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Record Number of Nations Donate to UNFPA despite its Support for Coercive Abortion in China

UNITED NATIONS, January 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, received contributions from 142 of the 191 United Nations Member States in 2003, the largest number of donors in the Fund's history. This has occurred at a time when the United States has refused funding the organization based on UNFPA's tacit support for China's coercive one-child policy which includes forced abortion.

The top six donors were the Netherlands, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden - all very strong abortion supporters.

"This number of supporters has surpassed our expectations," said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA Executive Director. The number of donors more than doubled since 1999, from 69 to 142 today. New donors in 2003 included Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Somalia, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste and Uzbekistan.

Donations by Third World nations to UNFPA are puzzling since the anti-family, anti-religious UN organization has especially been targeting the populations and cultures of these nations. It is likely, as usual, that they are being pressured by the UN and other international forces to cooperate with the depopulationists.

Regular resources for UNFPA in 2003 were approximately $294 million.

UNFPA is the population control arm of the United Nations which promotes abortion on demand worldwide under the guise of "universal access to reproductive health services for all couples and individuals". The plan is to have this goal realized by 2015.

See related LifeSite coverage:
LifeSite Special Report - UNFPA Supports Coercive Family Planning
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2001/oct/011005c.html
EU FUNDING FOR UNFPA DELAYED OVER LINKS TO COERCIVE ABORTION
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/oct/02100405.html
BIPARTISAN COALITION ASKS BUSH TO HALT UNFPA FUNDS
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/02012904.html
CANADA TO GIVE COERCIVE ABORTION SUPPORTERS $14 MILLION
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/sep/02092401.html

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United Nations Organized European Population Forum Next Week

NEW YORK, January 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The United Nations has organized a European Population Forum at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 12 to 14 January 2004. A UN press release on the Forum says it, "will consider challenges posed by current and emerging demographic trends in the European region, including countries in transition."

However, rather than give first priority to the massive depopulation problem in Europe, the forum, led by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, lists as a top priority "efforts to ensure universal access to reproductive health services -- including family planning, safe motherhood and HIV/AIDS prevention -- by 2015."

The forum will also consider the "causes and consequences of low fertility in ECE countries, particularly in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe." The UN release on the meeting suggests that rather than combat the anti-child-bearing mentality at the root of the depopulation crisis, the forum suggests, "policy options enabling the combination of work and family, childbearing and parenting, e.g., those facilitating access to free or subsidized child care and providing financial support to families with children."

For more information see the
http://www.unece.org/ead/pau/epf

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California School District Forced to do Mandatory Gay Sensitivity Training

MORGAN HILL, California, January 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Striking a deal to end a five year lawsuit by six former students backed by homosexual activists, a California school district has agreed to mandatory programs for students and staff on "eliminating anti-gay harassment". In addition to the programs, which are notorious for pushing acceptance of homosexuality rather than mere tolerance, the Morgan Hill Unified School District has agreed to $1.1 million in payments.

The school districts lawyer Mark Davis cut the deal Tuesday saying the prospects of a lengthy trial and a possible $3 million in costs was sufficient pressure to offer the settlement. Meanwhile, the school district officials maintain that school administrators and teachers responded appropriately to cases of harassment.

See the Mercury News coverage:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7651258.htm

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Poll Reveals More than Two-thirds of Massachusetts Voters Want Vote on Marriage

NEWTON, January 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - According to a new Zogby International poll, 69% of likely voters in Massachusetts want to vote on a constitutional amendment to keep Massachusetts a traditional marriage state, the Coalition for Marriage announced today. These findings indicate a trend in favour of one man, one woman marriage since the United State Supreme Court's July decision legalizing sodomy, and since the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision on November 18 redefining marriage.

The poll, conducted between December 16-18, found that 52% vs. 42% agreed that only marriage between one man and one woman should be legal and binding in America. More than two-thirds, or 69%, of respondents believed it is better for children to be raised in a household with a married mother and father.

"It seems the more people consider the long-term impact of homosexual marriage on the family and society, the more they oppose homosexual marriage," said Dr. Ron Crews, spokesman for the Coalition for Marriage. The broad-based Coalition supports an amendment to the state constitution to define marriage as only between one man and one woman. The amendment will be taken up by the state legislature on February 11, 2004.

Half of all respondents believed that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overstepped its bounds in its decision to redefine marriage. In addition, nearly two-thirds of Massachusetts voters, or 64%, according to the poll, would support an amendment to require that Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court judges be subject to re-election. Such an amendment, sponsored by Senator Michael Knapik, also will be taken up on February 11, 2004.

According to the Zogby poll, 73 percent of respondents felt that if homosexual couples want to provide for each other, they can continue do so through private arrangements already allowed under the law. Crews stated, "The institution of marriage does not need to be redefined for people to provide for each other, and when it comes to changing the institution of marriage, voters are saying, "enough is enough."

When asked if they would be more or less likely to vote for a candidate who supports homosexual marriage, more than twice the number of voters [33%] would be less rather than more likely [16%] to vote for a pro-homosexual marriage candidate. Forty-eight percent of voters said it made no difference.

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Homosexual Activists Sue Catholic Cardinal in Spain over Sermon

MADRID, January 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Spanish homosexual activist group Popular Gay Platform has launched a lawsuit against Spanish Catholic Primate Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela for a sermon he gave in the Madrid Cathedral on the Sunday after Christmas - the feast of the Holy Family.

In his sermon the Cardinal explained that to provide the benefits of marriage to "all types of unions, including those by nature unable to have children, will result in the systematic destruction of the social security system." He said social security is best served by "the fecund love of the Christian family." The cardinal asked, "How many large families have experienced criticism from the very same people who will depend in their time of sickness and old age on the generous contributions of the children of these families to the social security system?"

The homosexual activist group president claimed the Cardinal's remarks constitute "slander and an incitement to discrimination" on the basis of sexual orientation.

Spain is in the midst of a low birth rate crisis with one of the lowest birth rates in the world at 1.2 children per woman. Even conservative estimates by the United Nations show that Spain's population will decrease 9.4 million by 2050 and will have a massive burden of elderly to support without a sufficient base of workers. Projections see the over 65 age group in Spain rising to 35% in the next 50 years.

See the Washington Post coverage and the UN figures on Spain:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50826-2004Jan2.html
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/320/7239/891.pdf

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School Sex-Ed Policy to "Promote Abstinence Until Marriage as the Expected Standard"

WAKE COUNTY, NC, January 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Wake county school board members voted Tuesday to revise the current sex-education policy there. "Comprehensive" sex-ed electives were dropped from the curriculum of high schools in the district, in favour of a revised "abstinence until marriage" message. The revision is a mandatory requirement for all teachers to "promote abstinence until marriage as the expected standard for all students."

Supporters of the new policy say that the new message is about more than just saying no to sex. It also educates students about sexually transmitted diseases and the "effectiveness and failure rates of contraceptives."

Commenting on the "massive" increase in sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies among adolescents in the UK, Dr. Trevor Stammers, a professor in general practice and commentator on sexual health, wrote in the British Medical Journal: "Contraception as the cornerstone of sexual health promotion for adolescents has manifestly failed. In almost 15 years of general practice I have never seen a single case of unplanned pregnancy resulting from ignorance about or unavailability of contraception." He cites studies indicating that "up to 80% of unplanned pregnancies result from failed contraception" and "data from 1975-91 show a positive correlation between increasing rates of use of condoms at first intercourse and higher rates of teenage conceptions." He warns that "oral contraceptives, while providing the greatest protection from unplanned pregnancy, offer no protection against sexually transmitted diseases."

Stammers cites American studies proving that abstinence education works.

The Wake County vote also threw out mandatory education promoting tolerance towards homosexual lifestyles for grade-schoolers from grades six through nine.

Read the news-observer coverage of the Wake County vote at:
http://www.news-observer.com/news/story/3189565p-2868884c.html

Read LifeSiteNews.com coverage of the soaring teen STD rate in Britain at:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/dec/00121502.html

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Court Rules Fired HP Employee not Victim of Religious Discrimination

SAN FRANCISCO, January 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Hewlett-Packard acted within its rights when firing an employee who posted bible quotes in his cubicle that referred to homosexuality. The employee, Richard Peterson, who worked in the customer support division in Boise, Idaho, posted the verses as a statement in protest of the company policy on homosexuality.

HP implemented a diversity policy in 2000 by using posters that compare homosexual lifestyles with ethnicity in its effort to promote the homosexual lifestyle as an expression of "diversity" in the workplace. One such poster was located near Peterson's cubicle.

The court, in a 3-0 ruling, said Peterson, who worked for HP for more than 20 years, was not a victim of religious discrimination, but rather that Peterson had been fired "because he violated the company's harassment policy by attempting to generate a hostile and intolerant work environment," Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote.

Read the Interim report detailing the Ontario Human Rights Commission decision against Scott Brockie which concluded that his "rights as a Christian were subordinate to those of homosexuals not to be discriminated against," and that "he must restrict the practice of Christianity to his home and church, and not take it with him into the public marketplace," at:
http://www.theinterim.com/2001/sept/01religiousfree.html

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Sixteenth Annual "Year's Worst Reporting" Awards Now Out

WASHINGTON, January 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Media Research Centre has released it's sixteenth annual "year's worst reporting" awards for 2003 - a compilation of the year's most outrageous and/or humorous stories. A panel of 46 columnists, radio talk show hosts, magazine editors and writers selected their top three choices for a range of five to eight quotes in each category. The 46 panelists also chose a "quote of the year" from among all the choices offered.

Some samplings of the categories and awards: 1st runner up in the "Damn Those Conservatives Award" went to CBS's Vince Gonzales who wrote a report on the "dark side of home schooling," describing how home-schooler Andrea Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub and Deanna Laney beat her three sons with rocks, killing two of them. "Both mothers home schooled....It's hard to know how widespread abuse might be because the government doesn't keep track…Not one state requires criminal background checks to see if parents have abuse convictions," he wrote. Read more at: http://www.mrc.org/notablequotables/bestof/2003/best1-3.asp

In the same category, National Public Radio correspondent Nina Totenberg was also given a runner-up "Damn Those Conservatives Award" for a statement made on Inside Washington, October 18: "Now they've got this guy [General Jerry Boykin], who's head of the intelligence section in the Defense Department, who's being quoted as telling various groups, while he's in uniform, that this [war] is a Christian crusade against Muslims....I mean, this is terrible, this is seriously bad stuff....I hope he's not long for this world." Host Gordon Peterson asks: "You putting a hit out on this guy or what?...What is this, The Sopranos?" Totenberg replies: "No, no, no....In his job, in his job, in his job, please, please, in his job."

The "Media Suck-Up Award" was notable only in that all those awarded were flattering Senator Hillary Clinton. Go to: http://www.mrc.org/notablequotables/bestof/2003/best4-6.asp#media

Read about the "Begala & Carville Prize for Demonizing George W. Bush," at http://www.mrc.org/notablequotables/bestof/2003/best7-9.asp#bush The 1st place winner, Hearst columnist Helen Thomas was quoted as saying "This is the worst President ever. He [George W. Bush] is the worst President in all American history."

Read the full article at:
http://www.mrc.org/notablequotables/bestof/2003/welcome.asp

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Campaign Life Coalition Toronto Announces Catholic Clergy Luncheons

Two Members of Parliament will speak

TORONTO, January 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Campaign Life Coalition Toronto will be hosting two luncheons for Catholic clergy this month. Fr. Ted Colleton has sent a letter inviting Toronto and area clergy to attend either or both of the events:

1. Thursday, January 15, 2004 at 1:00 PM at St. Lawrence the Martyr Church
Speaker will be Tom Wappel, M.P. (Liberal -Scarborough South West)
(2210 Lawrence Ave. East in Scarborough west of Kennedy)

2. Thursday, January 29, 2004 at 1:00 PM at St. Clements Church
Speaker will be Paul Szabo, M.P. (Liberal - Mississauga South)
(409 Markland Drive in Etobicoke - off of Bloor St. West and 6 blocks west of The West Mall)


Fr. Ted encourages clergy to feel free to bring along other priest confreres, seminarians, and permanent deacons who may wish to participate.

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LifeSite NewsBytes

US Bishops Release Report of Dioceses' Compliance With Child Protection Charter
http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/audit2003/report.htm

Candidates Urged to Keep Religion Personal, Not Political
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200401\CUL20040107a...

Majority of Harvard Students Support Gay Marriage
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=356974

Support Declining From Same-Sex couples for Vermont's Gay Civil Unions
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-07-cover-vt-gay-unions_x.htm and
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU04A03

Indiana Bill Requires High School Health Curriculum To Discuss Human Fetal Development
http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/108712-7943-127.html

Chicago to Bid for Gay Games in 2006
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=3205

Hillary Clinton Criticized for Racial Profiling Joke about Mahatma Gandhi
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=22&art_id=vn20040107124651897C566994&set...

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