Catholic Fire

WASHINGTON, DC, November 8 (C-FAM) Experts warned the US Senate this week that a pending UN treaty could be used to advance a right to abortion and interfere with the rights of parents. No one can “guarantee that there will never be a lawsuit asserting that the [Disabilities treaty] creates certain abortion rights,” said Professor Timothy Meyer. Nor “can one guarantee the [UN] committee on disabilities will not take such a position,” said the former U.S. State Department advisor. Senators are considering ratifying the treaty on the rights of people with disabilities, which fell short of passage last year when conservatives rallied against it over concerns it may jeopardize national sovereignty, unborn children and parental rights to care for disabled children. The treaty uses the phrase “sexual and reproductive health,” which some say includes abortion. Dr. Susan Yoshihara, who helped negotiate the treaty, testified that term was mired in controversy during the treaty’s drafting,...

Yesterday the Ohio Supreme Court upheld an earlier decision that allows Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Ohio (PP) to keep secret their reports documenting whether or not PP is notifying authorities of instances of statutory rape of pregnant minors seeking abortion services at the Cincinnati clinic. The Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments last October on this issue after granting a Motion for Rehearing which was brought by attorneys for Jane Roe. In Roe v. Planned Parenthood, the parents of Roe allege PP employees breached their legal duties when they failed to notify the proper authorities of the young girl's sexual victimization by the 22-year-old male who brought her to the clinic. They further allege that PP violated Ohio's parental involvement laws by failing to notify or get consent from them before performing the abortion on their 14-year-old daughter. Attorney for Jane Roe, Brian Hurley, states about the decision, "We respectfully disagree with and are disappoi...

Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina recently introduced a Parental Rights Amendment calling for parental rights to be explicitly protected in the Constitution as a fundamental and not just an implied right. Designated Senate Joint Resolution 16, the proposal is a companion bill to House Joint Resolution 42, introduced by Rep. Pete Hoekstra on March 31, 2009, which would prevent international law from interfering with state laws on families and children. "Now we're finding that parental rights are being attacked by courts all over the country," DeMint explains. "And as we look at where this country is going, particularly [regarding] more association with the United Nations and [consideration of] the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, these treaties would supersede all the laws in 50 states." The efforts of ParentalRights.org and its extensive grassroots following have been successful in encouraging sponsorship in the House, working with Rep. Hoeks...

Based on a true story of a mother who attempted to rescue her 13 year-old daughter from a clinic where she was taken, without her mother's knowledge, to have an abortion. This video was produced for OdB by Ed Vizenor of Wisdom Productions.

“Abortion under any form is something to be completely rejected." “Parents have rights over their children, and above all, great responsibilities. We cannot act in this manner, without listening to parents, without protecting the rights and responsibilities of their children. A 16 year-old girl can get an abortion, and what about the pain that her parents will experience for the rest of their lives?” ~ Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo , OFM, Archbishop of Seville (Spain) For more information, read this article at CNA: Cardinal Amigo: Unborn child at 13 weeks is a human being

Though efforts to pass a constitutional amendment protecting parental rights have failed in the past, two U.S. legislators are preparing to reintroduce the idea this week; and this time, they say, the effort is backed by more than 60 congressional members. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., who introduced a parental rights amendment by himself last year, told the Agence France-Presse that he will be joined by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., on Tuesday as they renew the fight. According to a statement released to AFP by Hoekstra's office, the amendment "would clearly outline in the U.S. Constitution that parents, not government or any other organization, have a fundamental right to raise their children as they see fit." Click here to read the full story. More Information: Parentalrights.org