Family Research Council

Mind-Boggling Abortion Statistics from China

by Chris Gacek

March 18, 2013

The Financial Times has been doing excellent reporting related to Chinese demographics problems.  Of particular interest is China’s aging population which has been brought about in large measure to its zero-growth population policies that have been in place since the 1970s.  The most important aspect of these policies is the “one-child policy” which mandates forced abortions and sterilizations.

In a front-page article in the FT’s weekend edition Simon Rabinovitch, a reporter in the paper’s Beijing bureau, presented population data obtained from the Chinese health ministry:

China’s one-child policy has been the subject of a heated debate about its economic consequences as the population ages. Forced abortions and sterilisations have also been criticised by human rights campaigners such as Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal activist who sought refuge at the US embassy in Beijing last year.

China first introduced measures to limit the size of the population in 1971, encouraging couples to have fewer children. The one-child rule, with exceptions for ethnic minorities and some rural families, was implemented at the end of the decade.

Since 1971, doctors have performed 336m abortions and 196m sterilisations, the data reveal. They have also inserted 403m intrauterine devices, a normal birth control procedure in the west but one that local officials often force on women in China.  (my emphasis).

The magnitude of these figures is staggering.  By comparison, at present there are 315 million people living in the United States.  Rabinovitch does not really tell where the data came from within the Chinese government, but these are pretty specific numbers that make sense.  In short, we are talking about a maximum of 336 million Chinese who would be under the age of 42 – the peak working years.

The Often Ignored Global Crisis

by Krystle Gabele

January 8, 2013

Every day upon arriving at work, I open my internet browser only to find news on the economic crisis or what celebrity got busted for a criminal act.  It is kind of alarming, when the media forgets to shed light on a global crisis, such as human trafficking.

According to a recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal acts worldwide.  It is a crime that impacts men, women, and children around the world, whether it is through prostitution rings, forced labor, or even the trafficking of human organs.  

This weekend, there will be a prayer effort across religious denominations to bring awareness to human trafficking.  Weekend of Prayer will take place January 11-13, and it is a time to pray for the victims and survivors of this horrible criminal act.  It is time to lift those who have been impacted by human trafficking and bring awareness to this issue.

Also, Family Research Council is having a panel discussion on human trafficking and what can be done to prevent this crime from occurring around the world.  Former Congresswoman Linda Smith, President of Shared Hope International, and Mark Blackwell, Founder and President of Justice Ministries will discuss how state legislatures can enact stronger laws to address human trafficking and what you can do to bring awareness to this vital issue.

No man, woman, or child should ever have to go through what the victims of human trafficking endure.  It is time to stand strong for human dignity.

Racism at the Times

by Rob Schwarzwalder

December 20, 2012

Tim Scott, an African-American, serves as a Congressman from South Carolina. He has been designated by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) as the successor to retiring Sen. Jim DeMint, who is leaving the Senate to lead the Heritage Foundation.

John Steele Gordon is a historian widely recognized for his erudition. He wrote for that notorious conservative rag American Heritage (yes, that’s sarcasm) for 18 years.

Mr. Gordon has written about Rep. Scott’s appointment to the U.S. Senate in response to a shocking article by University of Pennsylvania professor Adolph L. Reed Jr. Writing in today’s New York Times, Mr. Reed conveys near apoplexy that such persons as black Republicans exist, let alone that one was appointed to the nation’s highest legislative body. As Mr. Gordon summarizes, “If you’re black but not liberal, in Professor Reed’s worldview, then you’re not really black.”

That’s why Mr. Gordon has titled his article on Mr. Reed’s remarks “Racism at the (New York) Times.” It is well worth taking a few minutes to read.

Suggesting that one’s race should incline him to a particular political point of view is tantamount to saying that almost all Russians must have innate Communist sympathies, or that their experience in life has been so universally consonant that for them to affirm political liberty as a value is incongruous.

I don’t think even the group-thinkers at the Times would argue that. Well, I don’t think they would …

Celebrating a Turning Point in the Perception of Intellectual Disability

by Cathy Ruse

December 19, 2012

On December 6, 1962, Jérôme Lejeune received the first Kennedy Prize from President John F. Kennedy for his discovery of the genetic cause of Down syndrome and his care for those with genetic intellectual disabilities. This December marked the 50^th anniversary of that event.

The story of Trisomy 21, the genetic disorder that causes Down syndrome, is remarkable, and follows the life of a remarkable man. The following excerpts are taken from an article I wrote with my husband, Austin Ruse, which appeared in The Catholic Thing on December 16, 2011:

In 1958, Jerome Lejeune was a thirty-two-year-old geneticist working in a Parisian laboratory when he discovered the genetic marker for Down syndrome. Only two years before, scientists had discovered that the human species possessed forty-six chromosomes. Lejeune was able to count forty-seven chromosomes in children with Down syndrome. He went on to discover several other chromosomal anomalies including Cri du Chat Syndrome.

His work was hailed around the world. He received the Kennedy Prize in 1963 from the hand of President Kennedy himself. He received the William Allen Memorial Award, the highest honor in genetics. His work formed the foundation for whole new fields of genetic research.

And then, the horrific irony. A method for diagnosing Down syndrome in utero was developed, abortion was decriminalized, and it became open season on unborn babies with intellectual disabilities. His discovery led to a holocaust.

Lejeune spent the rest of this life fighting this holocaust. And for this he lost almost all of his worldly prestige. He and his family received death threats. A well-deserved Nobel Prize never materialized.

None of this mattered. For Lejeune, what mattered was the children:  “I see only one way left to save them, and that is to cure them.”  He dedicated his life to finding a cure for Trisomy 21 and spent his final days traveling the world giving lectures about the dignity of the human person, no matter how small, no matter the location, no matter how disabled.

Lejeune died of lung cancer in 1994. Just before that, his friend John Paul the Great created the Pontifical Academy for Life and named Lejeune its first president. When he died, John Paul prayed at Lejeune’s grave in France.

The Lejeune Foundation calls the Kennedy Prize “a turning point in the perception of persons with intellectual disabilities.” It was Lejeune’s discovery, and President Kennedy’s recognition, “that began to free persons with trisomy 21 of the stigma they had previously carried from their birth.”

In his speech at the award dinner that evening, President Kennedy said intellectual disability had been “hidden under social disadvantages” and “considered a mark against the parents.” But “it was really a disease, or a difficulty, or a challenge to which few people gave their attention. Now we hope that it will come out into the bright light. And will be given the same sort of attention as cancer and heart disease and all the rest which afflict our people.”

The Jérôme Lejeune Foundation recently opened an office in the United States.  Please see the organization’s website for more information.

Campus Diversity? “Gay” Trumps Black, Female, Christian

by Peter Sprigg

December 19, 2012

The restrictions on freedom imposed by pro-homosexual political correctness grew tighter this week. A 3-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the University of Toledo’s 2008 firing of Crystal Dixon for writing an opinion piece questioning comparisons between the civil rights movement and the homosexual movement.

Dixon was Associate Vice President for Human Resources, and had been promoted several times and received excellent performance appraisals in the years she had served at the University of Toledo. All that changed, however, in April of 2008. First the editor of the Toledo Free Press published a rather simplistic opinion piece saying that he has friends who are gay, and therefore does not understand why anyone would oppose the “gay rights” agenda. Dixon wrote her piece in response, and it was published on April 18, 2008.

Dixon, never identifying who she worked for, began by affirming that “human beings, regardless of their choices in life, are of ultimate value to God and should be viewed the same by others.” This could hardly be taken as endorsing “discrimination” against anyone.

Dixon then went on:

As a Black woman who happens to be an alumnus of the University of Toledo’s GraduateSchool, an employee and business owner, I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are “civil rights victims.” Here’s why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. I am genetically and biologically a Black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended.

In contrast, Dixon wrote, “thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle.”

Dixon concluded with a statement of her religious convictions:

There is a divine order. God created human kind male and female (Genesis 1:27)… . There are consequences for each of our choices, including those who violate God’s divine order… . Daily, Jesus Christ is radically transforming the lives of both straight and gay folks and bringing them into a life of wholeness: spiritually, psychologically, physically and even economically. That is the ultimate right.

Dixon’s immediate supervisor immediately told her that people had complained about what she wrote. Three days later, Dixon was suspended; on May 12, she was informed that her employment was being terminated.

With the help of the Thomas More Law Center, Dixon sued. Citizens do not forfeit their constitutional rights when they become employees of a government agency (such as the University). While private employers have more discretion in terms of what conduct they permit or prohibit, public employers are bound to respect the exercise of constitutional rights unless it interferes with the individual’s job or the mission of the institution.

Crystal Dixon’s case appears to be a clear violation of her right to free speech. She expressed her personal and religious opinion on an issue of public concern in a forum unrelated to her work, and did so without identifying her employers. For her to be fired under these circumstances would appear to be a clear case of “viewpoint discrimination,” which the law does not permit.

However, the Court of Appeals accepted the University’s argument that her statements did interfere with her work, reasoning that they call into question her commitment, as a Human Resources officer, to enforcing non-discrimination policies that include “sexual orientation.” Yet Dixon had not criticized or even commented upon these university policies, and had never been accused of failing to enforce them. (Her only comment about the university in the opinion piece was one defending its efforts to equalize benefits for all employees.) The record even showed that Dixon had personally hired homosexual employees.

In the brave new world of pro-homosexual political correctness, it is not enough to do what the PC police demand. One must also say and even think the right things, or one’s career may be in jeopardy.

What really lost at the Sixth Circuit was freedom. That much is Crystal clear.

A Very Un-merry Christmas for Nigerian Believers - and What You Can Do

by Rob Schwarzwalder

December 18, 2012

The term “Boko Haram” has a distinctly non-English sound to it.  Rightly so, as it is the name of an Islamic terrorist group in Northern Nigeria.

Literally meaning “Western/book learning is evil,” this radical Muslim sect is committed to creating an Islamic, Sharia law-based society in Nigeria.  To that end, the Boko Haram have bombed and burned hundreds of churches over the past decade; they are truly ecumenical, as their targets are both Catholic and Protestant.

Since its inception in 2001, the British Broadcasting Company reports that Boko Haram has murdered as many as 10,000 people, men, women, and children.  Anyone professing Christianity is ripe for death in the twisted minds of Boko Haram’s members.  As with their unconcern with denominations, they are equal-opportunity killers of all ages.

Despite their unvarnished record fanatical brutality, the U.S. State Department has not been willing to declare Boko Haram a “foreign terrorist organization.”  Although State has designated several Boko Haram leaders as terrorists, its view of the movement itself seems more benign.  Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson, testifying before FRC’s great friend U.S. Rep. Chris Smith’s House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, sought to draw distinctions within Boko Haram – even though, after doing so, he called the group a “terrorist organization.”

Why is this important?  In the words of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney Benjamin Bull, “Such a designation triggers a variety of legal sanctions against the terrorist organization including freezing bank accounts, outlawing transfer of funds to support the group, expelling or arresting its members or associates in the U.S, and imposing sanctions on countries that provide support for the group.”

Yet the State Department’s Jason Small, deputy director of the Office of West African Affairs, argues that “We (the U.S.) are very concerned about how the designation would be received in northern Nigeria. We continue to make a strong case with the government; there are legitimate grievances people have in the northern states, they need to have a comprehensive government response, a more professionalized security response.”

“Legitimate grievances?”  So profound that they justify murdering mourners at funerals, driving car-bombs into church buildings, and burning people alive?  Even for those of us used to the slimy rhetorical ooze that masquerades as diplomatic tact, this is too much.  Two months ago, the Boko Haram admitted its mission is nothing more than the violent overthrow of the Nigerian government and the end of Nigerian Christianity:

A Boko Haram spokesman has declared war on Nigeria’s government, the security services, and the country’s Christians. “I enjoy killing anyone that (Allah) commands me to kill the way I enjoy killing chickens and rams,” the spokesman said in a video released online.

Last month, FRC President Tony Perkins joined with our allies at ADF and the Jubilee Campaign, a Christian human rights organization, in signing a petition calling on our State Department finally to label the Boko Haram what it is, a foreign terrorist organization, and thereby helping to de-fund and arrest the spread of this vicious movement.

 You can join Tony and FRC in signing this petition by going to the Jubilee Campaign’s website.  Please join us in standing with Nigerian Christians whose only crime is their faith, whose only failing is remaining steadfast.

“We are not cookie-cutter…”

by Jessica Prol

November 30, 2012

“We are not cookie-cutter…” That’s just one phrase that’s hit me from Shared Hope International’s annual conference. I’ve spent much of yesterday and today surrounded by heroes. Some of these heroes who have survived years of sexual abuse as a young child. Others, are dedicating their lives to counseling, mentoring, licensing, and advocating for the minor victims of domestic sex trafficking.

If you’re new to this issue, check out Family Research Council’s publication, titled “Modern Slavery: How to Fight Human Trafficking in Your Community.”

Another excellent resource, is the state-specific report card, Protected Innocence Challenge, that Shared Hope released yesterday.

The Protected Innocence Challenge is a comprehensive study on existing state laws designed to inspire and equip advocates. Under the Challenge, every state receives a Report Card that grades the state on 41 key legislative components that must be addressed in state’s laws in order to effectively respond to the crime of domestic minor sex trafficking. In addition, each state receives a complete analysis of this 41-component review and practical recommendations for improvement.

For more information about FRC’s work with Shared Hope, click here.

Welcoming Dmitry

by Robert Morrison

November 13, 2012

My wife and I rolled into the Exxon Mobil station to fill up our tank. Gas was cheap. (At $3.17 a gallon, that at least passes for cheap under this administration.) I stood in line to pre-pay. The kid behind the counter had a name tag: Dmitry. I heard him speaking to the person in front of me with a heavy Slavic accent.

When I came up to the counter, he asked which pump. Nomyer Shest, I said with a straight face. Number Six. Dmitry wasas the Brits would saygobsmacked. He didnt expect to see anyone in the area speaking Russian to him. I was startled, too, since I didnt expect to find any Russians in that neighborhood.

We quickly broke into razgavorconversation. Dmitry seemed genuinely excited to meet someone to whom he could speak his mother tongue. I was truly excited to realize that the language I learned in the Coast Guardeons agocame back to me so readily. (And without the obligatory shot of that clear white liquid that seems to be so essential to any conversation in Russian.)

It was two days after the 2012 presidential election. The state we were traveling through had gone for President Obama. Demographics are changing was the mantra of the election night broadcasts. They sure are, Id say, if you can hear Russian being spoken in that remote area.

Last summer, on our way to the beach, we stopped at a McDonald’s just over the Delaware line. A clutch of Russians were there, happily burbling away in their language. Surrounded as I was by family, all eager to press on, I didnt try any shutkas (jokes) with the Big Mac crowd.

What are they doing in Delaware? All over America, immigration is changing our country. We need to know more about the people who are coming here. Many of us see them in church. Many of the immigrants come to America, yearning to breathe free, and eager to find a sense of community here.

In Maryland, where we live, you can hardly pass a church without seeing either Spanish-language signs for servicesoften Pentecostal servicesin mainline churches. Korean language signs are up, too, although many of these congregations have churches of their own.

In 1800, New Yorker Aaron Burr scurried around Manhattan gathering the votes of Germans, Dutch, Scots-Irish, French Huguenot and Irish immigrants. Burr was not interested in political philosophy so much as in winning elections.

Thats why youll probably never see the collected writings of Aaron Burr. Things written remain, he said, as a caution. (Ill bet Gen. Petraeus wishes he had observed that warning.)

Still, Aaron Burrs actions in New York City tipped the Empire State for the Jefferson-Burr ticket that year. New Yorks 12 Electoral Votes carried the election for the Jeffersonian Republicans.

The Federalists had passed the Alien & Sedition Acts in 1798. They viewed the immigrants with suspicion. They fretted over the demographics. They feared they would never win another election. They never did.

I must admit Im rather tickled at the idea I will get to speak Russianand not have to go to Russia. There is not much in Vladimir Putins not-quite-so-evil empire to attract me.

But I welcome those like Dmitry who come here seeking liberty, seeking an opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their children. I believe we can enlist them in the pro-life, pro-family cause. I believe they will rally to the defense of religious freedom.

When Elian Gonzales, the 6-year old refugee from Cuba, was seized at gunpoint by federal agents on orders of Bill Clintons Attorney General, Janet Reno, Cuban-Americans were outraged. So was I.

Renos raiders grabbed that little boy from the arms of his loving family on Easter Sunday morning. That November, the Cuban-Americans voted overwhelmingly for George W. Bush. Florida turned out to be crucial in the 2000 elections, when Bush won by a mere 537 votes statewide.

Immigrants have many times determined presidential outcomes. Are we their friends? Shouldnt we be?

Some Thoughts on Human Nature and Political Action

by Rob Schwarzwalder

October 23, 2012

Constants in the world include the Rock of Gibraltar, Mick Jagger, and human nature. The first of these is immovable. The second is incomprehensible. The third is the subject of this short essay.

A national election occurs two weeks from today. It is, in a sense, a referendum on human nature. Conservatives argue that because man is imperfectible, our long, diffident, inconsistent struggle out of barbarity should be welcomed, even celebrated, as we continue to strive to do better.

Liberals argue that because man is perfectible, our erratic strides toward human dignity are ignoble, inadequate, and embarrassing. This is why massive statist intervention to re-craft both man and his society are, to the Left, so profoundly important: The enlightened few, the Gnostic elite, should guide the pathetic masses with firm benevolence. From the size of their soft drinks to the partners they marry, endless adjustments, large and minute, can be made through the guidance of those whose vast wisdom will die with them.

Our intellectual achievements are beyond impressive: from nanotechnology to the quantum theory, we’re sharp cookies. But are we really any different from those who, building their tower to the heavens, find their grand plans and pretensions shattered in confusion? Are we so unmindful of our finitude and so confident in our potential for perfection that like lemmings moving in herd-like solidarity, we eventually find ourselves drowning after falling, unexpectedly, off the cliff of our own arrogance?

Even as the Internet has opened vast vistas of personal communication and international commerce, “about 2 million sexual predators are online around the world.” In an era of almost immeasurable abundance, nearly 11 million children die annually of hunger. We fling our intricate machines to the stars and murder one another with increasing diligence.

The point: Conservatives should aim to foster virtue, in individuals, cultures, and governments. But this side of heaven, man cannot be perfected. Moral character is best formed early, in family and church and the decent communities they form. Let’s work to that end, and be ever leery of those whose relentless dissatisfaction - animated by a false understanding of man’s promise - assures us that our country is, because imperfect, permanently ignoble.

We are both the image-bearers of God and sons of Adam . We cannot fulfill the hope of the first characterization without a sober recognition of the permanence of the latter.

Real Needs, Real Compassion

by Rob Schwarzwalder

July 24, 2012

Recently, World Magazine founder Joel Belz asked readers these questions: “If you could identify just one issue that is terribly askew in our culture today, and then were granted as a gift from God the ability to set that one issue right, what would it be? What specific cultural victory, if we could win it, would provide the most leverage to produce a society that is closer to the cultural blueprint God has designed for us?”

Here is Joel’s analysis of the many comments sent to him, in order of the number of responses received:

1. The secularization of our society—led by the rejection of a Creator God and the dominance of evolutionary thinking.

2. Loss of the distinctive identities of men and women, leading to a loss of understanding of marriage and family.

3. Abortion.

4. Loss of the tools to educate and shape the rising generation.

5. Sense of entitlement, selfishness, and complacency.

6. Loss of a defined dominant culture, with attendant culture wars.

7. Loss of specific freedoms.

8. Loss of honest and civil public discourse.

9. Obsession with sex.

This list demonstrates the seriousness with which at least a part of the Evangelical community (which composes most of World‘s readership) takes the reality of cultural decay in our time. The good news is that many Evangelicals are involved in activities to bring the fragrance of Christ to our society and its politics. They know that pathologies and problems are more than statistics, lines on a chart or multi-colored graphs. They are composed of real people - men, women, and children with names and needs, hopes and hurts. From ultrasound vans to rescuing young people trapped in sexual slavery, Evangelicals are working - usually quietly, without fanfare or media attention - to show the love of their Savior with tangible compassion.

Evangelicals and Catholics are ministering in myriad ways to untold numbers of people throughout our society. FRC’s Real Compassion website provides links to both the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and Catholic Charities sites. In each of them, you can find creative and effective ministries - national, regional, and local - through which you can make a difference in combating the very things World’s readers rightly have discerned as crying needs.