoring the measure wants to protect those who can't defend themselves, but is it taking governing too far? Spanking is a touchy issue for many people. Some use it. Others don't. An assemblywoman wants to ban all forms, even a slap on the hand. Speaker Pro Temp Sally Lieber plans to introduce a bill that would ban any form of spanking on kids less than three years old. That's includes spanking hands, faces or bottoms. Lieber said, "That would include slapping spanking smacking hitting punching,...

New American heroes -- parents fight against a gay agenda in America's schools Kevin Fobbs October 13, 2006 Each day millions of students are sent off by their parents to build a solid academic base as well as to learn about our American values in school. What happens when the topics your child may be learning are ideals and values that marginalize how you have raised them and articulate an agenda that compromises your family's religious beliefs and those of the vast majority of Americans? Is this a church and state separation argument or is this a parental rights revolution...

The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA), H.R. 748, passed the House today, 264-153. The bill, which had bipartisan support, would make it illegal to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion in order to avoid state parental-involvement laws. A similar bill, the Child Custody Protection Act, passed both chambers, but was stalled when the Democratic leadership chose not to appoint members to a conference committee. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), said the vote sends a strong signal to the Senate to do the same. "This is the only pro-life legislation considered by Congress...

More news on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals continued war against reason. In the case Fields v. Palmdale (November 2, 2005), parents sued the Palmdale School District for giving a survey, which included ten questions of a sexual nature, to students between the ages of seven and ten. The School District sent a note home to parents asking for parental consent to engage their children in a survey of early trauma. The note did not mention sex. The School District, collaborating with the School of Psychology and Seymour, developed and administered the questionnaire to first, third, and fifth grade...

The Senate reopened the abortion debate Friday in advance of the midterm elections, this time over a bill that would make it a federal crime to take a teenager across state lines to end a pregnancy without a parent's knowledge. Supporters of the bill say such incidents often occur when a girl, or the man involved, wants to evade homestate parental consent laws. Opponents say the bill would make criminals of well-meaning confidants, such as relatives and clergy members, who might help a pregnant teen whose parents are abusive. Much of the discussion Friday concerned how to balance a parent's...

Jeremiah Clayton Jones discovered that his former fiancée was pregnant just three weeks before the baby was due, when an adoption-agency lawyer called and asked if he would consent to have his baby adopted. "I said absolutely not," said Mr. Jones, a 23-year-old Arizona man who met his ex-fiancée at Pensacola Christian College in Florida. "It was an awkward moment, hearing for the first time that I would be a father, and then right away being told, 'We want to take your kid away.' But I knew that if I was having a baby, I wanted that baby." Mr. Jones...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor used a speech at Georgetown University to attack pro-life lawmakers who sided with Terri Schiavo's parents in their efforts to prevent their daughter's euthanasia death. She claimed a Congressional effort to have federal courts review the case was a first step towards a dictatorship. O'Connor, who backs abortion, announced her retirement last year and was recently replaced by federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito, who pro-life advocates hope will be more open to upholding laws that protect the right to life. "We must be ever-vigilant against those who would...

Pre-school children attending two nurseries in Oxfordshire are being taught a new version of Baa Baa Black Sheep - Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep. Critics say altering the words of the traditional nursery rhyme is an example of political correctness gone too far. But the charity running the nurseries, Parents and Children Together (Pact), said the move was educational, not motivated by racial concerns. Pact said children were encouraged to use a wide range of words in songs. Baa, baa, black sheep, Have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, Three bags full; One for the master, And one for the...

AB606 would give inappropriate, draconian power to the California Superintendent of Public Instruction to unilaterally withhold state funds from school districts that don’t promote transsexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality according to his arbitrary “standards.” Because two-thirds of a school districts’ funds come from the state, AB 606 would interrupt and destroy the academic learning of millions of California schoolchildren. AB 606 attacks local control by removing the time-honored authority of school boards to select appropriate curriculum related to sexual matters. For example, all schools would be required to define “gender” as “a person's gender identity and gender related appearance and behavior...

An open letter to Helen Donovan, editor of the Globe on its article "Gay principals soon take helm at both Newton high schools." Dear Helen: Under your supervision – or that of another of the homosexuality marketeers now running the Globe – we got this latest little goodie: "Jennifer Price, 34, is a doctoral student at Harvard's Graduate School of Education who lives in Newton with her spouse and their two young children. She takes over at Newton North High School in July." Now, Helen, you're not intentionally avoiding a franker use of English just so the precipitously declining...

Family of slain soldier loses lawsuit over publication of open-casket photo The family of a slain soldier had sued Harper's magazine. TULSA - A family's privacy was not invaded when photos taken at the open-casket funeral of an Oklahoma soldier killed in Iraq were published in Harper's magazine, a federal judge ruled Friday. Sgt. Kyle Adam Brinlee was the first combat-related death for the Oklahoma National Guard since the Korean War and his funeral attracted about 1,200 people, including Gov. Brad Henry. The media were invited to attend and take photos at his funeral, held in the Pryor High School...

When the sixth teenage suicide hit, Anne Einhorn, a Cherry Hill mother and school board member, remembers sitting helplessly in her kitchen as her son and his friends vented over why it kept happening. The first was a girl, in 2000. The last one, an eighth grader, took his life, with no apparent warning, in the spring of 2004. "It was frightening," Einhorn said. "And it seemed they were getting younger as time went on." The Cherry Hill school district wasn't going to wait for another. Last year, substance abuse counselor Jen DiStefano brought in a screening process -- one...

"Severely disabled Charlotte Wyatt has been allowed home from hospital for the first time since she was born two years ago. Last month, her parents overturned a High Court ruling which said doctors need not give her artificial ventilation in a life-threatening situation..."

Page:  1, 2   Next The fate of a New Hampshire law requiring parents of minor girls to be notified before their daughters can have an abortion now rests with the Supreme Court. Opening arguments in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England begin Wednesday.Most U.S. adults think parents should not just be notified, but should have to give their permission, before a minor daughter has an abortion. For more than a decade, Gallup has found roughly 7 in 10 Americans favoring laws that require women under 18 to receive parental consent for any abortion. The latest poll, conducted...

WASHINGTON, November 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the New Hampshire Attorney General gets ready to defend a challenge of the state’s parental notification law at the US Supreme Court, a recent poll has found almost 70% of Americans support the measure. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted earlier this month found 69% of 1,006 adults questioned favored parental consent before a minor child’s abortion, with 28% of respondents opposed. The poll also found that 64% were in favor of spousal notification before abortion, while 34% opposed spousal notification. Although the majority of respondents opposed an all-out constitutional ban on abortion, more...

David and Tonia Parker of Lexington, Mass., saw a red flag when their son came home from kindergarten with a "diversity book bag" that included "Who's in a Family," a book promoting acceptance of gay marriage. The Parkers thought it was their parental right to decide when and how to introduce their son to the issue of homosexuality. They believed the school, Estabrook, is right to teach tolerance of gays but wrong to raise it in kindergarten. The Parkers did not attack the book bag program. They requested notification of any future school discussions of homosexuality so their son could...

Addressing a California ballot initiative, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would "kill" anyone who took one of his daughters to have an abortion without notifying him. "I have a daughter," Schwarzenegger said in an interview with the Sacramento Bee. "I wouldn't want to have someone take my daughter to a hospital for an abortion or something and not tell me. I would kill him if they do that." The Republican governor, who has two teenage daughters and two preteen sons, was responding Tuesday to Proposition 73, an initiative that would make most abortions for minors illegal without prior notification of...

It's tough to be a parent. In fact, raising your child these days to develop into a healthy, happy, responsible adult has never been harder. Violence and sex saturates television and movies, popular music is filled with profanity and rage – even video games often focus on the darkest edges of human behavior. It is bad enough that the culture seems at war with parents. But more disturbing are the actions of courts to damage the link between parent and child. And no group has done more to inflict damage on parental rights though the courts than the American Civil...

<p>Little Gina Sambriski was drowned in a bathtub by her mother Wednesday, just as her father, Brian Ramirez, was waging a legal battle to get visitation rights for the 2-year-old girl.</p> <p>July 26, 2003 -- A Long Island father bitterly blamed bureaucrats and courts yesterday for the drowning death of his 2-year-old daughter Gina at the hand of her mentally ill mother.</p>

PARENT'S SUPPORTERS TO GATHER -- Selectmen have granted permission for supporters of David Parker, the Lexington parent facing trespassing charges for refusing to leave his son's elementary school after a debate with school administrators over material pertaining to same-sex couples, to use the Battle Green for a rally next week. The rally is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Parker is scheduled to go on trial Sept. 21 in Concord District Court.

BOISE --- Back in 2002, Corissa Mueller took her then five-week-old daughter Taige to St. Luke's hospital. Corissa believed the little girl had a cold, but the doctor thought it was more. He requested a spinal tap and antibiotics for what the hospital says was a five to ten percent chance the little girl had meningitis. Corissa refused treatment. Police were called and her little girl was taken away. Today, three years later, the Muellers were in federal court with a claim against Saint Luke’s, Child Protective Services, the doctor and three police officers.

Letter: Demands would impact children Thursday, August 4, 2005 I would like to thank Neil Tassel for clarifying several issues surrounding the David Parker/Estabrook School incident ("Refuting accusations against David Parker," July 28 Minuteman). I would also like to respond to a few points. Mr. Tassel said that the Parkers wanted the school to "...notify them in advance if there is a planned discussion about same-sex issues, and, if an adult becomes involved in a discussion spontaneously begun by a child, then remove their child from the discussion. Their concern is that impressionable children will hear for the first time...

Letter: Actions have hurt community Thursday, August 4, 2005 This is my perspective in the David Parker matter. Here's a little background. My wife, three daughters and I moved from California to Lexington in 2001. My daughter was a kindergartner with Mr. Parker's son this past year.. We chose to move to Lexington after looking at a myriad of towns. We sought a community with a commitment to quality education and one that reflected our belief in openness, inclusion and diversity. This type of decision-making is based on "the social economics of townships." Towns are differentiated with diverse values and...

Guest Commentary: Refuting accusations against David Parker By Neil S. Tassel/ Guest Commentary Thursday, July 28, 2005 As counsel for David Parker, I wish to clarify numerous inaccuracies which have plagued your paper in recent weeks concerning my client through many letters to the editor. While my nature is to believe that most of these inaccuracies are simply erroneous assumptions, I believe that many are intentional misrepresentations intended to further the political agendas of their proponents. First of all, Mr. Parker does not hate homosexuals or their families. In fact he is an exceptionally kind hearted man, who is anguished...

Camenker: Article 8 director responds to letters By Brian Camenker Thursday, June 23, 2005 David Parker's arrest made the national media. People across the country - including Massachusetts and even in Lexington - are still in shock. One would think it would cause a community to embark on some thoughtful introspection. But instead, a relatively small but very vocal (and angry) group of people has undertaken a campaign of hysteria, lies, fear, and intimidation to discredit and demonize David Parker, his family, and anyone associated with him, including other parents who came to his side, Pastor Jed Snyder of Countryside...

Texas Officials, Parents Spar Over Girl's Cancer Treatment Parents Think Doctors Have Not Been Upfront About Treatment Options UPDATED: 11:41 am CDT June 9, 2005 CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- A judge has postponed until Friday a ruling that could prevent doctors from treating a 12-year-old girl who was taken from her parents after Texas officials accused them of not doing enough to treat her cancer. It's the latest maneuver in a dispute over the medical care of Katie Wernecke, reported KPRC-TV in Houston. Her parents, Michele and Edward Wernecke, said their daughter's Hodgkin's disease is in remission and she doesn't...

Should parents be allowed to spank their children? Massachusetts lawmakers will be debating that question following the filing of a bill that would ban corporal punishment in the commonwealth. NewsCenter 5's Kelly Tuthill reported that state Rep. James Marzilli, Jr., of Arlington, Mass., is one of the sponsors of the bill, which prohibits everything from spanking to "hot saucing," which involves putting undiluted Tabasco sauce in a child's mouth. In April, a Plymouth, Mass., father landed on the front page of local papers and behind bars after he used a belt to spank his son Josh, 12. "He forgot his...

A Montgomery County Public Schools spokesman said yesterday that the district will not bar parents from sitting in on a sex-ed course that begins this week, and that they never intended to. "Parents of kids in those classes will be allowed [in]," said spokesman Brian Edwards, contradicting statements he made days before to The Washington Times. In a phone interview Friday, Mr. Edwards, who has been with the school district since November, said "no" when asked whether parents would be allowed to audit the sex-ed classes.

Montgomery County Public Schools have barred parents from sitting in on classes in which a new sex-education curriculum will be taught, despite an official schools policy that encourages parents to visit their children's classrooms. The policy states that parents are welcome to visit their child's classroom with permission from school administrators. The policy says, "Classroom visits and conferences by parents and other persons in the school community are encouraged." Not this time. Brian Edwards, a county schools spokesman, said the parents' presence at the sex-ed classes would have a "chilling effect on the educational process." "If you're in a classroom...

Defying all odds Terri is still alive. Are you being targeted for euthanasia? (Schiavo case only the tip of the iceberg!) Schiavo parents plan new US Supreme Court appeal Jeb Bush's political obituary Florida lawmaker says he will consider impeaching Schiavo Judge Greer

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) -- In a rare legal victory for Terri Schiavo's parents, a federal appeals court early Wednesday agreed to consider their request for a new hearing on whether to reconnect their severely brain-damaged daughter's feeding tube. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled without comment and did not indicate when it would consider the motion. Last week, the same court twice ruled against Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who are trying to keep her alive. But time was running out - Bob Schindler described his daughter as "failing" on Tuesday, her 12th day...

Outside the hospice where Schiavo is being starved to death, protesters were not as calm. Five were arrested as ministers attempted to bring Schiavo Easter communion. About a half-dozen people in wheelchairs later got out of them and lay in the driveway, shouting, "We're not dead yet!"

People who say that the government has no business interfering in a private decision like removing Terri Schiavo's feeding tube somehow have no problem with a squad of policemen preventing her parents (or anyone else) from giving their daughter food or water. Do those who want to keep the government out of private decisions think that the police are not the government? Do they think that the judges who authorized this are not the government? Sadly, this is not the only Alice-in-Wonderland confusion of words and deeds in this tragic case. We are being told that Terri Schiavo is being...

There is a tremendous amount of suffering in the world. In the United States the suffering of Terri Schindler-Schiavo and her family has been the lead news story for weeks. Now it's the Christian Holy Week, where the suffering of Jesus is the religious focus of Christians around the globe. Even Terri's maiden name, Schindler, is a reminder of the millions who suffered under Hitler. If you'll recall, Oskar Schindler was the man who rescued a thousand Jews from Nazi persecution and death. On Fox News, the Schindler family's spiritual adviser, Brother Paul O'Donnell, drew a parallel between the plight...

A federally funded watchdog group is investigating the recent deaths of four disabled Floridians amid an aggressive campaign by the state to cut millions of dollars from programs that provide medical care for disabled people in community settings. Saturday, March 26, 2005 (Herald.com)

Judge George Greer ruled that the State of Florida has no right to take custody of Terri Schiavo, which ruling came hours after an appeal by Terri's parents to re-insert the feeding tube was refused by the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, another hearing was scheduled tonight before US District Judge James D. Whittemore .. the same judge who previously heard and denied the request subsequent to the 'de novo' intention of the law past last weekend by the Congress and signed by President Bush, in an effort to confirm that no stone was left unturned before Terri would endure legally...

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) - After another round of losses in the courts, Terri Schiavo's parents kept watch over their dying daughter Saturday, seeking permission to give her Easter communion as their attorneys acknowledged the fight to reconnect the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube was nearing an end. Attorneys for Bob and Mary Schindler decided not to file another motion with a federal appeals court, essentially ending their effort to persuade federal judges to intervene - something allowed by an extraordinary law passed by Congress. Late Saturday, the Florida Supreme Court dismissed a request from the parents' attorney to have their...

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