Family Watch 05

FW #5 - February 2,1997

National Goals to Combat AIDS · Yes to Gay Refugees · Planned Parenthood Downsizing · Illiteracy

NATIONAL GOALS TO COMBAT AIDS . . .

The National AIDS Policy Office of the White House recently presented President Clinton with their strategy to combat AIDS:

find a vaccine and cure for AIDS,
provide all necessary health treatment for AIDS patients,
reduce and eliminate infections,
fight AIDS related discrimination,
support international efforts, and
expedite access to new treatments.

According to Ron Freeman, Executive Director of the Freedom Foundation, these six initiatives place a great burden on a government that is currently spending over $7 billion per year on AIDS research (which is about 14 times what was spent in 1986), with plans to increase spending to over $8 billion during the next fiscal year. Mr. Freeman questions whether it is foolish to think we can combat the spread of AIDS without confronting the behavior that spreads the HIV virus. In fact, Mr. Freeman offers five solutions he believes would stop the spread of AIDS:

stop premarital sex,
stop homosexual sex,
stop intravenous drug use
stop giving blood if you have engaged in any of the above, and
stop working in jobs that puts others at risk, i.e., medicine, food service, and other jobs of this nature.

"Where is the beauty in these solutions? None of them will cost the government (tax payer) a dime. If the left really cares about the spread of this disease, they will call for those involved in high risk behavior to stop what they are doing. How can we stop the disease, if we do not confront the behavior?" [Excerpts from THE FREEDOM FAX, 12/26/96, a publication of The Freedom Foundation, and written by Ron Freeman, Executive Director]

NOTE: Tune into "The Civil Right with Ron Freeman", now broadcast nationally on 1340 AM, CNN in Kansas City, 1 to 2 pm weekdays. Also 1600 AM in Orlando, FL; 89.3 FM in Des Moines, IA; 1370 AM in Jackson, MS; 1110 AM in Alexandria, LA; and 1400 AM in Demopolis, AL.

CLINTON SAYS "YES" TO GAY REFUGEES . . .

During the Reagan and Bush Administrations, U.S. refugee policy offered political asylum to applicants who could prove a well-founded fear of forced abortion, forced sterilization, and/or were fleeing systematic government-sponsored oppression in their home country. On the other hand, U.S. immigration policy denied admittance to individuals who posed a threat to public health because they carried a communicable disease. These policies were adhered to until August of 1994, when the Clinton administration reversed the above immigration policies. [Life Coalition International, News Release, 5/22/95]

Under the Clinton Administration, the Justice Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has denied political refugee asylum status to numerous Chinese families fleeing the forced abortion and sterilization policies of their governments, while at the same time using homosexuality and HIV-infection as a basis for granting political refugee status to other applicants. In 1996, Congress passed legislation to restore the political asylum policies of Bush and Reagan, but this law has been ignored. In addition, legislation had previously been passed to specifically bar HIV-positive foreigners from entering the United States. U.S. Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee, commented that "when the administration grants asylum solely on the basis that an individual is infected with HIV, it is a violation of the law." [Steve Schwalm, "Clinton Says Yes to Gay Refugees, No to Chinese", Human Events, 1/10/97, p 5]

PLANNED PARENTHOOD DOWNSIZING . . .

During the last fiscal year, Planned Parenthood has closed 35 clinics, reduced its workforce by 4,000 (staffers and volunteers) and had fewer participants in their sex education programs. Planned Parenthood had approximately 938 clinics in mid-1995, which was far short of their stated goal of 2,000 clinics by the year 2000. Planned Parenthood's president, Gloria Fledt has said, "We've been through some very tough times." She further explained that one of the things hurting her group was "an assault by religious political extremists." [Christian Coalition Action Alert, 1/16/97, p 2]

ILLITERACY LINKED TO DELINQUENCY . . .

"Government and academic data show that illiteracy is a big part of delinquency -- if not an actual cause in some cases". Researchers has been aware of the link between illiteracy and crime for decades, but a 1993 Justice Department study, which calls reading failure "a major cause of delinquency", has brought this concept to the forefront. Education specialist, Michael Brunner, who conducted the 1993 Justice Department study, compiled several studies that linked reading failure and delinquency. Another key study, conducted in 1974 for the Orton Dyslexia Society, with two populations of 48 boys from state training schools, showed that illiteracy and crime were connected, but showed "no link between juvenile aggression and age, family size, number of parents present in the home, rural vs. urban environment, socioeconomic status, minority group membership or religious preference." Illiteracy, according to reading experts, aggravates crime because students are frustrated at failing, leading to anti-social aggression. According to Brunner, "the link between whole language, illiteracy and crime is too strong to ignore. (Illiteracy) is only one part of our problems with crime, and we're all paying for it now. But it's also a part of our problems we can do something about". Mr. Brunner believes the solution may be a return to a more challenging curriculum, a return to the teaching of phonics and the use of instruction techniques that are based on scientific research. [Matthew Robinson, "Learn To Read, Stay Out Of Jail", Investor's Business Daily, 1/12/96, p1]

NOTE: Recent studies have also shown the connection between the breakdown of the family and various social problems, i.e. poverty, welfare dependency, and crime. Increased spending and new social programs do not seem to have a significant impact on these social problems. Republican Senator Phil Gramm observed, "If social spending stopped crime, America would be the safest country in the world." [For More Information: Patrick Fagan, "The real root cause of violent crime: the breakdown of the family", Imprimis, the monthly journal of Hillsdale College, 1/96]