What do these issues have in common

Ruling Against Children

Despite the weight of evidence that children do best when raised by mothers and fathers who are married, a U.S. District Court judge has struck down as unconstitutional Oklahoma's law that prohibits state officials from recognizing same-sex adoptions from other states and nations. In a 31-page ruling, Judge Robin Cauthron said Oklahoma had denied due process to two women who were raising 7-year-old twin girls born to one of the women, but adopted in New Jersey by the mother's lesbian partner. Oklahoma had passed the law, pursuant to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, to prevent the Sooner State from being forced to abide by the decisions of some states with respect to marriage. The judge ordered the Oklahoma Health Department to issue birth certificates listing the two women as parents of the little girls. This is another example of judicial activism at its worst. This stunning case illustrates once again why we must have a constitutional amendment to prevent activist judges from destroying marriage in America. In all this judicial talk of made-up "rights," where is the natural right of the child to the love and support of a married mother and a father?

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Judicial Activism and the Threat to the Constitution

Parental Notice Measure Qualifies in California

Last year's ballot proposition to provide parental notice before a minor daughter undergoes an abortion in the Golden State was narrowly defeated. Proposition 73 was defeated by a vote of 47.4 percent Yes to 52.6 percent No. "There was negativity about the whole special election that had nothing to do with [last year's Proposition 73]," Albin Rhomberg tells The Sacramento Bee. This year, pro-life advocates have succeeded in getting more than 1 million signatures to make another attempt at restoring this basic right of parents. Just 600,000 valid signatures are required. Planned Parenthood spent $4.5 million to defeat Proposition 73, another reason for the defeat, parent advocates say. This year, newspaper publisher James Holman has stepped forward to give the pro-parent forces $1.1 million to help them qualify. Planned Parenthood's Kathy Kneer says: "We're gearing up. We can't let one individual keep us from our mission to keep California 'teen safe.'" Teen safe. What deceptive advertising. They would have us believe that teens are safer with a Planned Parenthood abortionist who knows nothing of the girl's medical history, who will probably never see the girl again, but who will surely collect a fee for killing the girl's unborn child. What incredible cynicism. This signature campaign shows the breadth and depth of support for parents' rights in California. We thank the organizers of this petition drive and pray for their success in November.

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California Parental Notification Abortion Initiative Has 1M Signatures

FRC Appeals to Justices--For Justice

Family Research Council has filed a "friend of the court" brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Gonzales v. Carhart. The Supreme Court last February agreed to take up this case, a challenge to the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in 2003. The act never went into effect. Planned Parenthood immediately went into federal court and obtained an injunction to stop its enforcement. Thus, for the past three years, Planned Parenthood and its cohorts have been able to continue to kill thousands of unborn children using the heinous partial-birth abortion procedure. Recall, this procedure involves stabbing a living unborn child in the back of the neck, thrusting a catheter into her skull and sucking out her brains with a powerful vacuum. It is hard to believe that such a monstrous act is even imagined in a civilized country, much less constitutionally protected. The late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat, said this was just "too close to infanticide." Liberal columnist Richard Cohen said just hearing about it made him shudder. It should. My thanks to FRC's legal team, Bill Saunders and Notre Dame professor Gerard Bradley who prepared FRC's brief for this important case.

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Partial-Birth Abortion on Trial