Family Research Council

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Dear Friends,

Our country is grounded on the proposition that God has made each of us and given every person the "right to life," as stated in the Declaration of Independence. Yet human dignity is being diminished increasingly in our culture. Whether discussing the unborn, the disabled, or the elderly, utility and power too often trump respect and compassion.

Our bodies are precious to God. "You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made," writes David in the 139^th Psalm. If the God of the universe took such tender care with each of us, should we not also care for the most vulnerable among us, and put that care into practical action?

In his new book, Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith, Matthew Lee Anderson reminds us, "We cannot speak of the body without speaking of its mortality, for the God who became flesh did so in order that he might die. For Jesus, death was the precursor to the resurrection. For us, it is the power of Christ's resurrection that allows us to stare death in the face" (p.165).

Staring death in the face, unflinching: That's the power of the Gospel. Defending personhood, at all its stages: That's fidelity to our Creator.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder

Senior Vice President

Family Research Council

P.S. Next Thursday, join FRC and Liberty University at our DC headquarters or via Webcast as we host the Washington, DC book launch of Resurgent: How Constitutional Conservatism Can Save America, by FRC Senior Fellows Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski.

Educational Freedom and Reform

Homeschooling

• "Homeschooling a growing trend across nation," Sally Sexton, The Weatherford Democrat
• "The Year of School Choice," Editorial, The Wall Street Journal
• "The Year of School Choice--But Not for African-American Kids in NYC," John A. Sparks, The Center for Vision and Values

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• "Dep't of Education Creates a College Cost-Comparison Web Tool," Chris Gacek, Family Research Council
• "Time to Ax Public Programs That Don't Yield Results," Joe Klein, Time
• "Preferred Colleagues," Peter Wood, The Chronicle for Higher Education
• "Inner-city education fails without the church," Anthony B. Bradley, The Acton Institute
• "Linking Costs and Postsecondary Degrees," Nate Johnson, American Enterprise Institute
• "Are Productivity Gains in Higher Education Possible?," Andrew Kelly, The American
• "Public School Indoctrination," Kevin Ryan, Crisis Magazine
• "Why Catholic Schools Matter," Sol Stern, City Journal
• "Is Sex Just Like Race?," Matthew J. Franck, The Public Discourse
• "Educators: Leading and Leaving," Amanda Ruud, The Examined Life

Government Reform

Regulation

• "Economic Cost of Excessive Regulations Discussed," Chris Gacek, Family Research Council
• "Can Tax Hikes Really Be Part of a Deficit-Crushing Deal?," Bridget Johnson, The Enterprise Blog
• "Companies Are Leaving California in Record Numbers, and It Might Get Worse," Mark J. Kelly, The Enterprise Blog
• "Minimum wage law backfires in American Samoa," Samuel Hearne, The Acton Institute

Waste/Fraud/Abuse

• "How To Solve Our Growth and Jobs Deficit," Ken Blackwell, The American Spectator
• "Not Taking Other People's Money," Arthur C. Brooks, American Enterprise Institute
• "Deficits and Cultural Politics," David Marion, The Ashbrook Center
• "Government Motors, Preforming as Expected," Richard Adams, The Ashbrook Center

Health Care

Abstinence

• "Misleading Research on Teen Sex," Carolyn Moynihan, Crisis Magazine
• "Zimbabwe's "Surprising" AIDS Success," Matthew Hanley, The Catholic Thing
• "ABSTINENCE EDUCATION: Restore federal funding, Congress urged," David Roach, Baptist Press

Conscience Protection

• "At last, equality police decide Christians DO have right to follow beliefs," The Daily Mail
• "Petition Campaign Asks Obama to Protect Pro-Life Doctors," Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com
• "Seeking freedom of conscience for chaplains," Tiffany Owens, WORLD Magazine

Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts

• "Low Reimbursements Main Factor in Doctors Limiting Treatment of Medicaid Kids," Gabriel Sudduth, The Enterprise Blog
• "Real Healthcare Reform," John Meszaros, The Acton Institute
• "Eighth Democrat signs on to Obamacare Medicare board repeal legislation," Matthew Boyle, The Daily Caller
• "Obamacare Decision May Invite Supremes to Limit Federal Power," Grace-Marie Turner, The Galen Institute
• "States Get Leeway on Shape of New Insurance Exchanges," Anna Wilde Mathews, The Wall Street Journal
• "Hindsight No Longer 20/20," Lucia Rafanelli, The American Spectator

Homosexuality

• "New York's gay marriage law will hurt New Yorkers," Tom McClusky, Family Research Council
• "Blacks don't need same-sex marriage," Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski, Family Research Council
• "Sex and the Empire State," Robert P. George, National Review Online
• "The Harm of Same-Sex Marriage," Michael Cook, Crisis Magazine
• "A New Movement for Marriage," Matthew Schmitz, First Things
• "Gay "Marriage," Civil Rights, Power, and Principle," Tom Gilson, Evangel
• "Gay rights and religious rites: The state of the debate," Religion Link

Human Life and Bioethics

Abortion

• "A Must Read Report on Planned Parenthood," Jeanne Monahan, Family Research Council
• "The Truth About Chemical Abortion and Women's Health: Updated FDA AERs on RU486," Jeanne Monahan, Family Research Council
• "UN Agencies Increase Funding to Embattled Planned Parenthood," Samantha Singson, C-FAM
• "Planned Parenthood's Lawless Policies," William Saunders, The Public Discourse
• "Major study links premature births to previous abortions," Mark Henderson, The Times
• "Guttmacher's Research on Unintended Pregnancies," Michael J. New, National Review Online
• "More reasons to defund," Marvin Olasky, WORLD Magazine
• "Catholic Bishops: Restore Mexico City Policy, De-Fund UNFPA," Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com
• "Poland Vote to Ban All Abortions Should Inspire Pro-Lifers," Mary Novick, LifeNews.com
• "160 Million and Counting," Ross Douthat, New York Times
• "Tracking the Times on Fetal Pain," Michael New, National Review Online

Bioethics and Biotechnology

• "That Which Undercuts Human Exceptionalism Should be Considered Immoral," Wesley J. Smith, Secondhand Smoke
• "The Story of Dick Cheney's Heart," Joseph Rago, The Wall Street Journal
• "Fishing for Trouble," Stan Guthrie, Breakpoint

Euthanasia and End of Life Issues

• "Reason Is the Enemy of the Euthanasia Movement," Michael Cook, Crisis Magazine
• "Indian Girl Commits Suicide to Donate Organs to Family Members," Wesley J. Smith, Secondhand Smoke

Stem Cell Research

• "Angina Pain Eased with Adult Stem Cells," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "Adult Stem Cells Help Create Synthetic Windpipe, Save Cancer Patient," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "California Stem Cell Agency Helps Executives, Not Patients," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "Demand Continues for More Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "Stem cell bill ignores patients and real science," Dr. David Prentice, The Hill

Women's Health

• "UN Women Advances Radical Agenda at U.S. Universities," Janie Abel, Human Events
• "A Culture War Against Conservative Women," Ericka Andersen, The Heritage Foundation
• "Missing Women: How Abortion Fuels the Sex Trade," Chuck Colson, Crosswalk
• "Human trafficking and the sex trade: Faith groups mobilize," Religion Link

Marriage and Family

Adoption

• "Gay marriage law could result in adoption boom," Associated Press
• "Court: Catholic Charities can continue its services, for now," Bob Okon, The Beacon-News
• "Ill. Drops Adoption Contracts With Catholic Charities," Stephanie Samuel, The Christian Post
• "Crushing Venerable Adoption Agencies--and Religious Liberty," Chuck Donovan, The Heritage Foundation
• "US, Russia Agree on Adoption Safeguards," Voice of America

Family Economics

• "The Ethics of Capital and Interest: An Interview with Shawn Ritenour," Joe Gorra, Evangelical Philosophical Society
• "Missing Children: How Falling Birthrates Turn Everything Upside Down," Phillip J. Longman, The Family in America
• "Our Fiscal Crisis: We Cannot Tax, Spend and Borrow enough to Substitute for Marriage," Henry Potyrkus, Patrick Fagan, and Robert Schwarzwalder, Family Research Council

Family Structure

• "The Divorce Generation," Susan Gregory Thomas, The Wall Street Journal
• "The Sham Vow," Richard Adams, The Ashbrook Center
• "Parents: Wisdom & Relationships," Rebecca Fort, The Examined Life
• "The Married Lifestyle," Gabriel Torretta, First Things
• "Male and Female," Bevil Bramwell, OMI, The Catholic Thing
• "Is Sex Just Like Race?," Matthew J. Franck, The Public Discourse
• "Closing the book on open marriage," W. Bradford Wilcox, The Washington Post

Media

Pornography

• "Ashton Kutcher's Tweet Tirade Against the Village Voice on Child Prostitution," Cathy Ruse, Family Research Council
• "Sexual Revolution: Built Upon Sand," Anthony Esolen, The Public Discourse
• "OK for suspect to view child porn in Tacoma jail," Associated Press

Internet

• "Scalia wrong, Thomas right on violent video games," Ken Klukowski, Family Research Council
• "Violent Video Games and the Rights of Parents," Charles J. Chaput, First Things
• "That's Entertainment: Free Speech and the Moral Regulation of the Arts," Hadley Arkes, The Public Discourse
• "Illness indicators," Alissa Wilkinson, WORLD Magazine

Religion and Public Policy

Religious Liberty

• "Imperiled Religious Liberty, Abroad and At Home," Rob Schwarzwalder, Family Research Council
• "The Bumpy Road of Religious Freedom," Jim Tonkowich, Crosswalk
• "On the Relationship between Religion and Liberty,"Jordan J. Ballor, The Acton Institute
• "In Search of Christian Humanism," Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing
• "9th Circuit decision: Zoning rules can't single out churches," Howard Fischer, Arizona Daily Star
• "Government Enforcement Upon Places of Worship?," Albert Mohler, Christianity.com

Religion in America

• "The man who inspired the Declaration of Independence," Kenyn Cureton, Family Research Council
• "Speaker's Stand: Attacking America's heritage," Robert Morrison, Family Research Council
• "Government and God's People," Wayne Grudem, The Acton Institute
• "Refocusing on the Family," Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Christianity Today
• "Moral Revolutions in America," George Weigel, First Things

Secularism

• "Secularism run amok," William E. Simon, Jr. and Matthew J. Franck, CBS News
• "Secularism is neutrality towards all religion -- including atheism," David Pollock, The Guardian
• "Evangelical Leaders See Secularism as Greater Threat Than Islam," Jerome Socolovsky, Voice of America

International

Israel

• "The invisible Palestinians," Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post
• "The Obama Administration Opens Formal Contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood," Andrew McCarthy, National Review

International Economy and Family

• "State Department report ranks countries on human trafficking," Jill Dougherty, CNN
• "America's Future in New Europe," Justin Paulette, The Ashbrook Center
• "Europe's Not-So-Revolutionary Youth," Samuel Gregg, The Acton Institute
• "Why Reagan Still Matters to Europe," Alberto Mingardi, The American

Religious Persecution

• "Iran Steps-Up Anti-Christian Persecution -- and What You Can Do To Help," Rob Schwarzwalder, Family Research Council
• "Attacks and Threats Shutter Nigeria's Churches," Obed Minchakpu, Crosswalk
• "Iranian Pastor Required to "Repent" of His Faith," Ann Buwalda, The Jubilee Campaign

Sharia law -- U.S., foreign

• "Islam Will Find Its Own Way to Freedom," Mustafa Akyol, The Public Discourse
• "Let Freedom Ring: The Muslim Call for Religious Freedom," Abdullah Saeed, The Public Discourse

The Courts

Constitutional Issues

• "Inviting chaos: law, license, human nature," Robert Schwarzwalder, The Times and Democrat
• "American sovereignty and Republican politics in Texas execution," Ken Klukowski, The Washington Examiner
• "Constitutional Conservatism Ready for Prime Time," Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski, Family Research Council
• "Why Time magazine's Orwellian story on the Constitution is wrong," Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski, Family Research Council
• "The Burkean Justice," Ed Whelan, National Review Online
• "When Equal Treatment is Unconstitutional," Justin Paulette, The Ashbrook Center

Other News of Note

• "The real bridge to the 21st century," Ken Blackwell, WORLD Magazine
• "Shunting Aside the Declaration," Robert Morrison, Family Research Council
• "Dangerous Disaffection," Henry Olsen, American Enterprise Institute
• "Feds Crack Down on Campus Flirting and Sex Jokes," Michael Barone, The Washington Examiner
• "The Obama Doctrine Defined," Douglas J. Feith & Seth Cropsey, Commentary Magazine

Book reviews

• "Age, Education, and Parentage in As You Like It," Autumn Swindoll, The Examined Life
• "A Plea for Positivism," Bradley C.S. Smith, Claremont Review of Books
• "Natural Law Man," Michael M. Uhlmann, Claremont Review of Books
• "Exceptionally American," Wilfred M. McClay, Claremont Review of Books