---

SHARE THIS PAGE: E-mail  Print

---

---

“Comprehensive” Sex Education is Ineffective: Abstinence Works, Major National Study Shows

By Elizabeth O’Brien

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A major report on teen sex education, released by Dr. Stan Weed of the Institute for Research and Evaluation in Salt Lake City, shows why abstinence is the most successful method of preventing physical and emotional complications resulting from pre-marital sexual activity. His research is based on the results of many studies that have followed the education and behavior of over 400,000 adolescents in 30 different states for 15 years (see http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007_docs/CompSexEd.pdf). 

The final report, entitled “Abstinence” or “Comprehensive” Sex Education? begins by pointing out the flaws in a national study on abstinence released by  Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Conducted in April 2007, this previous study examined the progress of teens who participated in four different abstinence education programs. The final report indicated that abstinence education was ineffective and that young adolescents should receive “comprehensive” sex education, that is, sex-education that teaches about various sexual behaviors and “safe-sex” methods.

After examining the Mathematica study’s methods, the Institute found several major errors that made the study non-representative of American sex education. First, says the more recent study, it took sample teens from “high-risk” sectors of the population, such as poor African or American single-parent households. During the study, young people received abstinence education in pre-adolescence, but then received no follow-up training during adolescence. They were also examined about their sexual activity several years after any learning might have taken effect.

Dr. Stan Weed told LifeSiteNews.com: “Within the United States, sexual activity rates have been going down among teenagers for about the last 12 or 13 years, and that coincides with when the abstinence education started. Abortion, pregnancies and out of wedlock births rates have also been going down among teens during that same time period. However, pregnancy, abortion and out of wedlock births have been rising for the older age group, between 19-25, a group that has not been targeted by abstinence programs.”

Outlining these limitations and the report’s inaccuracies, Dr. Weed highlighted the problems that sexually active teens encounter and the failure of “comprehensive” sex education to remedy such issues. These include teen pregnancy, STD’s and poor emotional health. Sexually active young people are also more often physically assaulted or raped.

“Comprehensive” sex education also fails to explain the limitation of condoms, said the recent study, pointing out that “many consequences of teen sexual activity are not prevented by condom use.” Condoms are never a total guarantee against STD’s, and so there is no kind of truly “safe” sex outside of marriage. Secondly, despite 20 years of sex education, young people even fail to use condoms consistently. Most importantly, however, condoms do nothing to prevent the heartbreak, depression and low self-esteem caused by sexual activity.

The Utah Institute researchers also investigated previous major studies on “comprehensive” sex education and found that these programs had little impact on the behavior of teens during their education and no long-term effects whatsoever. In fact, “of 50 rigorous studies spanning the past 15 years, only one of them reports an improvement in consistent condom use after a period of at least one year.” 

When evaluating abstinence programs, the Institute investigated both high-risk and moderate-risk students in programs such as Reasons of the Heart, Heritage Keepers, Sex Respect and Teen Aid. Students in these programs were far less likely to be sexually active and those who were reduced their sexual activity by a large percentage. In the Reasons of the Heart study, for example, researchers found that “adolescent program participants were approximately one half as likely as the matched comparison group to initiate sexual activity after one year. The program’s effect was as strong for the African American subgroup in the sample as it was overall.”

The most successful abstinence programs were those that emphasized the risk of pre-marital sexual activity. They showed how abstinence fully protects a young person from STD’s, teen pregnancy and emotional trauma. They underlined the importance of self-control and responsibility and gave students the positive goal of a stable and committed marriage towards which to work in future. At the same time, however, researchers also found that it was crucial to re-educate adolescents about abstinence each successive year.

Dr. Weed concludes, “Well-designed and well-implemented abstinence education programs can reduce teen sexual activity by as much as one half for periods of one to two years, substantially increasing the number of adolescents who avoid the full range of problems related to teen sexual activity. Abandoning this strategy…would appear to be a policy driven by politics rather than by a desire to protect American teens.”

These results are consistent with many other findings, including a 2005 study by Medical Issues Analyst Reginald Finger of Focus on the Family. He investigated over 7,000 people in the United States that indicated the many social and emotional benefits to remaining abstinent. (see http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/may/05050607.html).

READ THE ORIGINAL STUDY:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007_docs/CompSexEd.pdf

See Related Coverage:

Bush: Abstinence Only 100 % Effective Means of Preventing Pregnancy, HIV, STDs
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06062308.html

Abstinence Alone Protects Fully Against HIV, Ugandan First Lady Tells Youth
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/dec/06120601.html

Abstinence Education Works - New Report Offers More Evidence
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/dec/04121004.html

 Back to Top

---

Renowned Psychiatrist Witness in Notorious Late-Term Abortionist Case Breaks Silence: Threatened by Kansas Attorney General

Attorney general claims he contacted psychiatrist, which psychiatrist denies

By John Jalsevac

TOPEKA, Kansas, June 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A respected psychiatrist who was to be one of the primary witnesses against the infamous late-term abortionist George Tiller has broken his silence about the case, claiming that Kansas’ new attorney general failed to contact him, despite a supposed in-depth investigation into the case conducted by the attorney general.

“I expected to be contacted by someone,” said Dr. Paul McHugh, a graudate of Harvard, who was the chairman of psychiatry at John Hopkins University from 1977-2000. Instead of waiting any longer, however, the psychiatrist chose to come forward and make his professional findings public, believing that they are of significant import to the case.

In a taped interview that is available on Youtube (see link below story) Dr. McHugh claims that, based upon his detailed study of the case files of the various women who received late-term abortions from Tiller, there was not one single case of late-term abortion that could be remotely justified under Kansas law. 

“Did you see any one file that justified a late-term abortion by demonstrating that she would suffer substantial and irreversible harm?” McHugh is asked by the interviewer in the video. He responded, “I saw no file that justified abortion on that basis.”      

“I had to ask myself, looking at these records, ‘Is any person who comes to this clinic found not to be appropriate on psychological or psychiatric grounds for abortion?’” said McHugh, who pointed out that some of the abortions were justified on the basis of the psychological distress the young woman would suffer from not being able to go to sporting events, or to concerts.

McHugh also claims that the psychiatric evaluations that the women received prior to having their child aborted was inadequate, at best. “I would describe it (the psychiatric analysis) as brief, symptom-only based, and unsubstantiated in its prognosis on the basis of a rich detailed study of the young woman and her potentials,” claims McHugh, continuing, “If you’re going to take a life on the basis of a psychiatric examination, in my opinion, and I think the opinion of most psychiatrists, this requires a serious understanding of the full biography of the person, as well as the place where they are at the moment, the context in which this has happened.”

Dr. McHugh was originally contacted by former Attorney General Phil Kline, who asked the renowned psychiatrist to look at the records pertaining to George Tiller’s case, and to determine if he believed the women who received late-term abortions from Tiller were in any serious medical danger on account of their pregnancy. Kansas law limits abortion to under 23 weeks gestation, unless there is “irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.”

Former Attorney General Kline had launched an investigation that led to 30 misdemeanor charges against Tiller, accusing him of conducting 15 illegal late-term abortions in 2003, on women and girls ranging in age from 10 to 22. Those charges, however, were subsequently dismissed based upon a technicality having to do with jurisdiction.

Kline’s successor Paul Morrison, promised to also conduct an investigation into the matter, and, according to Operation Rescue, claims to have hired a full-time assistant attorney-general for the purpose of conducting the investigation.

Six months later, however, little seems to have happened with the investigation, and one of the primary witnesses against Tiller claims to not have even been contacted by the attorney general’s office. “I have to wonder what kind of half-baked investigation Morrison is conducting if he hasn’t even bothered to contact one of the main witnesses against Tiller,” said Operation Rescue Senior Policy Advisor Cheryl Sullenger.

Yesterday the whole affair became even more convoluted and controversial after Attorney-General Morrison issued a letter to Dr. McHugh, in which the attorney general threatens the psychiatrist with legal action for publicly talking about the case, and claims that in fact his office did contact McHugh. The attorney general also claims that by speaking about the case McHugh is violating the privacy of the women who obtained the abortions, although McHugh never mentions any one woman by name in his taped interview.

“Again, we hereby demand that you case and desist from all public comment about your work in this case,” says the letter from Morrison. “Should you continue to make such statements, our office will pursue all available remedies.”

Due to the letter, McHugh cancelled a scheduled appearance at a public panel discussion, during which he was to speak about the case. According to witnesses, McHugh did arrive at the event and was greeted by a standing ovation, but informed the packed house that he would respect Morrison's request and refrain from making further statements.

“He (Morrison) is the attorney general, and I don’t wish to fly in the face of the attorney general,” he told those gathered to hear him speak.

McHugh, however, reportedly strenuously denies that Morrison’s office ever contacted him, as the attorney general claims in his letter.

“Dr. McHugh was gentleman enough not to call Morrison a liar, but he strongly indicated to me that the conversation Morrison referred to in his letter did not happen," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman, who helped escort Dr. McHugh into the meeting room and briefly addressed the audience. "That letter was full of flat-out bold-faced lies meant to intimidate Dr. McHugh into silence, break up last night's meeting, and attack the character of one of the nation's most highly-respected experts in the field of psychiatry.”

Attorney-General Morrison has indicated that he will likely make a decision about whether or not to charge George Tiller by the end of this month.

See the taped interview with Dr. McHugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mviFMpy_sBU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eoperationrescue%2Eorg%2F%3Fp%3D658

Read the letter from Attorney-General Morrison:
http://operationrescue.org/pdfs/MorrisonThreat061207.pdf

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Judge Who Dismissed Charges Against Notorious Abortionist Concealed Financial Ties with Tiller
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07032307.html

Tiller may Face Grand Jury in Death of Christin Gilbert
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/apr/06040604.html

Charges Against Notorious Late-term Abortionist Tiller Won’t be Reinstated
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07021505.html

O'Reilly Factor Does Hard-Hitting Exposé of Kansas Late-Term Abortionis
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07053106.html

Resolution Demanding Charges Against Late-Term Abortionist Tiller Passes Kansas House Committee
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07032704.html

New Kansas Attorney General Immediately Fires Prosecutor of Abortionist Tiller
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07011107.html

Kansas Voters Let Abortionist, George “Tiller the Killer”, Possibly Avoid Criminal Investigation
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/nov/06110904.html

Kansas Abortionist Killed Late-Term Babies for “Maternal Depression”: Fox News
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/nov/06110606.html

Kansas Investigation into Child Rape Blocked by Two Secret Abortion Clinics
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/feb/05022505.html

Abortion Clinic Caught Shredding Documents as Kansas Court Considers Mandating Records Release
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/sep/05090601.html

"I Left My Dead Baby In The Toilet" - Former Patient of Abortionist Tells O'Reilly Factor
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/dec/06121304.html

Woman Dies after being Rushed from George "the Killer" Tiller's Late-Term Abortion Mill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jan/05012711.html

Kansas Abortion Clinic Sends Another Woman to Hospital Weeks After Reported Death
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/feb/05021802.html

Canada Sending Women to Kansas for Late Term Abortions by Controversial Abortionist "Tiller the Killer"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/sep/04091001.html

 Back to Top

---

President Bush Addresses Southern Baptist Convention Highlighting Veto of Pro-Abortion Bill

By John-Henry Westen

SAN ANTONIO, June 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - U.S. President George W. Bush addressed the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention via satellite this morning telling attendees that he very much appreciated their prayers and strong voice in the public square.  Bush was received warmly and made to wait through several bursts of lengthy applause and standing ovations as he addressed the crowd of 8,500.

"Southern Baptists have committed to building a culture of life, and my administration shares that great goal," said Bush.  "Since taking office I've signed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, and the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as Lacy and Connor's Law. I've refused to fund programs overseas that promote or perform abortions.

To sustained applause, he added, "I used my first veto on a bill that would have compelled American taxpayers to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos. And I will veto any bill Congress sends me that violates the sanctity of human life."

The President continued, "I worked with Congress to pass the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, and since I spoke to you last year, the Supreme Court upheld this vital law."

Earlier in his address he spoke of his appointments of pro-life Supreme Court Justices.  "I appreciate the fact that Southern Baptists understand the importance of fair-minded and impartial judges to our democracy," he said.  "I was proud to nominate John Roberts and Sam Alito to the Supreme Court. And I will continue to nominate good judges who will interpret the law and not legislate from the bench."

The President also thanked Southern Baptists for their "Christian witness" and their "defense of religious liberty."

During his address, the President noted his friendship with Richard Land, the president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the public policy entity of the Southern Baptist Convention.  Land has been one of the strongest Christian voices in the United States speaking up for the sanctity of life.

In 2003 LifeSiteNews.com reported that Land apologized on behalf of Southern Baptists that their convention at one time supported abortion.  In 2005 Land noted that abortion, rather than poverty was the number one "inhumane" problem afflicting the United States.

Concluding his remarks on the right to life for unborn children, President Bush said, "I believe building a culture of life in our country also means promoting adoption and teaching teen abstinence, funding crisis pregnancy programs, and supporting the work of faith-based groups. In defending the lives of the weakest and the most vulnerable members of our society we reflect the compassion and humanity of America. And we will continue to work toward the day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law."

See the full address of the President here:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jun/070613a.html

See related coverage:

Abortion, Not Poverty, Is the Greater Tragedy Says Southern Baptist Leader
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05112506.html

Southern Baptists Repudiate and Apologize for 1970s Pro-Abortion Stance
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/jun/03061903.html

 Back to Top

---

Has Maryland School Board Found "Gay Gene"?

New Curriculum Claims Homosexuality Inborn, but Produces No Evidence

By Elizabeth O’Brien

ROCKVILLE, Maryland, June 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  The Montgomery County School Board has recently approved a new sex education curriculum for public schools. The curriculum teaches that homosexuality is caused by a specific “gay gene.”

In response to the school board’s decision, Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays (PFOX) released the following statement:

“According to the American Psychiatric Association, there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological cause for homosexuality. But now the Montgomery County Board of Education has done what science and medicine could not do by declaring in its newly approved curriculum that homosexuality is ‘innate’ or inborn. The board could not produce any factual evidence for what it will now teach students—only political ‘pledges’ and payoffs for last year's school board elections as claimed by gay rights activists.”

PFOX, Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum and Family Leader Network filed a court appeal of the curriculum, pointing out “factual inaccuracies and violations of state and federal law”. Order of Maryland State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick stated that the Maryland Board of Education would decide in July whether the education material was legally suitable. Before the final decision, however, the Maryland school board accepted the new material.

PFOX calls this action a sign of the board’s “bias” and “ignorance”, stating, “The local board's action in adopting a final curriculum without waiting for the state board's decision as to the legality of that curriculum tramples on the rights of parents and violates the intent of the Superintendent's Order.”

The new curriculum does not instruct children how to deal with ex-gays. PFOX comments that ex-gays are “a group that is the object of harassment encouraged by Montgomery County public school staff and students, a fact which the Montgomery County Board of Education does not deny.” In fact, supported by Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) student clubs, many schools tried to oppose PFOX from encouraging tolerance of ex-gays in public high schools.

In Winston Churchill High School, for example, students labeled “PFOX” on school garbage cans so that students would throw out PFOX pamphlets supporting ex-gay tolerance. The school principal, Dr. Joan Benz, stood guard over a can in support of the anti-ExGay protest. In Wootten High School, a gay teacher, “warned PFOX to stay out of the public schools, compared sexual preference to African-Americans' skin color, and also compared PFOX to the Ku Klux Klan.”

The PFOX press release states, “This discriminatory treatment is not corrected by the curriculum on teaching tolerance for sexual orientation because former homosexuals are not included in the curriculum. Why did the Board approve a curriculum that is supposed to teach respect for diverse sexual orientations when it excludes former homosexuals—the only sexual orientation that is subject to intolerance by both students and teachers?”

To Contact the Montgomery County School Board and Respectfully Voice Concerns:

Mr. Brian J. Porter, Chief of Staff
Carver Educational Services Center
850 Hungerford Drive, Room 120
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone: 301-279-3145
Fax: 301-279-3205
Email:

Dr. Jerry D. Weast, Superintendent of Schools
Phone: 301-279-3381
Email

See Previous Coverage

Montgomery County School Board Votes to Revise Disturbing Sex-ed Program
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/may/05052702.html

Montgomery County Parents Ready to Take on Homosexual Middle School Curriculum
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07010506.html

Montgomery County public school teacher's emails against the ex-gay community:
http://pfox.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=193#193

PFOX's testimony before the School Board:
http://pfox.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=192#192

Original PFOX Press Release:
http://pfox.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=194#194

 Back to Top

---

Organization of American States Supports New Homosexual Agenda

By Elizabeth O’Brien

PANAMA, June 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At a meeting presided over by Jose Miguel Insulza, the president of the Organization of American States, various representatives from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite, transgender, transsexual and inter-sex (Lgbttti) groups met to discuss and seek recognition of “rights”. As the Catholic News Agency Reports, it was the first time that various activist leaders have voiced specific concerns before the OAS.

Marcela Martinez, representative from the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Transsexual People described how transsexuals allegedly suffer violence and discrimination through forced medical treatments and in some cases, assassination. The Catholic New Agency described how others at the meeting denounced such violence, saying that it was “promoted by a legal system that fosters cruelty, repression, violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender expression and identity.”

OAS leaders and delegates responded to the testimonials by claiming ignorance of the state of affairs and committing to remedying it. Silvia Rosivel, representative of Trans Nicaragua, indicated to the Panama newspaper La Prensa that the event was a success for gay rights groups. “The most important thing is that Insulza and the ambassador of Panama, Aristides Royo, committed themselves to work for the respect of the human rights of the LGbttti,” said Rosivel.

Shortly before the opening of the 37th General Assembly of the OAS, Insulza informally met with certain civil society representatives and proposed the possibility of starting a special fund. The money would come from “voluntary contributions from the OAS member states to implement actions they consider a priority and that are normally carried out by civil society organizations.”

LifeSiteNews.com spoke with OAS officials and asked if any of the funds would be channeled toward gay and lesbian organizations. They responded by saying that the fund has not yet been set up, but in future it would support many various Non-Government Organizations. These could potentially include gay and lesbian groups.

Respected Pro-Lifer, Fraser Field, Executive Director of the Catholic Education Resource Centre, commented on Isulza’s recent commitment, warning that while it is true that violence against any particular group must be stopped, stopping such violence must never be used as a means to pushing a pro-homosexual agenda.

“The OAS must be very careful in responding to this problem. Violence against citizens is a crime irrespective of sexual orientation, just as it is if the violence is aimed at a coloured person, a fat or thin person or a person belonging to another religion…”

 “So often in Canada and the U.S.,” continued Field, “the goal of making homosexual persons a  special case with respect to violence is the first move in the long range strategy of making homosexual marriage and homosexual behaviour socially acceptable and the legal and cultural equivalent of heterosexual marriage.”

“This would be a morally disastrous outcome for OAS countries. And the imposition of a foreign value system that has nothing to do with the culture of marriage and deep religious convictions in which OAS countries are rooted.”

See Related Coverage:

Brazil Pushing for Gay Rights at UN
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/nov/04112203.html

Brazilian Priests Could Face Jail-time for Saying that Homosexuality is A Sin
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07031904.html

 Back to Top

---

UK Royal College of Ob/Gyn Forbids Disabled Person to Present Petition on Infanticide

LONDON, England, 13 June, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) London, today refused to let wheelchair-user Alison Davis present a petition on the infanticide of disabled babies. Officials told Ms. Davis, leader of the No Less Human disability rights group, that she could not come in because she would need someone to push her wheelchair, and the RCOG would only let one person into its London headquarters.

Alison Davis, who has spina bifida, said: “It would be comical if it weren't also tragic that the RCOG, which has asked for a debate on the killing of babies with disabilities such as spina bifida, won't let me, a disabled person, hand over our petition which has some 28,000 signatures. Neither I nor my career is a threat to anyone.”

No Less Human has decided that, because of the RCOG's refusal to admit Ms. Davis, the petition will not be presented today. The group is determined that Ms. Davis should nevertheless present the petition to the RCOG in person.

John Smeaton, head of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, of which No Less Human is a part, said: “The RCOG is a body which should have respect for women whom they are supposed to serve and it is particularly disgraceful that they have refused entry to a disabled person. This is discrimination against disabled people who wanted to protest against proposals that disabled people should be killed.”

In a submission to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the RCOG called for people to “think more radically about non-resuscitation, withdrawal of treatment decisions, the best interests test and active euthanasia.”

The petition presented by Ms. Davis is in response to comments made by the RCOG last November that urged a public debate on infanticide. The Sunday Times reports that RCOG openly supported “active euthanasia” of infants. “A very disabled child can mean a disabled family,” the Times quoted the college as saying. “If life-shortening and deliberate interventions to kill infants were available, they might have an impact on obstetric decision-making, even preventing some late abortions, as some parents would be more confident about continuing a pregnancy and taking a risk on outcome.”

The petition is addressed to Sir Allan Templeton, RCOG president. It invokes the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights which upholds the right to life of all members of the human family, including newborn babies and disabled people.

To contact RCOG and respectfully voice concerns:

Professor Allan Templeton, President
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
27 Sussex Place, Regent's Park,
London, NW1 4RG              
United Kingdom
Email:
Phone: +44 (0)20 7772 6228

See Related Coverage

British Ob/Gyns Call Premature Newborns “Bed Blockers” in Overcrowded ICUs
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06032707.html

Politics Leads Royal College of OB/GYNs to Cover Up Abortion-Cancer Link
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/oct/04100708.html

Original Sunday Times Article
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article625477.ece

 Back to Top

---

Church Mounts Offensive After Cleared by Mexican Government of Illegal Participation in Politics

By Peter J. Smith

MEXICO CITY, June 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Mexican government has exonerated the Catholic Church from accusations of illegal interference in politics for warning Catholic lawmakers for Mexico City that they incur automatic excommunication for supporting the legalization of abortion. The victory has motivated the Church to fight to overturn a current law important to anti-life politicians trying to silence the Church’s influence in Mexico.

On June 8, the Ministry of Internal Affairs ruled that Cardinal Norberto Rivera of Mexico City, and his spokesman, Father Hugo Valdemar, had not violated the Religious Associations law and Public Cult Law—which laws restrict the clergy’s participation in political affairs—during the debate over the city’s new law legalizing abortion in the first trimester. The abortion law was passed April 25 despite warnings that lawmakers who voted would no longer be considered Catholics in good standing or welcome at Communion.

“The storm is over,” the Archbishop told hundreds of faithful Catholics attending Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral on June 10, declaring the Ministry’s ruling a victory for the Church’s right to express itself publicly.

“A reform of the current law—to create a situation where ministers are not considered third class citizens by annulling their constitutional guarantees, among them their right to free speech—is urgent,” said Father Valdemar, director of social communications for the Archdiocese of Mexico City, according to the California Catholic Daily.

The Associated Press reports that the Church has requested Armando Martinez, president of Mexico's Catholic Lawyers College, to draw up a proposal to be presented in approximately two weeks to change the laws that would permit the Church to engage fully in public debate.

Once constructed by an anti-clerical Mexican government in the 1990s, the current law is favored by anti-life politicians seeking to silence again the Church’s political influence in Mexico, where 90 percent of citizens describe themselves as Catholics, and 70 percent oppose abortion.

"We didn't want to limit their right to free speech,” Jesus Robles, who filed the complaint against Rivera and other church officials, told the Associated Press. “But for historical reasons, which I think are still valid, in our country they cannot be allowed to attack our country's institutions and political parties.”

Robles belongs to the same coalition of political parties that has launched a “progressive agenda,” which, in addition to legal abortion, also includes legalizing euthanasia and same-sex “marriage”. The coalition sees the Catholic Church as its most organized, influential, and outspoken opponent in the struggle for the heart of Mexico that has begun in Mexico City.

See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:

Mexico City Legislature Pushes Through Abortion Bill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/apr/07042501.html

Interior Ministry begins proceedings against the Church for violating laws prohibiting its involvement in politics
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/apr/07043005.html

Mexican Bishop: “If You Vote to Legalize Abortion – You Excommunicate Yourself from the Church”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/apr/07040502.html

 Back to Top

---

Judge Throws out Infanticide Case at Request of Clinton Lawyer Mark Geragos

By Peter J. Smith

LOS ANGELES, June 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Los Angeles judge threw out infanticide charges in a case against a USC student who dumped her newborn son into a dumpster a mere 42 second drive away from a “safe-surrender” station that could have saved her son’s life.

Holly Ashcraft, a 22-year-old architecture major at the University of Southern California (USC) has stood trial since her arrest in October 2005 after DNA evidence proved the newborn’s body, found by a homeless man sifting through trash behind the 29th Street Café, was her own son.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Samuel Mayerson had tentatively denied a request by Ashcraft’s attorney Mark Geragos yesterday to dismiss the murder charge, but then dismissed the charges Tuesday. Mayerson concurred with the March decision of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley that the evidence supported only the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter against Ashcraft.

Mayerson said prosecutors could no longer try Ashcraft since charges in the case had been dismissed twice—first murder, and then involuntary manslaughter—the limit under state law.

Geragos, who has represented convicted friends and associates of former President Bill Clinton, as well as the infamous Scott Peterson, among others, celebrated the ruling with Ashcraft and her family.

However Deputy District Attorney Franco Barrata disputed Mayerson’s reasoning, saying the two charges were different and allowable under the law. Barrata has indicated he may soon file a writ of appeal to the Appellate Court to get the trial back on track.

Baratta’s prosecution team cited evidence from the coroner showing Ashcraft had given birth to a live infant, not a stillborn child as she had claimed. Deputy medical examiner David B. Whiteman gave expert testimony saying the baby’s lungs were partially inflated, a tell-tale sign he was born alive.

Geragos on the other hand brought in two medical experts from USC's Keck School of Medicine to dispute the coroner’s final autopsy report. They described the murder charges as "a miscarriage of justice" against Ashcraft.

This is the second time that Ashcraft has been under investigation for the death of a newborn infant. Police first investigated her in April 2004, after she arrived bleeding at a downtown hospital and doctors determined she had given birth. Ashcraft also claimed then that baby was stillborn, but its body was never found, depriving police of evidence to arrest and charge her with a crime.

California has a “Safe Surrender” law that allows parents to deliver unwanted babies anonymously and without penalty to prepared institutions such as hospitals and fire stations. The law says that if a newborn is left anywhere other than a Safe Surrender site then the parent is subject to criminal prosecution.

According to the site, Independent Sources, Ashcraft’s second deceased baby was found a mere 42 second drive away from Fire Station No. 15 according to Google Maps. Police said the baby was found dead still attached to his umbilical cord. (http://independentsources.com/2005/10/16/holly-ashcraft)

 Back to Top

---

Massachusetts Marriage Amendment Faces Critical Vote Tomorrow

By Hilary White

BOSTON, June 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Massachusetts legislators face a crucial vote tomorrow in efforts to bring forward a state constitutional amendment restoring the definition of natural marriage. In 2003, gay activists succeeded in using a court case to overturn the traditional definition of marriage.

Last year, legislators voted narrowly to bring the amendment forward. On the last day of the last legislative session, the vote passed with 61 in favour and 132 against. The measure required only 25 percent, or 50 votes, of the legislature to pass. Tomorrow’s special joint session will be a constitutional convention to decide finally if the amendment will go to the people of Massachusetts in 2008 or be postponed.

The Catholic bishops of Massachusetts, who have been strongly supportive of efforts to restore legal natural marriage, have urged legislators to support the amendment. “True fairness,” they said, “involves letting the people vote on the marriage amendment to define exactly what constitutes marriage.”

While TV, internet and radio ads engage in a furious media tug-of-war on the issue, lobbyists, including pro-gay Governor Deval Patrick, are working hard to bring in the undecided votes. Since the last vote in the legislature, Patrick signalled his support for same-sex “marriage” by leading the Boston Gay Pride parade.

Speaking of the court ruling that overturned marriage in the state, Patrick said, “All the (court) did was affirm an old principle that people come before their government as equals, that if the government is going to give marriage licenses to anyone, then they must give them to everybody, even if your choice of spouse is someone of the same gender.” Governor Patrick is pledging to be available up to the last minute to help legislators “working through their concerns” over switching their vote.

“That only speaks to the inevitability of our side,” responded Lisa Barstow, spokeswoman for pro-family VoteOnMarriage.org. “They're having a very tough time in this eleventh-hour attempt at bait and switch. And I think the arm twisting really crosses the lines of decency.”

Marriage defenders are concentrating on the argument that an institution of the importance of marriage must not be decided by unelected courts and lawsuits brought by activist organizations, but by the people of Massachusetts in a public vote.

In tomorrow’s session, 50 of the state's 200 legislators must vote in favour of the amendment reaching the ballots in 2008 and fifty-seven have either voted for it in the past or have pledged to do so tomorrow.

If passed, the amendment would not negate the over 8500 existing legal “gay marriages” in the state, but both sides agree it will stop others from using the state’s law to attempt to impose changes in other states. 

At least 19 states have passed constitutional amendments defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Massachusetts Turns in Two Times the Necessary Signatures to Repeal Gay “Marriage” on 2008 Ballot
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05112808.html

Massachusetts’ Lawmakers Finally Approve Marriage Ballot Measure
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07010306.html

For more information visit the website of
http://voteonmarriage.org/

 Back to Top

---

Faithful Christian Anglicans in US May have Alternate Structure by July

By Hilary White

LONDON, June 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Anglicans who adhere to Christian moral doctrine are being offered an option that may allow them to remain in the Anglican Communion, despite pressure by homosexuals to marginalize them. The UK’s Telegraph reports that a coalition of “conservative” primates, based in Africa, is attempting to create an alternate episcopal structure to give shelter to those in the US church under siege by “progressive” supporters of homosexuality.

The Telegraph reports that six Anglican primates are planning the consecration of a prominent American cleric as a bishop in order to create a parallel organization to the ultra-liberal Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA). Next month’s Synod in York will certainly discuss the issue of alternate bishops within existing provinces.

In 2003, the US branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion allowed Gene Robinson, a man who left his wife and family to enter into an open homosexual relationship, to be made bishop of the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire. Since then, what had been largely an unspoken problem of widespread acceptance of homosexuality among the Anglican leadership, became a scandal that has threatened to dissolve the 70 million member church.

In efforts to stave off an open split, Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, took the step of asking Robinson to absent himself from next year’s Lambeth conference, the main meeting of the worldwide church. He was quoted last week saying that he was “hopeful” rather than expectant that he could avert a schism over homosexuality. Williams described the worldwide Anglican Church as “very vulnerable and very fragile.”

Anglican commentator, David Virtue, who runs the conservative Anglican news site Virtue Online, wrote on June 8 that a “parting of ways” in the Anglican church between homosexuals and their “progressive” supporters, and those who adhere to Christian doctrine is inevitable.

“We are fast approaching the point in the Anglican Communion where a crisis can no longer be averted by acceptance of covenants, reports, communiques and high flying talk of diversity, inclusivity, reconciliation and healing,” Virtue writes.

Between them, the “conservatives” represent over 10 million Anglicans around the world, by far the largest single group.

Virtue commented, “Western Anglican liberals and revisionist bishops have made it abundantly clear that compromise of any kind is not on the books, whether it is talk of primatial or alternative oversight for besieged dioceses and parishes or compromising on a range of sexuality issues.”

Prominent members of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA), including Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, and others outside Africa described by the Telegraph as being known to be “relatively moderate,” initiated the move in response to the requests of Anglicans in the US and elsewhere for a permanent solution to the problem. In some diocese in North America, such as New Westminster, British Columbia, some clergy have complained of intimidation and harassment by church officials seeking to impose homosexual wedding ceremonies.

A spokesman for the group said, “This enormous division has been provoked by the unilateral actions of the Americans. They have walked away and we have to care for the survivors.”

This effort is in addition to that established by Nigerian primate, Peter Akinola, who appointed Martyn Minns as head of a new church branch under his control in Nigeria. Williams also declined to invite Minns to Lambeth in 2008.

 Back to Top

---

SHARE THIS PAGE: E-mail  Print

---

---

MORE NEWS: LifeSiteNews.com Home Page  Last 10 Days   Archives   Special Reports

Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.