Free Republic

Europe’s highest court on human rights will decide if a lesbian can adopt her partner’s child, in this case stripping the father of his parental rights to his son. The case is very simple according to Gregor Puppinck of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ). “The two female partners want to oust the father and, since the law does not allow them to do so, they claim it is discriminatory,” Gregor reported in Turtle Bay and Beyond, C-FAM’s blog. The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights will hear the case X and others v. Austria...

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill barring a controversial therapy that aims to reverse homosexuality in minors, the measure's sponsor said on Sunday, making California the first state to ban a practice many say is psychologically damaging. The move marked a major victory for gay rights advocates who say so-called conversion therapy, also called reparative therapy, has no medical basis because homosexuality is not a disorder. The bill's sponsor, state Senator Ted Lieu, a Democrat from Torrance, said in a statement that Brown had signed the bill. An announcement from the governor's office was expected on...

Girls Age 14 Can Get Birth Control At New York City Schools New York City school and health officials are stepping on parental rights by going beyond condom giveaways and giving girls as young as age 14 “morning-after pills” and other chemical contraceptives at school without telling their parents, leaders of traditional values groups said Monday. Their reactions were sparked by news that nurses in 13 public high schools are dispensing Plan B emergency contraception and other products to sexually active students who ask for it. “We’re incensed at the arrogance of this administration. The state is constantly telling parents,...

EXCLUSIVE The Department of Education is giving morning-after pills and other birth-control drugs to students at 13 high schools, The Post has learned. School nurse offices stocked with the contraceptives can dispense “Plan B” emergency contraception and other oral or injectable birth control to girls without telling their parents — unless parents opt out after getting a school informational letter about the new program. CATCH — Connecting Adolescents To Comprehensive Health — is part of a citywide attack against the epidemic of teen pregnancy, which spurs many girls — most of them poor — to drop out of school. Helayne...

A bill prohibiting the use of controversial therapy aimed at 'curing' homosexuality on gay teenagers has been approved by California's Assembly, bringing the state a step closer to becoming the first in the U.S. to outlaw the practice. The vote in the Democratic-controlled Assembly on Tuesday represented a major victory for gay rights advocates who insist that so-called conversion therapy has no medical basis because homosexuality is not a disorder. Democrat Richardo Lara, one of several openly gay legislators to champion the bill during the debate, urged Assembly members to stand with 'sissy boys'.

A new bill that’s the first of its kind has opinion hotly divided in California, this time over whether parents can be banned from trying to “cure” their gay children. Senate Bill 1172, which would prohibit all “sexual orientation change efforts” for minors, is through the legislature and slated to land on the governor's desk in September.

A judge has ordered that doctors can switch off a young boy’s life-support system even though his devout Christian parents pleaded for him to be kept alive in case of a miracle. Mr Justice Ryder said there was no hope of the eight-year-old recovering from lung failure after a “tragic decline in health” and it would be wrong to keep him alive and possibly in pain on a machine. He paid tribute to the boy’s parents and teenage sister, who told the High Court that they believed he was still conscious and that there was still a chance of divine...

A first-of-its-kind state law that would restrict parents from trying to "cure" their minor children's same-sex attractions seems headed to the governor's desk.

BURLINGTON, Vermont (Reuters) - A Mennonite minister was found guilty on Tuesday of aiding a kidnapping by helping a woman flee to Nicaragua with her daughter to evade court orders giving visitation rights to her former lesbian partner. The case drew widespread attention as gay rights groups and evangelical Christian groups took opposing sides in the legal battle between the two women over Isabella Miller-Jenkins, now 10. Federal prosecutors say Kenneth Miller of Stuarts Draft, Virginia, helped orchestrate Lisa Miller's flight to Canada and Nicaragua in 2009 with her daughter out of Christian solidarity with her decision to reject homosexuality...

Senator John Kerry announced yesterday that he plans to pass the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities before July 26—just 13 days from today. He has scheduled a formal committee vote next Thursday—July 19. This is an unprecedented attempt to jam a binding international treaty through the Senate without proper time for debate or consideration.

Swatting little Johnny on the bottom to make sure he doesn’t try again to put a fork in an electrical socket soon could make mom or dad a criminal subject to the penalties of child-abuse laws in Delaware. And an international family rights organization says it not only opposes the idea, it will be working with state organizations to try to defeat the plan. At issue is Delaware’s Senate Bill 234, which has been approved by the Senate and now is working its way through the House. “Senate Bill 234, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Patricia Blevins (District 7), creates...

I am not content to sit on the sidelines while the government gradually usurps the very essence of parental rights. I hope you share my determination. We need to stand with people like Scott and Jodi Ferris (obviously no relation to someone named Farris). Here’s their story: Jodi went into labor a bit earlier than she had expected—and the baby was coming rapidly. Given their location and other factors, the midwife they had hoped would deliver the baby at their home encouraged them to get in an ambulance and head to the hospital. Their baby, whom I will call “Annie,”...

JANET BAIRD writes: President Obama and the Department of Health and Inhuman Services, as you know, recently decreed that free sterilizations be available to all college-age women under Obamacare. But the truth is even more sinister. Note the wording of the HHS regulation. As reported at CNS news, ‘[a]ll Food and Drug Administration [(FDA)] approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity,’ as prescribed by a provider,” said the HHS description of the regulation. [emphasis added] This clause caught my eye, “for all women with reproductive capacity.” Have you thought about the...

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are entering negotiations over — or seeking ratification of — five treaties that could radically limit our national sovereignty and the reach of our democratic institutions. Particularly scary is that the treaties, once signed and ratified, have the same status as constitutional law and cannot be altered or eclipsed by Congress or state legislatures. And their provisions must be enforced by U.S. courts. Those who wish to preserve our sovereignty and democratic control over our future must rally to block these treaties, either by pressing Obama and

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed controversial legislation to greatly expand the rights of minors to obtain preventive treatment for sexually transmitted diseases without parental consent, including an HPV immunization for cervical cancer. Brown did not explain his reasoning in the announcement Sunday afternoon. Assembly Bill 499 was carried by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego. She said the legislation addresses a gap in the law that forbids prevention steps by doctors but allows minors under 18 to undergo abortions and post-infection treatment for sexually transmitted diseases without the approval of parents or a guardian. Critics counter the measure is an unwarranted...

Find out more about the plundering of your parental rights and what you can do to preserve your role as the decision maker for your children! This is the trailer for the 30-min ParentalRights.org docudrama.

The practice of infant circumcision, which carries particular religious significance for Jews, may be outlawed later this year in San Fransisco. A ballot initiative is underway which would ask voters whether to prohibit the practice in November. The proposed new law would make it a misdemeanor to circumcise a person before they are 18-years-old."We don't come at this from a religious angle," Lloyd Schofield told the San Francisco Examiner. "We feel this is a very harmful thing. Parents are guardians. They are not owners of children. It's a felony to tattoo a child." The effort is being taken seriously in...

Slapping a teenager or taking money from her paycheck to pay family bills is hardly admirable, but doesn’t constitute child neglect or abuse, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. In a 7-0 decision, the court found the state Division of Youth and Family Services lacked sufficient evidence to remove a teenager from her father and stepmother’s home in 2008, and dropped the abuse and neglect judgement against her stepmother. "The parental decisions made within this family unit may not have been exemplars of stellar parenting, but they did not rise to the level of Title Nine violations," wrote Justice Jaynee...

Brenda Voydatch leafs through her daughter’s school books inside her single-story home in Meredith, New Hampshire. “These are her math and science books,” she says. Like many parents who home-school, Voydatch believes in the importance of teaching the basics of reading and writing. But she also believes in the importance of a religious education. “I believe it’s a parents fundamental right to teach a child the beliefs within their home,” she says as she looks up at the painting of Jesus holding a child. “I believe that’s every parent’s right.” It was that religious education that led to her ex-husband’s...

In remarks made yesterday during the signing of Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, First Lady Michelle Obama regarding deciding what children ought to eat, “We can’t just leave it up to the parents.” She went on to say: I think that parents have a right to expect that their efforts at home won’t be undone each day in the school cafeteria or in the vending machine in the hallway. I think that our parents have a right to expect that their kids will be served fresh, healthy food that meets high nutritional standards. First off, yes we can just leave it...