NEWS & EVENTS

On December 10, 2008 – the 60th. anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – a petition signed by more than 437,000 individuals from 168 countries was presented at the UN headquarters in New York urging member states to return to the original understanding of the Declaration as protecting the right to life and the natural family.

Present were Carlo Cassini, a member of the European Parliament and the petition’s originator, , a member of the Honduran Congress, Pawel Wosicki, president of the Polish Federation of Pro-Life Movements, Leszek Bosek, president of the Academia Iuris Foundation in Poland, and Noelia Gracia Ayuyela, communications director of the Institute for Family Policy in Madrid – as well Wendy Wright, Beverly Rice and Austin Ruse. The latter are respectively the presidents of Concerned Women for America, United Families International and the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. All three organizations are World Congress of Families Partners.

The petition reminds the UN that Article 3 of UDHR acknowledges a universal right to life. (When the Declaration was negotiated, pro-life nations like Chile and Lebanon blocked efforts to remove application to the unborn.) Article 16 states: “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state.” Article 26 affirms that parents have a right to determine how their children will be educated.

The petition challenged a move by several member states, including France, to promulgate artificial rights including so-called “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” which would undermine the natural family and attack traditional morality.

The delegation presenting the petition was received by the UN missions of the Czech Republic, Poland, the Philippines, the Holy See, Uganda, Fiji, Belize and the United States.

On December 11, Cassini and Anna Zaborska (Member of the European Union Parliament for Slovakia) held a press conference in Brussels to announce that they had sent a similar petition, signed by 5.4 million families, to the United Nations. The signatures were collected over the course of a year by the Familiokratos Coalition.

Zaborska (chairwoman of the EU Committee on Women’s Rights) commented: “The family is where we learn that the authentic role of the state is to serve its people, and not to reinvent humanity along the lines of some artificial ideology. The first and last sign of the approach of totalitarianism is the collapse of the family.”

Paul Weyrich, a prominent leader of the American conservative movement for over 35 years and a good friend of World Congress of Families, died on December 18, 2008 at age 66. During his years in Washington, Paul founded both the Free Congress Foundation (an organization he headed since 1974) and the Heritage Foundation, America’s premier free-market think tank.

Paul is credited with being the impetus behind the religious right – a significant force for pro-life/pro-family values since the late 1970s. After the demise of the Soviet Union, Paul traveled extensively in the Russian Federation and neighboring states organizing training courses which enabled activists to more effectively promote democracy and human rights.

From the outset, Paul supported World Congress of Families, noting that WCF had “set up an international operation with the ability to confront the forces of darkness wherever they show themselves, in whatever part of the world.” Paul was a deacon in the Melkite Greek Eparchy, a conservative Catholic Church. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, their five children and 15 grandchildren.

The Second International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide will focus on building an effective, unified movement to stop the worldwide advance of the death lobby.

The Symposium will be held May 29 - 30, 2009 at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, Virginia near the Washington DC - Dulles Airport.

Co-Sponsors are: Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, Physicians for Compassionate Care - US, Care Not Killing Alliance - UK, Not Dead Yet - US, No Less Human - UK, Vermont Alliance for Ethical Health Care, Compassionate Health Care Network - Canada, Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation - US, ALERT – UK and The Institute for the Study of Disability and Bioethics - US.

Speakers will include: Rita Marker - International Task Force, Wesley Smith - International Task Force, Alex Schadenberg - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Dr. Margaret Cottle - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Dr. Bob Orr - Vermont Alliance for Ethical Health Care, Dr. William Toffler - Physicians for Compassionate Care, Dr. Mark Mostert - Institute for the Study of Disability and Bioethics, Dr. Peter Saunders - Care Not Killing Alliance, Allison Davis - No Less Human, Colin Harte - ALERT, Diane Coleman & Stephen Drake - Not Dead Yet, Bobby Schindler - Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, and Randy Richardson - Life for Lauren, Lionel & Renate Roosemont – Belgium.

Registration -- $199 for a regular registration, $139 for a student or a person with a disability. Registration includes two lunches and one dinner. The room rate at the National Conference Center includes the cost for at least two breakfasts. Attendance limited to 400.

Click here for the Symposium Schedule

Contact the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
(a World Congress of Families Partner) at: info@epcc.ca

The first International Symposium was held in Toronto, November 30-December 2, 2007 and drew an overflow crowd of 320.

In its war on family, faith and morality, the cultural left will never admit defeat. Despite the passage of Proposition 8 in California (amending the state’s constitution to limit marriage to “a man and a woman”) supporters of so-called gay marriage have gone to court to nullify the will of the people.

In 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22, a statute protecting marriage. In May 2008, four judges of the California Supreme Court overturned the 2000 law, ruling that samesex marriage is a “fundamental right.” Pro-family activists collected 1.2 million signatures to qualify a ballot question to amend the California Constitution protecting marriage as it has been defined for the past two millennia.

On Nov. 4, 2008, despite opposition by the governor, legislature, courts and media, Proposition 8 passed with the support of 5.38 million voters (52% of the vote).

Now, proponents of homosexual marriage want the California Supreme Court to declare the voter-enacted amendment unconstitutional. Their rationale: When the state’s high court says a right is in the constitution (even if its pronouncement is absurd) voters can’t block enforcement. State Attorney General Jerry Brown has aligned himself with the forces seeking to overturn Prop 8. Proponents have enlisted Kenneth Starr, former U.S. Solicitor General, who led the investigation of then- President Bill Clinton. The California Supreme Court could hear the case as early as March.

America’s cultural elite is determined to have gay marriage whatever the cost and despite the manifest will of the people. To date, marriage protection amendments have passed in 30 states, everywhere they’ve appeared on the ballot.

The First European Catholic-Orthodox Forum – which focused on the family – took place in Trent, Italy, December 10-14, 2008. The meeting involved 30 delegates from the Orthodox Churches, European Bishops Conference and the Vatican.

Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfejev said the Forum’s goal, “above all, was to start clear and effective communications between our churches so that we are aware that we face the same challenges (secularism, consumerism, atheism, etc.).” Cardinal Peter Erdo, the Primate of Hungary, added that the family is “a fundamental good for the whole society.” The Cardinal noted that : “Unfortunately, today the family is often threatened by an egotistic, relativistic culture focused exclusively on material well-being.” In its statement, “The Family: A Good for Humanity,” the Forum declared: “The banking, financial and economic crisis of today is one indicator of a major turning point in our global and European society. We are all rightly concerned. But another vital turning point is the crisis in regard to the family. The demographic trends alone in Europe are clear signals of a crisis much greater than the financial one.”

The statement reaffirms Christian support for the natural family (where sex is sanctified in marriage), and condemned homosexual relations, fornication, adultery, marital infidelity and abortion.

Click to read the full text of The First Catholic-Orthodox Forum’s Statement on the Family.

Click for a trailer of “Demographic Winter: the decline of the human family.”

On December 10, 2008, both houses of Congress passed The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.

Trafficking in human persons – mostly women and children and frequently involving forced prostitution – is a global epidemic. The U.S. State Department estimates that each year 600,000 to 800,000 individuals are trafficked across national borders. Millions more are trafficked within their own countries. According to the U.S. State Department: “People are snared into trafficking by many means. In some cases, physical force is used. In other cases, false promises are made regarding job opportunities or marriages in foreign countries to ensnare victims.”

Among other provisions, the bill directs the Secretary of State to establish within his department an Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking.

The Southern Baptist Convention and Concerned Women for America (a WCF Partner) were heavily involved in lobbying and mobilizing grass-roots support for the bill. Its passage also marks a personal triumph for Dr. Janice Crouse, Senior Fellow and director of CWA’s Beverly LaHaye Institute and a member of the World Congress of Families Management Committee. Dr. Crouse has been a tireless and eloquent crusader to raise awareness of the tragedy of human trafficking.

1. The Election of Barack Obama – Along with Secretary of State Designate Hillary Clinton, expect a sea-change in U.S. policy regarding the family, both at home and internationally. The U.S. delegation to the United Nations, which has been resolutely prolife and pro-family under Bush, is expected to turn 180 degrees under Obama and Clinton (both dogmatically pro-abortion and anti- In place of our regular feature, “Family News From Around The Globe,” here is a special report on the Top Ten Best and Worst Developments Impacting on the Family in 2008. traditional marriage). Obama’s judicial appointments are expected to mirror his anti-family mentality.

2. Mexican Supreme Court Backs Mexico City Abortion Law – Dismissing a suit brought by opponents, including the nation’s attorney general, the Mexican Supreme Court upheld a measure passed by the legislature of the Federal District legalizing abortion in Mexico City. In so doing, the court ignored a provision in the Mexican Constitution guaranteeing a right to life from fertilization.

3. Luxembourg and Washington State Legalize Assisted Suicide – Luxembourg is poised to become the fourth country in Europe to legalize doctor-assisted suicide, over the protests of Grand Duke Henri. Voters in Washington State passed a referendum legalizing assisted suicide in the state. The march of death continues.

4. German Persecution of Home-Schooling Families —Under a law passed by the Nazis, the German government continues to persecute parents who home-school their children. Children have been removed from parental homes and placed in foster care. (The state considers home-schooling a form of neglect.). Families have been forced to flee the country. There’s concern that Germany might be a trendsetter for other European states. In March, the California Second District Court of Appeal handed down a decision which would have effectively made home-schooling impossible in the state. The ruling was later overturned.

5. OAS Passes “Sexual-Orientation” Resolution -- At its June 3 session in Colombia, the Organization of American States passed a “Resolution on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.” The resolution urges member states to take unspecified steps to end “violence and discrimination” based on sexual orientation and “gender identity” (men who think they’re women and vice versa). Does discrimination based on sexual orientation include opposition to “gay marriage” and lowering the age of consent? This is another effort to criminalize dissent from the homosexual agenda.

6. Brazilian President Calls Opposition to Homosexuality A “Perverse Disease” – On September 17, Brazilian President Luiz Lula said ending the lives of unborn children should be a “public health issue” – in other words, abortion is a public good and health benefit to the nation. Speaking at Brazil’s First National Conference of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals this summer, Lula said that what he calls “homophobia” is “the most perverse disease impregnated in the human head” – apparently, worse than racism, anti-Semitism or an ingrained hatred of Christianity. That the leader of a nation as large as Brazil feels comfortable taking such extreme positions is an ominous sign of the times.

7. UNFPA Nigeria Meeting Pushes Abortion In the Guise of Women’s Health – At a meeting in Sokoto, Nigeria (July 16-27) for 270 of the continent’s tribal and religious leaders, the United Nations Population Fund sought to enlist African leaders in its drive for universal abortion on demand. Under the deceptive slogan “No One Should Die Giving Life,” UNFPA equated pregnancy with a disease – in an effort to co-opt medical science for a political cause and foreclose a debate on the moral dimensions of abortion.

8. In France, Most Births Out-of-Wedlock – Most births in France are now out-of-wedlock – 50.5%, up from 40% a decade ago. In Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Bulgaria, births to unmarried couples have also passed the 50% mark. At 44%, the United Kingdom isn’t far behind. Guy Desplanques, head of the French agency that compiles demographic data, comments, “Marriage is now seen more as a celebration held to bring together family and friends, and less a necessary institution, especially given the growth of civil unions.” There are now more civil unions than marriages registered in France each year. Where did young people get the idea that marriage is optional? – from the culture and the state.

9. Australian Prof Proposes “Baby Tax” – As if government hasn’t made childrearing difficult enough, Barry Walters has proposed a one-time baby levy of $5,000 and an annual “carbon tax” of up to $800 for families with more than two children. Writing in the Medical Journal of Australia, Walters – a clinical professor of obstetric medicine at the University of Western Australia – explained that the taxes are based on projected lifetime energy use and are intended to counter global warming. (Many bad ideas originate in the minds of college professors.) Given the worldwide decline of birthrates – which could lead to severe population decline in this century – it’s hard to imagine a dumber proposal. Save the polar bears – to heck with the people.

10. Queen’s Representative In Canada Celebrates Androgyny – Canada’s Governor General Michaelle Jean has hung a 20-ft. mural in Rideau Hall (where Canada’s prime minister and cabinet members are sworn in) celebrating androgyny -- the condition of having both male and female organs or characteristics. The mural supposedly represents the Okanagan tribe. According to the Governor General’s website, “In many native tribes, the order of life learning is that you are born without sex as a child; through learning, you move toward full capacity as either a male or female.” The Canadian gay lobbying group Eagle has pledged to fight “the discriminatory practice of labeling children male or female at birth.” Jean isn’t just another gender deconstructionist, but a gender deconstructionist who is the British monarch’s representative in Canada, as well as head of state and commander of the armed forces.

TABLE of CONTENTS

Petitions Demand UN Remain Faithful
To UDHR, Respect Life And Family

In Memoriam, Paul M. Weyrich

Second International Symposium
 on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide,
May 29-30

California Prop. 8 – The Fight Continues

Catholic-Orthodox Forum Issues Statement On The Family

Anti-Sex Trafficking Law Passes

Best and Worst Developments
Affecting the Family in 2008

WCF: Profiles in Leadership

WCF Welcomes
Two New Partners to Its Growing List
 of Allied Organizations

  Join Us In AMSTERDAM:
 10-12 AUGUST 2009

 Thank you to all WCF Co-Sponsors
for your continuing support.

CALENDAR

April 25 – Larry Jacobs will address the Illinois Lutherans for Life conference, on Demographic Winter.

May 29-30 – Second International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in Washington, D.C.

June 4-7 – World Congress of Families Dialogue of Civilizations in Abuja, Nigeria

August 10-12 – World Congress of Families V in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

November 6-7 – Pro-Life World Congress, Saragossa, Spain www.saragoza2009.org

May 24-26, 2010 – Global Summit on the Family, in Moscow (tentative)

This continues our regular feature celebrating the women and men who have contributed to the growing success of the international pro-family movement.

Jennifer A. Marshall

As Director of Domestic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, Jennifer A. Marshall oversees research in areas that determine the character of our culture: education, marriage, family, religion, and civil society. Marshall directs the think tank's Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society and manages familyfacts.org, an online catalog of social science research relating to family and religious practice. Marshall also works with other Heritage analysts to explore how moral values and civil society relate to issues like limited government, consumer-driven health care, and foreign policy. Her papers often reflect this integrated approach, covering topics like the patients' freedom of conscience in health care, or the case against United Nations' involvement in social issues. Marshall has spoken at national and international forums, testified before Congress, and appeared on radio and television shows, such as C-SPAN's premier talk show, "Washington Journal" and Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes." Marshall is the author of Now and Not Yet: Making Sense of Single Life in the Twenty-First Century (Multnomah Publishers, June 2007). The book evaluates the cultural, practical, and spiritual issues that marriage-minded young women confront as the age of first marriage continues to rise in America. Before joining Heritage in 2003, Marshall worked on cultural policy issues at Empower America, another Washington-based think tank. Before that, she was Senior Director of Family Studies at the Family Research Council and taught at an American school in Lyon, France. Marshall holds a master's degree in statecraft and world politics from the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor's degree in French from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., where she also earned teacher's certification. She lives in Arlington, Va. Marshall attended WCF IV, at which the Hertitage Foundation was an exhibitor. Click here to purchase “Now And Not Yet.” Click here for familyfacts.org

Past president of the LDS Relief Society, Mary Ellen Wood Smoot attended Utah State University and was later honored with an “Outstanding Alumni Award.”

She served on the board of Utah’s South Davis Community Hospital for 20 years and watched the expansion of a retirement center called Barton Creek and an Alzheimers Hospital named Orchard Cove. She was also chairman of the board at Orchard Cove., a position from which she recently retired.

Mary Ellen and her husband Stanley M. Smoot were Directors of Church Hosting for Utah’s centennial. They hosted many world leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachav and Lady Margaret Thatcher, when they came to Utah to meet with members of the LDS Church. In this capacity, they handled the visits of celebrities and government officials for four years.

Stanley Smoot was a county commissioner who served on a national board and later became National President of the County Officials Association of America.

In 2007 Mary Ellen became President of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a position in which she served until quite recently. The Relief Society has nearly five million members worldwide. Its focus is mutual support, education and service to others.

During the time she served as President of the Relief Society, Mrs. Smoot delivered coats and quilts to Kosovo refugees, including over 300,000 quilts. She and her associates visited the refugees and delivered items to keep them warm -- as they were striving to rebuild homes that were destroyed -- and make them comfortable for the winter.

In 1998, Mary Ellen went to Rome, to help plan World Congress of Families II, held in Geneva, Switzerland in 1999. She spoke at the Congress on “Suggestions to Strengthen Families.”

The following year, she and her husband went to Caracas, Venezuela to assist in planning the next Congress, which was postponed due to the 9/11 attacks.

She participated in the International Selection Committee for World Congress of Families V, and is a member of the International Planning Committee for the Amsterdam Congress.

Mary Ellen Smoot and her husband Stanley have seven children, 51 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Click here for Mary Ellen Smoot’s speech to World Congress of Families II.

In This Issue, World Congress of Families Welcomes
Two New Partners to Its Growing List of Allied Organizations

Family Watch International

Founded in 1999, Family Watch International (FWI) is a nonprofit, organization with members in over 80 countries. Its mission is to stem the tide of family disintegration through education, policy advocacy, and family-based humanitarian aid. FWI is non-sectarian and not affiliated with any political party.

FYI works at the United Nations and in countries around the world educating the public and policymakers regarding the centrality of the family. It also provides aid to orphans and vulnerable children.

Family Watch takes a social science and evidence-based approach to family policy by using peer-reviewed studies, scientific data, and expert testimony to affect family issues.

Its “I Stand for the Family” electronic petition identifies and organizes people through the Internet to affect family policy. Its goal is to recruit 1,000 family advocates in every country whom it can contact with a click of a mouse to affect family policies as needed.

FWI’s 2009 goals include: 1. Defending traditional marriage in court cases and legislatures worldwide 2. Defending the family at five vital upcoming UN conferences 3.Publishing and disseminating its new book, “Stand for the Family,” to equip family advocates with evidence-based data to aid them in defending marriage and the family. 4. Educating the public, the media and policymakers on the true nature of homosexuality by countering the myth that homosexual attraction is inborn and unchangeable 5. Publishing family policy briefs on key issues such as “gender identity and expression” policies and 6. Completing production and premiering its new documentary “The Worldwide Assault on the Family: Exposed.”

To join FWI’s global movement for the family, click here.

Petition signers receive the weekly “Family Watch” e-newsletter, Click here for the latest issue.

Click here for FWI’s humanitarian web site.

To see its award-winning documentary on orphans and international adoption click here.

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) was founded in 1999 in response to political and social changes that appeared to be moving towards legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada. The media’s general support for “mercy killing,” and concern that the courts would either strike down or weaken legal protections for the most vulnerable, led to establishing an organization with a singular focus on euthanasia, assisted suicide and other end-of-life issues.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition effectively presents a unified voice to governments, cultural organizations and the public. EPC educates and organizes groups and individuals who oppose the social and political pressure to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide.

EPC believes social pressure to legalize “mercy killing” needs to be countered by an informed public opposition. This means building a knowledgeable and active base while also promoting caring options.

EPC partners with groups that represent people with disabilities, who often experience a lifetime of social devaluation. If euthanasia and/or assisted suicide become legal they will lead to the deaths of the most vulnerable through subtle and covert social pressure based on negative attitudes that have become ingrained within society.

EPC believes: 1. Euthanasia and assisted suicide is not about autonomy but rather it is about the rules that exist pertaining to whether or not society will allow people’s lives to be ended at their most vulnerable time. 2. Suicide can be related to autonomy, but assisted suicide and euthanasia necessitate the direct involvement of another person, eliminating the autonomous nature. 3. End-of-life decisions are usually influenced by family members and care-givers who will subtly pressure others based on ideology and feelings related to a “quality of life” ethic.

Recognizing the need for a unified direction in Europe and North America, in 2006, EPC adopted an international focus. The Coalition held The First International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (Nov. 30-Dec. 1) in Toronto. Attendance was 320, with speakers from Australia, the U.K., the Netherlands, Canada and the U.S. -- including Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schiavo. The second international Symposium will be held in Lansdowne, VA. May 29-30. (See news story in this issue.)

Click here for the EPCC website

“We oppose any attempt to legalize euthanasia or assisted suicide, or any legislation that will lead to further devaluing of human life.” 1-877-439-3348 (Toll-free) • www.epcc.ca • info@epcc.ca