Culture Clips — July 25, 2006

A Teen’s Y Chromosome Problem

A 16-year-old Virginia boy who suffers from Hodgkin's disease has been told by a state judge he must report to a hospital this week and accept treatment deemed necessary by his doctors. The boy and his parents have chosen to pursue alternative treatment. It consists of a sugar-free, organic diet and herbal supplements supervised by a clinic in Mexico.

On July 21, juvenile court Judge Jesse E. Demps ruled that the boy's parents, Jay and Rose Cherrix of Chincoteague, were neglectful and that they must continue to share custody of their son, Starchild Abraham Cherrix, with the Accomack County Department of Social Services.

I have heard Cherrix interviewed on the radio and he sounds intelligent, articulate, reasonable and capable of making such a major decision. Cherrix says three months of chemotherapy left him nauseated and weak and he prefers not to repeat that type of treatment. That a court would deny Cherrix and his parents such a choice prompted the family attorney, John Stepanovich, to say: "I want to caution all parents of Virginia: Look out, because Social Services may be pounding on your door next when they disagree with the decision you've made about the health care of your child."

In an age when we continue to debate "a woman's right to choose" when it comes to a girl aborting her baby and we are told that it is the girl's body and no one else should make decisions affecting it, a boy has no such rights. A girl can be given birth control by the school nurse and even abortion information without her parents knowledge or consent, but a boy can be prohibited from making decisions that affect his life and body. At least the courts are consistent. They forbid parental involvement in either case. In some states, though, parents are held responsible for their kids' illegal and anti-social behavior. Why is it that parents supposedly have power to keep their kids from committing crimes, but can be denied power when it comes to their child's health and welfare?

Cal Thomas
Townhall
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/
2006/07/25/a_teens_y_chromosome_problem

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Faith is a Right, Not a Theocracy

Last week Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), on the Senate Floor, and had this to say about people of faith: "There is a group of people of deep faith. I respect that faith. I've been in enough inner city black churches, working class Catholic parishes, rural Methodist houses of worship and small Jewish synagogues to understand that faith is a gift. The trouble with this group, which I call the theocrats, is they want their faith to dictate what the government does. That, in a word, is un-American. That is exactly what the Founding Fathers put down their plows and took up muskets to fight."

This statement is breathtaking in its bigotry. It is part of a campaign to portray the Religious Right as a group of fanatics who want to do away with the Constitution. In one way Senator Schumer has done Evangelical Christians a great favor. He has linked them with Catholics and Orthodox Jews. If the culture wars are to be won it will take unity among all strong believers to make it happen.

Paul Weyrich
Townhall
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2006/07/25/
faith_is_a_right,_not_a_theocracy,_senator_schumer

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NEA Keeps Tilting Left

Parents who wonder why the public schools teach so many things parents don't approve of need look no further than the official policies of the nation's largest teachers union, the National Education Association. Meeting in Orlando, Fla., this year in annual convention over the Fourth of July weekend, the NEA adopted a long series of left-liberal resolutions…

NEA resolutions promote the gay rights agenda in public school curricula by demanding funds to alleviate "sexual orientation discrimination," to use multicultural education to reduce "homophobia," and even to put "diversity-based curricula" and "bias-free screening devices in early childhood education." Another resolution demands that schools hire "a diverse teaching staff."

…NEA resolutions again endorse the principal goals of the feminist agenda, including abortion, the Equal Rights Amendment, Comparable Worth, non-sexist language, and a federally funded women's commission to pursue feminist goals at taxpayers' expense. The NEA also supports "community-operated, school-based family planning clinics that will provide intensive counseling," which is a thinly veiled welcome to Planned Parenthood to put its clinics in schools.

Phyllis Schlafly
Townhall
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly
/2006/07/25/nea_keeps_tilting_to_the_left

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For the Children
Strengthening Parental Involvement Laws

This week the Senate is scheduled to vote on the Child Custody Prevention Act, which would make it a crime for a minor to be transported across state lines for the purpose of obtaining an abortion by anyone who is not the child’s legal guardian. Such legislation would doubtless make it more difficult for minors to seek abortions outside their own state. It would also give greater protections to young minors who would typically encounter more difficulty crossing state lines on their own. This bill would go a long way in solidifying the pro-life gains that were made in the states during the 1990s.

Overall, during the past 15 years, the pro-life movement has won some of its most impressive victories at the state level. However, in almost every case, these state-level victories have been made possible by political action at the federal level. Federal legislation banning partial-birth abortions alerted many to this gruesome procedure and shifted public opinion in a more pro-life direction. Similarly, court appointments by pro-life presidents have given many state-level laws constitutional protection. The upcoming vote, the Child Custody Prevention Act, will give the Senate yet another opportunity to help states protect the unborn and build a culture of life.

Michael J. New
National Review Online
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjYyNzUzYz
M2NDFhMTcwMDk2MDYwZGFkMTg5ZjZlOTQ