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Thursday March 10, 2005
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Print- Chinese Refugee Whose Wife was Forcibly Sterilized Granted Asylum in US
- Canada a Sex Tourism Destination?
- Experts on Prostitution Warn Canada on Danger of Legalization
- California Pro-life Activists Collect 700,000 Signatures for Parental Notification Constitutional Amendment
- Canadian Marriage Briefs
- LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes
Chinese Refugee Whose Wife was Forcibly Sterilized Granted Asylum in US
TODAY'S HEADLINES
SAN FRANCISCO, March 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A federal appeals court ruled unanimously Tuesday that the forcible sterilization of a Chinese woman is grounds for eligibility for her husband’s asylum in the US. The LA Times said the ruling could considerably increase the number of refugee claims from China.
Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote, “Involuntary sterilization irrevocably strips persons of one of the important liberties we possess as humans: our reproductive freedom,” in his ruling. Reinhardt was one of a panel of three judges who reversed two lower court decisions denying asylum to Quili Qu, who filed a claim in 2001. “One who has suffered involuntary sterilization, either directly or because of the sterilization of a spouse, is entitled,” to refugee status in the US, he said.
Qu explained to the court that he and his wife, married in 1978, were denied a permit to have a child, because of their “adherence to Christian beliefs,” according to the ruling. Authorities eventually granted the couple a license to have a child; Qu and his wife had already had a child by that time, however, and hidden him in the country with her mother. When officials learned that Qu and his wife had already had a child – then five years old – they waited until Qu was at work, then forcibly restrained his wife, and had her sterilized.
The original ruling denying Qu asylum said that, because the sterilization had already occurred, there was no further fear of persecution. The 9th circuit court of appeals disagreed, arguing that forced sterilization is a “permanent and continuing act of persecution.”
US Congress passed a law in 1996 that allows up to 1,000 claims per year for Chinese who allege persecution under China’s coercive one-child policy.
Read LA Times coverage: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sterile9mar09,1,2357070.story?ctrack=1&c...
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Back to TopCanada a Sex Tourism Destination?
OTTAWA, March 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A recent case involving a 31-year-old Texas man who lured a 14-year-old boy into an Ottawa hotel for sex has reignited debate about Canada’s age-of-consent law. Currently, the legal age for so-called consensual sex between two persons in Canada is 14 years old – one of the world’s youngest.
Police charged the man, Dale Eric Beckham, for abduction and luring of the boy. Police claimed, however, that the sex itself was consensual. In Texas, the man would face an indecency charge, with a two to 20 year sentence, or a sexual assault charge, carrying a five to 99 year sentence. In Canada, the abduction charge carries a maximum penalty of five years.
“We have these sex tourism laws for Cambodia and Thailand ... when, in fact, we're becoming a sex tourism destination for Americans because of our low age-of-consent laws,” said Conservative justice critic Vic Toews in comments to the Ottawa Sun. He would like to see the law altered to increase the age of consent to 16.
“It's important to realize that, developmentally, these are still children,” said Cybertip.ca executive director Lianna McDonald. “They have a higher propensity to be victimized.”
The boy’s mother, meanwhile, expressed her disappointment with the justice system. “It concerns me that people from the U.S. are maybe preying on children in Canada because they know the laws are more lax,” she stated.
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Experts on Prostitution Warn Canada on Danger of Legalization
OTTAWA, March 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Canadian government justice sub-committee considering the legalization of prostitution recently received dire warnings from two separate sources. The committee, formed to deliberate the merits of NDP MP Libby Davies’ private members’ bill, which is supported by the Liberals, is making its way across Canada to solicit Canadian opinion on the matter.
When the committee made its stop in Vancouver, Simon Fraser University criminologist Dr. John Lowman argued in favour of legalization. Many “sex workers choose to prostitute because of the rewards it brings, not because they have no other way of making a living,” he claimed, as reported by the Edmonton Sun. “Prostitution is more about opportunity than it is desperation.” He argued that legalization would eliminate much of the exploitation of women.
Gregor Carlin, Director of the Irish Anti-Trafficking Coalition, responding to Lowman’s claim, said, “I found that particular commentary positively scandalous. Street prostitution does not have any rewards. Canada is to the slave trade what Japan is to the whaling industry. Your country has no role which could be described as ‘positive.’”
“The ‘in-door’ sex trade in Canada has been effectively de-criminalized for years,” Carlin added. “The real issues of overt decriminalization usually take the form of affording added value, tourist services or allowing for the open sale of goodwill and other brothel attributes. No system has ever reduced street prostitution other than outright prohibition,” he said.
Prostitution Research & Education’s Melissa Farley, Ph.D., was equally critical of the Liberal’s proposition in an article appearing in a recent issue of the Journal of Transcultural Psychiatry. In the article titled Violence and the Colonization of First Nations Women, Farley highlights that “First Nations young women are prostituted in overwhelming numbers in Canada.”
Farley’s findings paint a grisly picture of life as a street prostitute. In her investigation into street prostitution in Vancouver, “We found an extremely high prevalence of lifetime violence and [post-traumatic stress disorder -] PTSD. Fifty two percent of our interviewees were women from Canada's First Nations, a significant overrepresentation in prostitution compared to their representation in Vancouver generally (1.7-7%).”
“Eighty two percent reported a history of childhood sexual abuse, by an average of 4 perpetrators,” Farley added. “Seventy two percent reported childhood physical abuse, 90 percent had been physically assaulted in prostitution, and 78 percent had been raped in prostitution. Seventy two percent met DSM IV [psychiatric manual] criteria for PTSD. Ninety-five percent said that they wanted to leave prostitution. Eighty six percent reported current or past homelessness with housing as one of their most urgent needs. Eighty two percent expressed a need for treatment for drug or alcohol addictions.”
Visit Prostitution Research & Education site at http://www.prostitutionresearch.com
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Canada Preparing to Legalize Prostitution?
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/feb/05022509.html
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California Pro-life Activists Collect 700,000 Signatures for Parental Notification Constitutional Amendment
SACRAMENTO, California, March 10, 2005 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-life activists in California have collected over 700,000 signatures in support of a measure that would require abortionists to notify the parents or legal guardians 48 hours before performing an abortion on a minor.
The sponsors of the Parents' Right to Know measure, who are seeking to incorporate the policy in California's state constitution, need to collect just short of 600,000 certified signatures in order to put the issue on the ballot for a statewide referendum. With a month to go before the deadline, organizers hope to collect 900,000 total signatures-- enough to ensure that an adequate number of qualified voters' signatures will survive the certification process.
California pro-lifers have chosen to seek a constitutional amendment because in their previous bid to enact a parental-notification law, in 1987, they gained approval in the state legislature, only to see the law declared unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court.
Proponents of the bill estimate that a parental-notification law would cut the number of teen abortions by as much as 25 percent. In other states, similar legislation has also had the welcome effect of reducing the overall number of teen pregnancies, as young people respond to the legislation by adopting more responsible forms of behavior.
Canadian Marriage Briefs
1. Halifax MP Says Removing P-90 Gag Resolution “a big mistake”
Halifax’s Chronicle Herald reported today that Conservative MP Gerald Keddy (South Shore-St. Margarets), commenting on the party’s decision yesterday to withdraw the bottom note from resolution P-90 said, “The party will likely come to regret that decision” and "It's a huge mistake". He added, incredibly, "I don't think we want the social conservatives to take over this new party. We had a taste of that in the last election." Keddy appears to be oblivious to the fact that the large grassroots base of the Reform/Alliance party, with which the far smaller Progressive Conservative Party merged, has always been predominantly social conservative. That social conservatism is also what most differentiates the Conservatives from the rigid social liberal orthodoxy that dominates the three other federal parties.
The Chronicle Herald reports that “On Tuesday, Mr. Keddy and Deputy Leader Peter MacKay both spoke in favour of P-90 and the note, and Mr. MacKay was the chairman of the cabinet committee that put the resolutions together”. The paper also reports that “Mr. MacKay says Conservatives will have to conduct themselves carefully in Montreal". Spoken like a true, intolerant liberal.
2. The Daily Press (Timmins) Considers Itself an Authority on Catholicism
In an editorial today, the Timmins newspaper pontificated about the warning given to Catholic MP Angus by his pastor about the public scandal to the faith that would be caused by his vote for same-sex marriage.
“There are hundreds of thousands of Canadian Catholics who are trying to reconcile their faith and their political beliefs, but would argue they can be faithful members of their church and still have an opinion against what the church advocates.” Begs the question, "how can one be both faithful and unfaithful at the same time?"
“Angus, the politician, of course, did the right thing: he made his decision based on his conscience and the wishes of his constituency and the country he represents.” See link below to article about flawed Winnipeg Statement theology that produced this self-serving reasoning.
“Angus is not the only Catholic who supports the controversial legislation. The proposed law's biggest advocate, Prime Minister Paul Martin, is a member of the Catholic church, and has chosen, rightfully, to make a decision which separates church and state.” "rightfully" according to what legitimate theology or even political reality?
“Everyone has an opinion and should be encouraged to voice it. That's what living in a democracy is all about. But for Lemire to threaten to deny Angus communion, the Catholic, was simply out of line.” Rome has explicitly explicitly stated that what Fr. Lemire did was right on.
See
Canadian Tolerance of Gay Agenda Traced to Failure of Canadian Catholic Hierarchy
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/apr/04042705.html
3. More Fallout From P-90 – today’s Globe and Mail
About Stephen Harper’s reversal on P-90, Rick Anderson, a former director of the Reform Party, was quoted as stating it is not often that Mr. Harper changes his mind, "It's rare, that's for sure. But it's a good sign."
"The Conservative Party should stick by its principles and not try to out-liberal the Liberals," said Gerry Nicholls, current vice-president of the National Citizen’s Coalition, which was previously headed by Stephen Harper.
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes
ACLU threat causes Boy Scouts to drop public school ties; churches urged to fill void
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=20306
Man offers $1 million to save Terri Schiavo
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43235
Harvard Doc: Abstinence, Monogamy Can Help Win War on AIDS
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/afa/92005c.asp
'Ex-Gay' Expert Crossed-Off Mental Health Advisory Committee
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/afa/92005d.asp
Pro-life leader reveals latest efforts of pro-abortion movement to defeat pro-lifers
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=3327
Schindler Family Calls for Judge's 'Immediate Impeachment'
http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200503\NAT20050310b....
Harvard Stem-Cell Research: How the Mighty Are Fallen
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/7638/LEGAL/life/index.htm
Houses of Worship Have First Amendment Rights
http://www.freecongress.org/commentaries/2005/050310.asp
Dutch Euthanize Sick Newborns
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/09/health/main679102.shtml
Schiavo's turned down again by Judge Greer
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/09/Tampabay/Schiavo_case_again_in.shtml
Desperate to be housewives: young women yearn for 1950s role as stay-at-home mums
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=618472
Canada's low age-of-consent law is making it haven for international Internet predators
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/OttawaSun/News/2005/03/09/954762-sun.html
The radical homosexual agenda and the destruction of standards
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/bs20050309.shtml
Abortion doesn't promote dialog on merits
http://www.potomacnews.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WPN%2FMGArticle%2FWPN_Basi...
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