Family Research Council

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Dear Friends:

Sometimes it's easy, as conservatives, to get discouraged. We're not happy with the current Administration, the drift of our culture, or what's happening in some of our churches. I fear we look like the man described by P.G. Wodehouse: "He had the look of one who had drunk the cup of life and found a dead beetle at the bottom."

But there's still a lot of good news, primarily in the states. Earlier this month, my FRC colleagues, Dr. David Prentice and Anna Higgins, J.D., testified before the North Dakota legislature about key pro-life measures under consideration. Subsequently, North Dakota lawmakers passed five of six pending pro-life bills. Or consider this from our friends at LifeNews and the Alliance Defending Freedom:

A newly completed U.S. Department of Health and Human Services investigation of New York's Mt. Sinai Hospital has resulted in additional policy and procedure changes to ensure that medical personnel are not forced to participate in abortions. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing a Mt. Sinai nurse requested the HHS Office of Civil Rights investigation after the hospital forced her to assist in an abortion in violation of her religious beliefs in 2009.

These victories are not comprehensive and final, but they are real and, in their spheres, important. We must never lose sight of the fact that big victories derive from small ones - and right now, it's at the state and local level where we have the greatest chance of making change.

On top of that, last time I checked, Jesus is still Lord, and "is the same yesterday, today, and forever." That's permanent good news we can always celebrate - and without ever finding a beetle in the cup.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice-President
Family Research Council

P.S. Be sure to take a look at a new study by Dr. Henry Potrykus of how public policy causes change in the real world. It's technical, but also - for policymakers and analysts, especially - important.

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• "Bill Threatens Homeschool Freedom," Home School Legal Defense Association
• "Online Classes Expand Homeschooling Options," Reason.com

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• "National School Choice Week: Time for More Freedom, Less Red Tape," Family Research Council
• "A former teacher and mom explains why American schools must allow competition," Fox News
• "Cage-Busting Leadership," Education Week
• "The Top 5 Lamest Core Courses," Intercollegiate Review
• "Who's The Boss?: Your Education And You," The Enlightened Mind
• "Why Liberals Should Want Less Spending on Colleges," Minding the Campus
• "Tweet Thine Enemy," Education Next

College Debt

• "Student-loan Delinquency Rate Hits Danger Zone, Report Says," Los Angeles Times
• "Student Loan Debt Crisis: How'd We Get Here and What Happens Next?," Time
• "Best Value Colleges strive to cut tuition sticker shock," USA Today
• "Student Loan Debt Is Creating Generation Of High-Risk Borrowers With Low Credit Scores," The Consumerist
• "College will help with loans if grads don't land a good job," The Los Angeles Times

Government Reform
Regulation

• ""Pro-Business" or "Pro-Market"? And What's the Difference?," Economic Freedom
• "Washington D.C. at Work (or Not)," My Government Cost
• "USDA rules call for swing to healthier snacks in schools," Reuters

Waste/Fraud/Abuse

• "Head Start, Lies, and Government Programs," My Government Cost
• "Not All Exchange Is Created Equal," The Acton Institute
• "Hail Columbia!," City Journal

Health Care
Abstinence

• "College Gone Wild: Classes on How to Achieve Orgasm, Yet Neglects Abstinence," Family Research Council
• "Family Fact of the Week: Promoting the Value of Life and Good Teen Choices," The Heritage Foundation
• "Abstinence Could Reduce Cervical Cancer," The Christian Post

Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts

• "No compromise in new contraception mandate," USA Today
• "HHS Announcement Changes Little - Superficial Accounting Gimmicks Do Not Equate to Conscience Protections," Townhall.com
• "Obama Loses Two HHS Mandate Cases In One Week," Breitbart.com
• "Health Care Spending In America, In Two Graphs," NPR
• "Bad Science and Failed Freedom Protections in the HHS Mandate," The Public Discourse
• "Pathway to citizenship could increase Obamacare cost up to $300 billion over a decade," The Daily Caller
• "CBO Is Increasingly Skeptical About ObamaCare," RealClearPolitics

Homosexuality

• "Boy Scouts Should Stand on Principle, Not Bow to Pressure," The Christian Post
• "Boy Scouts must stand firm for their values," The Washington Times
• "Why Bar Homosexual Scouts, as Well as Scoutmasters?," Family Research Council
• "Brown U to Pay for Student Sex Change Surgeries," National Review Online
• "Homosexual Advocates Demand A Ban On Therapy," Turtle Bay and Beyond
• "Pope Benedict on Homosexual "Marriage"," SecretInfoClub.com
• "From a man of the French left, a passionate defence of marriage," MercatorNet

Human Life and Bioethics
Abortion

• "Reflections of a Former Fetus and Former Incubator," The Public Discourse
• "Forty years later, Roe v. Wade still divides," Kansas City Star
• "America's Baby Bust," The Wall Street Journal
• ""What to Expect When No One's Expecting": Book Reveals Left's Dream of Child-Free America," Breitbart.com
• "New York City Schools Putting Young Girls at Risk," Students for Life
• "Sundance Film Festival "Hero" Leroy Carhart Kills Young Woman During 3rd Trimester Abortion In Germantown, MD," Maryland Coalition for Life
• "Roe's legacy of false freedom," MercatorNet.com
• "Obama Development Council Full of Abortion Advocates," Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute
• "The Guttmacher Institute Has A Bad Prescription For Mothers In Uganda," Turtle Bay and Beyond
• "Ark. governor says he'll OK abortion coverage ban," Associated Press
• "NAACP Sensitive About its Abortion Ties," Family Policy Network
• "Complaint Demands Investigation and Discipline Against Planned Parenthood for Botched Abortion and Death of Patient," Thomas More Society

Bioethics and Biotechnology

• "Should Christians Pursue Prenatal Testing?," Christianity Today
• "Yearning for Tyranny of Moral Enhancement," National Review Online

Euthanasia and End of Life Issues

• "Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: Changing Mores, Slippery Slope or Both?," Decoded Science
• "Belgian Twin Euthanasia Story the Tip of a Chilling Iceberg," LifeNews.com
• "How my mother died," MercatorNet

Stem Cell Research
To read about the latest advances in ethical adult stem cell research, keep up with leading-edge reports from FRC's Dr. David Prentice, click here.

• "Key protein revealed as trigger for stem cell development," Phys.org
• "Ageing: Stem cells on a stress-busting diet," Nature
• "Adult Stem Cell Clinic Moves to Mexico," National Review Online

Human Trafficking

• "Underground Trade, Part One: Hiding in Plain Sight," The Huffington Post
• "Okla. House panel supports human trafficking bill," Associated Press
• "The Power of Survivor Voices on Human Trafficking Awareness Day," The Polaris Project

Marriage and Family
Adoption

• "Michael Oher, Adopted Family Celebrate Super Bowl Victory," ABC News
• "Benefits of transracial adoption," New Rhythm Project
• "Adoption bill aims to maintain 'loving, stable' homes for children," KSL.com

Family Economics

• "The Personal Income Tax at 100," The American
• "The Wealth of Nations Depends on the Health of Families," The Public Discourse
• "Congress's Policies Steal Our Freedoms While Rewarding Irresponsibility," Forbes
• "Underlying Causes of Poverty -- Living Apart from the Rule of Law," Poverty Cure
• "Government Will Take Almost Half Your Paycheck in 2013," The Heritage Foundation
• "Boomers Stick Next Generation with the Gas Bill," Via Meadia
• "Northern Ireland: Coming to America?," The Acton Institute

Family Structure

• "Place Matters: What Do Millennials Want in a Home?," Patheos.com
• "Advice For Parenting Young Kids," Reformissionary
• "Go for the Yahtzee," HOPE International
• "Shape or be shaped: Christians in an era of marriage decline," MercatorNet.com
• "I'm Not Afraid to Raise Daughters," The Gospel Coalition
• "Liberty Counsel Files Amicus Briefs In Defense of Marriage with U.S. Supreme Court," Liberty Counsel

Media
Pornography

• "Pornographers to Use Facial-Recognition Technology," PornHarms.com
• "Adult stars answer questions about porn," Student Life (Washington University in St. Louis publication)
• "Policing Pills and Pornography," Newsweek Pakistan

Internet

• "Twitter 'Experimenting' With Vine Porn Censorship," Mashable
• "Study: Facebook Is Your Frenemy," The Atlantic

Religion and Public Policy
Religious Liberty

• "Religious Groups Remain Concerned About Contraception Mandate," Time
• "Schools Tussle Over Sex Standards," Christianity Today
• "Government shouldn't define 'church'," Fox News
• "Inglorious revolutions," WORLD Magazine
• "Religious Liberty, the HHS Mandate, and the Conscience that has Escaped our Attention," Intercollegiate Review
• "Deciding Who Gets Religious Freedom: The Latest HHS "Accommodation"," The Public Discourse
• "An Open Letter to Christians About Religious Freedom," The Christian Post

Religion in America
Check out Dr. Kenyn Cureton's feature on Watchmen Pastors called "The Lost Episodes," featuring how religion has had an impact on our Founding Fathers.

• "Christian Athletes Are Not Role Models," Christianity Today
• "Roman Catholics and Confessional Lutherans Explore Deeper Ties," First Things
• "From Prison to the Pulpit: A Stunning Story of God's Grace," The Gospel Coalition
• "Martin Luther on the Passions of Evangelical Politics," Mere Orthodoxy
• "The Most Offensive Word in America," Relevant Magazine

Secularism

• "Vatican art exhibit is a challenge to secularism, archbishop explains," Catholic Culture

International
Israel

• "Britain Is No Place for Jews," FrontPage Magazine
• "The Folly of Containing Iran," Commentary Magazine
• "About the next government," CarolineGlick.com

International Economy and Family

• "China's Cheap Labour Force Down by 3.45 million in 2012," News Network of India
• "British Hospital Carnage a Window into US Future," Via Meadia

Religious Persecution

• "Ai Wei-Wei / Chen Guangcheng Interview," New Statesman
• "'Insulting Quran' Charges Snare Two Christian Children in Egypt," Persecution.org

The Courts
Constitutional Issues

• "Repeal the 17th Amendment," The Independent Institute
• "An Occasion in Which National Security Trumps Civil Rights?," The FedSoc Blog
• "Despising the Constitution," The Library of Law and Liberty

Judicial Activism

• "Obama Nominates Two Government Lawyers to Federal Circuit," The FedSoc Blog
• "Supreme Court, in upcoming marriage cases, urged not to 'disqualify' religious conviction," Baptist Press

Other News of Note

• "Not All Politics Is Political," The American Conservative
• "Privilege: the Real Postal Problem," The Acton Institute
• "Missing a Chance at Greatness," City Journal
• "The Stoning of Dr. Ben Carson," The American Spectator

Book reviews

• "Finding the City on a Hill," The Center for Vision and Values
• "Michelle Rhee: My Break With the Democrats," The Daily Beast
• "Review: Auralia Thread," The Enlightened Mind
• "Men of God and Country in World War II," The Acton Institute