Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Nov. 14th, 2005 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdSupreme Court nominee Samuel Alito: "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion";
Focus on the Family mocks the response to Alito's quotes, saying basically, "And?";
Fundamentalists fear an "open homosexual" running for president of the APA could and would work against the "ex-gay groups" of the world;
Supreme Court refuses "In God We Trust" case, lets stand lower court ruling the motto on government buildings is constitutional;
Fundamentalist lawsuit to force Newton Falls, Ohio, library to repeal a policy that banned "controversial" religious speech in its community room - in this case, an anti-marriage meeting - prompts library to drop the policy;
Planned Parenthood starts opposing health-care consolidation - specifically, religious hospitals buying out non-religious hospitals and dropping things like abortion services; article is noteworthy because it talks about the immorality of contraception as well;
CWA celebrates Kansas changing the definition of science to include supernatural explanations as science - "Up until now, the definition of science in the Kansas science standards has been a naturalistic explanation; in other words, everything that the kids see in the world around them can be explained by nature, and nature alone. So, that was one of the things that they addressed.";
CWA says making Plan B OTC would lead to "a proliferation of deadly sexually transmitted diseases," applauds FDA's "great caution";
Wal-Mart makes changes to web site to feature "Christmas" more strongly; Catholic League backs off boycott threat;
Concerned Women for America brochure describing EVERY birth-control technology except the condom as an abortificant - if there is any doubt that they will go after birth control if they win on abortion, please stop thinking that;
Idaho religious conservatives: considering running for the Republican nomination for president? Vote to confirm Alito, or else;
As of November 11th, several fundamentalist groups weren't entirely convinced of Alito's anti-abortion credentials - we'll see if that changes now;
Family Research Council: FDA must pull RU-486 from market;
FRC: Those Nasty Queers Buy Luxury Cars.
----- 1 -----
Alito rejected abortion as a right
By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 14, 2005
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20051114-015136-2101r.htm
Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, wrote that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion" in a 1985 document obtained by The Washington Times.
"I personally believe very strongly" in this legal position, Mr. Alito wrote on his application to become deputy assistant to Attorney General Edwin I. Meese III.
The document, which is likely to inflame liberals who oppose Judge Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, is among many that the White House will release today from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
In direct, unambiguous language, the young career lawyer who served as assistant to Solicitor General Rex E. Lee, demonstrated his conservative bona fides as he sought to become a political appointee in the Reagan administration.
"I am and always have been a conservative," he wrote in an attachment to the noncareer appointment form that he sent to the Presidential Personnel Office. "I am a lifelong registered Republican."
But his statements against abortion and affirmative action might cause him headaches from Democrats and liberals as he prepares for confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, scheduled for January.
"It has been an honor and source of personal satisfaction for me to serve in the office of the Solicitor General during President Reagan's administration and to help to advance legal positions in which I personally believe very strongly," he wrote.
"I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion."
[more at URL]
----- 2 -----
COMMENTARY: A CONSERVATIVE -- AND SO MUCH MORE
Supreme Court nominee is "exposed" as a pro-life Republican.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 14, 2005
by Stuart Shepard, managing editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/commentary/a0038588.cfm
Liberals today were shocked -- shocked -- to learn that
President Bush's choice for the U.S. Supreme Court once
maintained there is no support in the U.S. Constitution
for Roe v. Wade, the decision that led to abortion on
demand.
In a job application seeking to become assistant attorney
general under President Reagan, Samuel Alito opined how he
was proud of his lawyerly work on behalf of the
administration, including arguing that "the Constitution
does not protect a right to an abortion."
In reporting on the 1985 document, The Associated Press
saw fit to print that quote twice in one story, apparently
just to make sure nobody missed such a stunning admission.
Other astonishing disclosures by the 20-years-younger
Alito:
"I am and always have been a conservative."
"I am a lifelong registered Republican."
Predictably, those on the hard left found such wild-eyed
extremism too much to bear. Ralph Neas, president of
People for the American Way -- who suddenly took on the
speech pattern of the purveyor of the Pocket Fisherman,
Ron Popeil -- declared Alito would "turn back the clock on
decades of judicial precedent protecting privacy, equal
opportunity, religious freedom and so much more!"
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
EX-GAY FOE BIDS TO HEAD PSYCHIATRIC GROUP
Ministries say Jack Drescher could limit their ability to operate.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 14, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038585.cfm
An open homosexual who is an antagonist of ex-gay
ministries is running for president of the American
Psychiatric Association (APA).
Jack Drescher heads the APA's Committee on Gay, Lesbian
and Bisexual Issues and has touted his ties to gay-rights
groups in his APA position statement. He's been harsh in
his criticism of ex-gay groups.
"They can mask it in the language of love all they want,"
he recently said, "but it's about revulsion and hatred of
homosexuality."
There is concern among groups that reach out to those
wanting to leave homosexuality that if Drescher should
win, he could use that power to place obstacles in their
way.
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, said
Drescher's ascendancy could mean dark days ahead.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
High Court Won't Hear 'In God We Trust' Case
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 14, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The U.S. Supreme Court declined today to hear an appeals
case seeking to remove the words "In God We Trust" from
the side of a Lexington, N.C., government building, The
Associated Press reported.
Although supporters of the national motto would have liked
a Supreme Court precedent, the action leaves in place a
favorable lower court ruling.
The case, brought by two lawyers who frequently visit the
Davidson County Government Center, claimed the presence of
the phrase on the building's exterior was
unconstitutional.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard the
case earlier in the year, ruled that "In God We Trust"
could remain.
"In this situation, the reasonable observer must be deemed
aware of the patriotic uses, both historical and present,
of the phrase 'In God We Trust,' " read the ruling.
----- 5 -----
Library OKs Religious Speech
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 14, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Newton Falls, Ohio, library repealed a policy that
banned what it deemed "controversial" religious speech in
its community room after Liberty Counsel challenged the
regulation.
Liberty Counsel submitted a request to use the library's
community room last spring -- designated for use to
nonprofit organizations for "programs of a civic, cultural
or educational nature" -- to present a biblical
perspective on traditional marriage.
The library rejected the request: "If a program deals with
a controversial subject, then all sides of the issue must
be presented." According to Kerry McCrone, the library
director, in order to use the room, Liberty Counsel must
also present the opposing viewpoint during the meeting.
Mathew Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty
Counsel, said as a result of the suit by his organization,
the library has removed that language from its policy.
"We are pleased that the Newton Falls Library has
conformed its Community Room Policy to the First
Amendment," he said. "Under the former policy, Liberty
Counsel would have been required to invite a proponent of
same-sex marriage before we could address our viewpoint
that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Such
policy invites dispute and ends up censoring the speaker."
----- 6 -----
Planned Parenthood Challenges Hospital Mergers
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 14, 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: As religious hospitals merge with others, fewer
overall offer abortion services.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038586.cfm
Planned Parenthood has issued a call to action claiming
women are in danger of losing their right to what it
euphemistically calls "reproductive services" if they
don't oppose mergers between community hospitals and
faith-based healthcare providers. Those providers are
usually associated with Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist
and Baptist churches.
Kiera McCaffrey, director of communications for the
Catholic League, said religious hospitals have a right to
choose not to offer abortions.
"Planned Parenthood isn't content with getting all the
abortions they want in secular hospitals," she said. "Now
they want to demand that religious hospitals perform
abortions as well. They want to take us down with them and
make everybody violate their morals and their religion in
this quest for abortion and contraception on demand
everywhere."
[More on URL]
----- 7 -----
Kansas Approves New Science Standards
Concerned Women for America
11/14/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9442/FIELD/education/index.htm
The Kansas State Board of Education has approved new science standards that place evolution on the level of theory and open the debate about intelligent design and creation. Judy Smith, Kansas State Director for Concerned Women for America, talks about this development for academic freedom. Click here to listen.
[Judy Smith: "Well, you know, it is a victory, Martha, it really is a victory for students and teachers; and it's giving academic freedom to the science classroom. Up until now, the definition of science in the Kansas science standards has been a naturalistic explanation; in other words, everything that the kids see in the world around them can be explained by nature, and nature alone. So, that was one of the things that they addressed. And they also changed the definition of science to that definition that I always understood when I was going through pharmacy school, and that is, to have theories and hypotheses that you would test, and also, develop tests for falsification, and observing things, and collecting data and information and then from that then drawing conclusions. Course, we know, in the case of origins, nobody was there, except, in my view, God, but perhaps in someone else's it's another idea that they have, an intelligent designer. But there's no way, really, to unequivocally determine exactly what happens, so, this leaves it open for the kids."
"Well, Kansas is one of the few states that still elects its state board members, and so this truly is a grass-roots effort. And basically, they have under their guidelines, they review different standards that they send out to the schools, which are optional to the schools, but they're suggestions on benchmarks and what will be taught and suggestions on how to teach them. And so the science standards were under review again this year, as mandated, and so hearings were held with scientists invited from both sides. Unfortunately, the people who espouse evolution didn't show up. And so the hearings ended up being excellent hearings from lots of different scientists who believe that life is too complex to not have some sort of design or designer."
CWA: "Judy, this is a great victory, and I know that there are states across the nation that would look at this with great envy - any chance that Kansas will be able to hold on to this position? Because I know just coming into work this morning, I was hearing just shrieks and howls in the liberal media on this."
Judy Smith: "Yeah, it's very interesting - the way we can hold onto it is to re-elect conservative members on the state board, and we do have that opportunity, which is in our favour, but it is going to take a grass-roots effort, and of course, CWA, that's what we're about, is grass-roots. So we're going to have to get busy, and those people who care about their children and what they're being taught, that they're not being indoctrinated with an ideology that says that everything is, you know, just sort of happened, by random chance, they're going to have to get busy and re-elect these people, and if they do then it will be fine."
CWA: [Thanks, Judy.]
Judy: "Well, we've been following this for a long time, and there's a lot of good people that have been working in this, and it's truly a grass-roots victory, and so we're really excited about it."]
----- 8 -----
CWA: GAO Report on Plan B Finds What Parents Would Want – FDA Handled Controversial Drug With Great Caution
Concerned Women for America
11/14/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9462/MEDIA/life/index.htm
Washington, D.C.—Concerned Women for America (CWA) commended the Food & Drug Administration for treating with great concern the application to make the morning-after pill Plan B available over-the-counter (OTC), as found in a report released today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
“Making Plan B over-the-counter would needlessly expose adolescents to risks and reduce access to health care to those in need of it,” said Wendy Wright, CWA’s Executive Vice President. “The debate is whether it should be available without a prescription. Barr Labs never bothered to adequately research whether it could be taken safely by the full population who would purchase it from drugstore shelves. And proponents make false claims – which their own studies refute – that it would halve the number of pregnancies and abortions.
“Thankfully, the FDA’s leadership did what others refused to do – consider whether a drug’s easy availability would present unique health risks to women and girls.
“The FDA was asked to make a high dose of a drug available OTC when the low dose requires a prescription. Doctors screen women for medical conditions before prescribing the morning-after pill and check for conditions that a woman may not realize she’s acquired which can lead to infertility and death.
“The FDA should consider that its decision to make a drug as easy to get as toothpaste could lead to a proliferation of deadly sexually transmitted diseases.”
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Wal-Mart Skirts Christmas Boycott
Concerned Women for America
11/14/2005
By Martha Kleder
Activists protested the chain’s expunging of Christmas from seasonal promotions.
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9461/CFI/freedom/index.htm
Wal-Mart headquarters has deflated a controversy over Christmas that had escalated into a boycott.
The retailer has issued an apology for a bizarre e-mail about the origins of Christmas from a temporary customer-service associate and modified the search function of its online retail arm walmart.com, which only added fuel to the fire.
This year Wal-Mart began its seasonal promotions earlier than ever, with television ads beginning November 1. The all-out push, starting well before Thanksgiving, was an attempt by the retail giant to establish its stores as the main destination for holiday shopping. That campaign is also the first time the retailer has featured celebrities in its ads, recruiting Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, Destiny’s Child, Jesse McCartney and Queen Latifa.
Ever responsive to its customers, Wal-Mart also modified its store displays to encompass all seasonal celebrations.
“As a retailer, we recognize some of our customers may be shopping for Hanukkah or Kwanzaa gifts during this time of year and we certainly want these customers in our stores and to feel welcome, just as we do those buying for Christmas,” Dan Fogleman, Senior Manager, Public Relations, wrote.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
High-Tech "Birth Control": Health Care or Health Risk?
Concerned Women for America
November 2005
http://www.cwfa.org/brochures/birth-control.pdf
In the past 35 years, various chemicals and devices that manipulate women's reproductive systems have come on the medical scene. Women need to know precisely what they do and what risks they present.
[Much more at URL; a large number of systems, from the pill to IUDs to advanced implant systems, are discussed; all are described as causing abortions.]
----- 11 -----
GOP hopefuls told to vote yes on Alito
The Washington Times
November 12, 2005
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20051112-124500-4410r.htm
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Conservative activists in Iowa have served notice for 2008 presidential hopefuls: Oppose Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. at your own peril.
Several of the state's most influential conservative groups called for fair hearings and a quick vote on President Bush's nominee to the high court. "It is our hope that through this process you too will recognize Judge Alito's impeccable qualifications and vote to confirm," the groups said in a public letter.
The letter was addressed to potential Republican candidates. Among the signees were the state representatives from the Christian Coalition, Iowans for Tax Relief, Concerned Women for America, the Iowa Family Policy Center, Eagle Forum and Marriage Matters.
The activists made it clear they will be paying close attention to the vote on Judge Alito's nomination.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Pro-Life Groups Still Conflicted About Samuel Alito on Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 11, 2005
http://www.lifenews.com/nat1793.html
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Most pro-life groups have come out in full support of Samuel Alito's nomination to replace outgoing pro-abortion Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. Some organizations remain concerned about some of Alito's rulings and they say no one knows for sure how Alito would rule on a case to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Richard Collier, president of the Legal Center for the Defense of Life, was one of several pro-life advocates to share his concerns with the Associated Press.
"I don't know what his personal views are, but I know that he has ruled on pro-life cases four times and he has ruled against pro-life positions three times," Collier said.
The National Right to Life Committee cites the rulings as well for its decision not to endorse Alito.
"In examining his record, there are four principal abortion-related cases," the group's website states. "Judge Alito voted in favor of the pro-life side once and against it three times."
[More at URL]
----- 13 ------
Mifepristone (RU-486): Fatal Infections Linked to Abortion Drug's Suppression of Immune System
Family Research Council
by: Mr. Christopher M. Gacek
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=CU05K15&f=PG03I03
Where there's smoke, there's fire. Smoke appeared four months ago when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) heightened RU-486's "Black Box Warning" to physicians based on the drug's dangerous tendency to produce severe infections or sepsis. Now a fire is clearly visible: last Friday the FDA notified medical professionals that all four U.S. sepsis fatalities linked to RU-486 abortions tested positive for an anaerobic bacterial strain, Clostridium sordellii. Furthermore, a Canadian woman died similarly in 2001.
C. sordellii belongs to the same group of pathogenic bacteria that secrete tetanus toxin and botulinal toxin (i.e., botulism); this particular bacterial strain produces Lethal Toxin. Mifepristone short circuits the body's ability to repel C. sordellii. Septic shock can result and is often fatal.
In women of childbearing age, rapidly and intensely developing lethal infections caused by C. sordellii were rare and exclusively associated with postpartum infections prior to FDA's approval of mifepristone. Since septic shock syndrome due to C. sordellii has not been reported in surgical abortions, the occurrence of these five deaths within four years argues strongly that these deaths are not random events. One scientist has plausibly described this syndrome as "mifepristone-induced septic shock," whereby young, healthy women die shortly after taking the drug.
How many more women have to die before FDA extinguishes this murderous fire and pulls RU-486 from the market?
----- 14 -----
"Disadvantaged" Homosexuals Buy Luxury Cars to Back Activism
Family Research Council
Issue No.: 26
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=CU05K13&f=PG03I03
Pro-homosexual activists are fond of arguing that homosexuals are routinely the victims of employment-related "discrimination." Such claims might be supported if research could demonstrate that homosexuals (like, for example, blacks or women) have lower incomes than the average worker, but such evidence has been hard to come by. In fact, some marketing studies have suggested that homosexuals actually have higher disposable incomes than heterosexuals.
[More at URL] [Ed. Note: the survey all these groups use - at least typically - was not scientific; it was a self-selected reader survey of an upscale gay magazine, taken in the early 90s. It would be similar to taking a survey of New Yorker readers and assuming that's typical of the American population as a whole. The last statistically-sampled study I saw indicated an income penalty for being queer. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was nontrivial for gay males, and pretty serious for lesbians. However, the "<target group> is RICH and TAKING YOUR MONEY and LAUGHING AT YOU ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK as they RIP YOU OFF!" has a long history as a propaganda tool, so, well, there you go.]
Focus on the Family mocks the response to Alito's quotes, saying basically, "And?";
Fundamentalists fear an "open homosexual" running for president of the APA could and would work against the "ex-gay groups" of the world;
Supreme Court refuses "In God We Trust" case, lets stand lower court ruling the motto on government buildings is constitutional;
Fundamentalist lawsuit to force Newton Falls, Ohio, library to repeal a policy that banned "controversial" religious speech in its community room - in this case, an anti-marriage meeting - prompts library to drop the policy;
Planned Parenthood starts opposing health-care consolidation - specifically, religious hospitals buying out non-religious hospitals and dropping things like abortion services; article is noteworthy because it talks about the immorality of contraception as well;
CWA celebrates Kansas changing the definition of science to include supernatural explanations as science - "Up until now, the definition of science in the Kansas science standards has been a naturalistic explanation; in other words, everything that the kids see in the world around them can be explained by nature, and nature alone. So, that was one of the things that they addressed.";
CWA says making Plan B OTC would lead to "a proliferation of deadly sexually transmitted diseases," applauds FDA's "great caution";
Wal-Mart makes changes to web site to feature "Christmas" more strongly; Catholic League backs off boycott threat;
Concerned Women for America brochure describing EVERY birth-control technology except the condom as an abortificant - if there is any doubt that they will go after birth control if they win on abortion, please stop thinking that;
Idaho religious conservatives: considering running for the Republican nomination for president? Vote to confirm Alito, or else;
As of November 11th, several fundamentalist groups weren't entirely convinced of Alito's anti-abortion credentials - we'll see if that changes now;
Family Research Council: FDA must pull RU-486 from market;
FRC: Those Nasty Queers Buy Luxury Cars.
----- 1 -----
Alito rejected abortion as a right
By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 14, 2005
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20051114-015136-2101r.htm
Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, wrote that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion" in a 1985 document obtained by The Washington Times.
"I personally believe very strongly" in this legal position, Mr. Alito wrote on his application to become deputy assistant to Attorney General Edwin I. Meese III.
The document, which is likely to inflame liberals who oppose Judge Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, is among many that the White House will release today from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
In direct, unambiguous language, the young career lawyer who served as assistant to Solicitor General Rex E. Lee, demonstrated his conservative bona fides as he sought to become a political appointee in the Reagan administration.
"I am and always have been a conservative," he wrote in an attachment to the noncareer appointment form that he sent to the Presidential Personnel Office. "I am a lifelong registered Republican."
But his statements against abortion and affirmative action might cause him headaches from Democrats and liberals as he prepares for confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, scheduled for January.
"It has been an honor and source of personal satisfaction for me to serve in the office of the Solicitor General during President Reagan's administration and to help to advance legal positions in which I personally believe very strongly," he wrote.
"I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion."
[more at URL]
----- 2 -----
COMMENTARY: A CONSERVATIVE -- AND SO MUCH MORE
Supreme Court nominee is "exposed" as a pro-life Republican.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 14, 2005
by Stuart Shepard, managing editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/commentary/a0038588.cfm
Liberals today were shocked -- shocked -- to learn that
President Bush's choice for the U.S. Supreme Court once
maintained there is no support in the U.S. Constitution
for Roe v. Wade, the decision that led to abortion on
demand.
In a job application seeking to become assistant attorney
general under President Reagan, Samuel Alito opined how he
was proud of his lawyerly work on behalf of the
administration, including arguing that "the Constitution
does not protect a right to an abortion."
In reporting on the 1985 document, The Associated Press
saw fit to print that quote twice in one story, apparently
just to make sure nobody missed such a stunning admission.
Other astonishing disclosures by the 20-years-younger
Alito:
"I am and always have been a conservative."
"I am a lifelong registered Republican."
Predictably, those on the hard left found such wild-eyed
extremism too much to bear. Ralph Neas, president of
People for the American Way -- who suddenly took on the
speech pattern of the purveyor of the Pocket Fisherman,
Ron Popeil -- declared Alito would "turn back the clock on
decades of judicial precedent protecting privacy, equal
opportunity, religious freedom and so much more!"
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
EX-GAY FOE BIDS TO HEAD PSYCHIATRIC GROUP
Ministries say Jack Drescher could limit their ability to operate.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 14, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038585.cfm
An open homosexual who is an antagonist of ex-gay
ministries is running for president of the American
Psychiatric Association (APA).
Jack Drescher heads the APA's Committee on Gay, Lesbian
and Bisexual Issues and has touted his ties to gay-rights
groups in his APA position statement. He's been harsh in
his criticism of ex-gay groups.
"They can mask it in the language of love all they want,"
he recently said, "but it's about revulsion and hatred of
homosexuality."
There is concern among groups that reach out to those
wanting to leave homosexuality that if Drescher should
win, he could use that power to place obstacles in their
way.
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, said
Drescher's ascendancy could mean dark days ahead.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
High Court Won't Hear 'In God We Trust' Case
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 14, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The U.S. Supreme Court declined today to hear an appeals
case seeking to remove the words "In God We Trust" from
the side of a Lexington, N.C., government building, The
Associated Press reported.
Although supporters of the national motto would have liked
a Supreme Court precedent, the action leaves in place a
favorable lower court ruling.
The case, brought by two lawyers who frequently visit the
Davidson County Government Center, claimed the presence of
the phrase on the building's exterior was
unconstitutional.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard the
case earlier in the year, ruled that "In God We Trust"
could remain.
"In this situation, the reasonable observer must be deemed
aware of the patriotic uses, both historical and present,
of the phrase 'In God We Trust,' " read the ruling.
----- 5 -----
Library OKs Religious Speech
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 14, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Newton Falls, Ohio, library repealed a policy that
banned what it deemed "controversial" religious speech in
its community room after Liberty Counsel challenged the
regulation.
Liberty Counsel submitted a request to use the library's
community room last spring -- designated for use to
nonprofit organizations for "programs of a civic, cultural
or educational nature" -- to present a biblical
perspective on traditional marriage.
The library rejected the request: "If a program deals with
a controversial subject, then all sides of the issue must
be presented." According to Kerry McCrone, the library
director, in order to use the room, Liberty Counsel must
also present the opposing viewpoint during the meeting.
Mathew Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty
Counsel, said as a result of the suit by his organization,
the library has removed that language from its policy.
"We are pleased that the Newton Falls Library has
conformed its Community Room Policy to the First
Amendment," he said. "Under the former policy, Liberty
Counsel would have been required to invite a proponent of
same-sex marriage before we could address our viewpoint
that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Such
policy invites dispute and ends up censoring the speaker."
----- 6 -----
Planned Parenthood Challenges Hospital Mergers
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 14, 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: As religious hospitals merge with others, fewer
overall offer abortion services.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038586.cfm
Planned Parenthood has issued a call to action claiming
women are in danger of losing their right to what it
euphemistically calls "reproductive services" if they
don't oppose mergers between community hospitals and
faith-based healthcare providers. Those providers are
usually associated with Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist
and Baptist churches.
Kiera McCaffrey, director of communications for the
Catholic League, said religious hospitals have a right to
choose not to offer abortions.
"Planned Parenthood isn't content with getting all the
abortions they want in secular hospitals," she said. "Now
they want to demand that religious hospitals perform
abortions as well. They want to take us down with them and
make everybody violate their morals and their religion in
this quest for abortion and contraception on demand
everywhere."
[More on URL]
----- 7 -----
Kansas Approves New Science Standards
Concerned Women for America
11/14/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9442/FIELD/education/index.htm
The Kansas State Board of Education has approved new science standards that place evolution on the level of theory and open the debate about intelligent design and creation. Judy Smith, Kansas State Director for Concerned Women for America, talks about this development for academic freedom. Click here to listen.
[Judy Smith: "Well, you know, it is a victory, Martha, it really is a victory for students and teachers; and it's giving academic freedom to the science classroom. Up until now, the definition of science in the Kansas science standards has been a naturalistic explanation; in other words, everything that the kids see in the world around them can be explained by nature, and nature alone. So, that was one of the things that they addressed. And they also changed the definition of science to that definition that I always understood when I was going through pharmacy school, and that is, to have theories and hypotheses that you would test, and also, develop tests for falsification, and observing things, and collecting data and information and then from that then drawing conclusions. Course, we know, in the case of origins, nobody was there, except, in my view, God, but perhaps in someone else's it's another idea that they have, an intelligent designer. But there's no way, really, to unequivocally determine exactly what happens, so, this leaves it open for the kids."
"Well, Kansas is one of the few states that still elects its state board members, and so this truly is a grass-roots effort. And basically, they have under their guidelines, they review different standards that they send out to the schools, which are optional to the schools, but they're suggestions on benchmarks and what will be taught and suggestions on how to teach them. And so the science standards were under review again this year, as mandated, and so hearings were held with scientists invited from both sides. Unfortunately, the people who espouse evolution didn't show up. And so the hearings ended up being excellent hearings from lots of different scientists who believe that life is too complex to not have some sort of design or designer."
CWA: "Judy, this is a great victory, and I know that there are states across the nation that would look at this with great envy - any chance that Kansas will be able to hold on to this position? Because I know just coming into work this morning, I was hearing just shrieks and howls in the liberal media on this."
Judy Smith: "Yeah, it's very interesting - the way we can hold onto it is to re-elect conservative members on the state board, and we do have that opportunity, which is in our favour, but it is going to take a grass-roots effort, and of course, CWA, that's what we're about, is grass-roots. So we're going to have to get busy, and those people who care about their children and what they're being taught, that they're not being indoctrinated with an ideology that says that everything is, you know, just sort of happened, by random chance, they're going to have to get busy and re-elect these people, and if they do then it will be fine."
CWA: [Thanks, Judy.]
Judy: "Well, we've been following this for a long time, and there's a lot of good people that have been working in this, and it's truly a grass-roots victory, and so we're really excited about it."]
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CWA: GAO Report on Plan B Finds What Parents Would Want – FDA Handled Controversial Drug With Great Caution
Concerned Women for America
11/14/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9462/MEDIA/life/index.htm
Washington, D.C.—Concerned Women for America (CWA) commended the Food & Drug Administration for treating with great concern the application to make the morning-after pill Plan B available over-the-counter (OTC), as found in a report released today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
“Making Plan B over-the-counter would needlessly expose adolescents to risks and reduce access to health care to those in need of it,” said Wendy Wright, CWA’s Executive Vice President. “The debate is whether it should be available without a prescription. Barr Labs never bothered to adequately research whether it could be taken safely by the full population who would purchase it from drugstore shelves. And proponents make false claims – which their own studies refute – that it would halve the number of pregnancies and abortions.
“Thankfully, the FDA’s leadership did what others refused to do – consider whether a drug’s easy availability would present unique health risks to women and girls.
“The FDA was asked to make a high dose of a drug available OTC when the low dose requires a prescription. Doctors screen women for medical conditions before prescribing the morning-after pill and check for conditions that a woman may not realize she’s acquired which can lead to infertility and death.
“The FDA should consider that its decision to make a drug as easy to get as toothpaste could lead to a proliferation of deadly sexually transmitted diseases.”
[More at URL]
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Wal-Mart Skirts Christmas Boycott
Concerned Women for America
11/14/2005
By Martha Kleder
Activists protested the chain’s expunging of Christmas from seasonal promotions.
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9461/CFI/freedom/index.htm
Wal-Mart headquarters has deflated a controversy over Christmas that had escalated into a boycott.
The retailer has issued an apology for a bizarre e-mail about the origins of Christmas from a temporary customer-service associate and modified the search function of its online retail arm walmart.com, which only added fuel to the fire.
This year Wal-Mart began its seasonal promotions earlier than ever, with television ads beginning November 1. The all-out push, starting well before Thanksgiving, was an attempt by the retail giant to establish its stores as the main destination for holiday shopping. That campaign is also the first time the retailer has featured celebrities in its ads, recruiting Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, Destiny’s Child, Jesse McCartney and Queen Latifa.
Ever responsive to its customers, Wal-Mart also modified its store displays to encompass all seasonal celebrations.
“As a retailer, we recognize some of our customers may be shopping for Hanukkah or Kwanzaa gifts during this time of year and we certainly want these customers in our stores and to feel welcome, just as we do those buying for Christmas,” Dan Fogleman, Senior Manager, Public Relations, wrote.
[More at URL]
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High-Tech "Birth Control": Health Care or Health Risk?
Concerned Women for America
November 2005
http://www.cwfa.org/brochures/birth-control.pdf
In the past 35 years, various chemicals and devices that manipulate women's reproductive systems have come on the medical scene. Women need to know precisely what they do and what risks they present.
[Much more at URL; a large number of systems, from the pill to IUDs to advanced implant systems, are discussed; all are described as causing abortions.]
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GOP hopefuls told to vote yes on Alito
The Washington Times
November 12, 2005
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20051112-124500-4410r.htm
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Conservative activists in Iowa have served notice for 2008 presidential hopefuls: Oppose Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. at your own peril.
Several of the state's most influential conservative groups called for fair hearings and a quick vote on President Bush's nominee to the high court. "It is our hope that through this process you too will recognize Judge Alito's impeccable qualifications and vote to confirm," the groups said in a public letter.
The letter was addressed to potential Republican candidates. Among the signees were the state representatives from the Christian Coalition, Iowans for Tax Relief, Concerned Women for America, the Iowa Family Policy Center, Eagle Forum and Marriage Matters.
The activists made it clear they will be paying close attention to the vote on Judge Alito's nomination.
[More at URL]
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Pro-Life Groups Still Conflicted About Samuel Alito on Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 11, 2005
http://www.lifenews.com/nat1793.html
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Most pro-life groups have come out in full support of Samuel Alito's nomination to replace outgoing pro-abortion Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. Some organizations remain concerned about some of Alito's rulings and they say no one knows for sure how Alito would rule on a case to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Richard Collier, president of the Legal Center for the Defense of Life, was one of several pro-life advocates to share his concerns with the Associated Press.
"I don't know what his personal views are, but I know that he has ruled on pro-life cases four times and he has ruled against pro-life positions three times," Collier said.
The National Right to Life Committee cites the rulings as well for its decision not to endorse Alito.
"In examining his record, there are four principal abortion-related cases," the group's website states. "Judge Alito voted in favor of the pro-life side once and against it three times."
[More at URL]
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Mifepristone (RU-486): Fatal Infections Linked to Abortion Drug's Suppression of Immune System
Family Research Council
by: Mr. Christopher M. Gacek
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=CU05K15&f=PG03I03
Where there's smoke, there's fire. Smoke appeared four months ago when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) heightened RU-486's "Black Box Warning" to physicians based on the drug's dangerous tendency to produce severe infections or sepsis. Now a fire is clearly visible: last Friday the FDA notified medical professionals that all four U.S. sepsis fatalities linked to RU-486 abortions tested positive for an anaerobic bacterial strain, Clostridium sordellii. Furthermore, a Canadian woman died similarly in 2001.
C. sordellii belongs to the same group of pathogenic bacteria that secrete tetanus toxin and botulinal toxin (i.e., botulism); this particular bacterial strain produces Lethal Toxin. Mifepristone short circuits the body's ability to repel C. sordellii. Septic shock can result and is often fatal.
In women of childbearing age, rapidly and intensely developing lethal infections caused by C. sordellii were rare and exclusively associated with postpartum infections prior to FDA's approval of mifepristone. Since septic shock syndrome due to C. sordellii has not been reported in surgical abortions, the occurrence of these five deaths within four years argues strongly that these deaths are not random events. One scientist has plausibly described this syndrome as "mifepristone-induced septic shock," whereby young, healthy women die shortly after taking the drug.
How many more women have to die before FDA extinguishes this murderous fire and pulls RU-486 from the market?
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"Disadvantaged" Homosexuals Buy Luxury Cars to Back Activism
Family Research Council
Issue No.: 26
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=CU05K13&f=PG03I03
Pro-homosexual activists are fond of arguing that homosexuals are routinely the victims of employment-related "discrimination." Such claims might be supported if research could demonstrate that homosexuals (like, for example, blacks or women) have lower incomes than the average worker, but such evidence has been hard to come by. In fact, some marketing studies have suggested that homosexuals actually have higher disposable incomes than heterosexuals.
[More at URL] [Ed. Note: the survey all these groups use - at least typically - was not scientific; it was a self-selected reader survey of an upscale gay magazine, taken in the early 90s. It would be similar to taking a survey of New Yorker readers and assuming that's typical of the American population as a whole. The last statistically-sampled study I saw indicated an income penalty for being queer. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was nontrivial for gay males, and pretty serious for lesbians. However, the "<target group> is RICH and TAKING YOUR MONEY and LAUGHING AT YOU ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK as they RIP YOU OFF!" has a long history as a propaganda tool, so, well, there you go.]
