Family Policy Resource Center
This is a collection of some of the very best articles, analysis and research available on critical family issues. A variety of materials is offered, some for a general audience and some for pro-family activists and key policymakers and their staffs or for anyone who wants a more in-depth understanding of these issues.
FWI POLICY BRIEFS
We publish a series of short policy briefs on important family issues. They are designed to be run off on your printer so you can help spread the word, and we encourage you to do that.
Abortion
Abortion. This policy brief provides details on the negative impacts abortions have on the mother and explains the terminology and different types of abortions.
The Relentless Push to Create an “International Right" to Abortion. Since 1994, abortion advocates have attempted to establish a broad international human right to abortion on demand. What they got instead, through heated negotiations during the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), is a prohibition on promoting abortion for family planning and encouragement by the United Nations body to avoid abortion altogether, especially unsafe abortions performed to save the mother.
The Maputo Protocol. The Maputo Protocol is an assault on the African family and unborn children, and where instituted fully will contribute to the continued breakdown of the traditional family resulting in myriad of negative consequences to men, women and children throughout Africa.
Marriage
The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights. The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights extend far beyond internationally recognized human rights and seek to impose controversial policies that would weaken the institution of the family. Ironically, the Guidelines recommend protecting behaviors that actually fuel the AIDS epidemic.
Eight Reasons to Defend Man/Woman Marriage. This policy brief presents eight compelling reasons why marriage between a man and a woman is essential to the future of every society and is worth defending.
Outcomes According to Family
Structure. Social science research has conclusively
proven that a strong family based on marriage between a man and a woman is the
optimum environment to protect, nourish and develop individuals. This policy brief contains a collection of
these statistics based on various family forms.
Traditional Marriage is Essential for a Healthy Society. This brief summarizes why preserving the social institution of traditional marriage is essential to the future of any society and why the demands to legalize same-sex marriage are such a serious threat.
Why the U.S. Must Pass a Federal Marriage Amendment. Presents a brief summary of the political and legal situation with respect to protecting marriage in the U.S. and explains why the only certain way to preserve it is by ratifying an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Homosexuality
What You MUST Know About Homosexuality. Issues related to homosexuality and so-called “homosexual rights” are driving much of the current worldwide assault on marriage, the family and family related issues. This policy brief gives you basic facts and information you must know.
Unwanted Same-sex Attraction Can be Successfully Treated. Same-sex attraction is not fixed and unchangeable. There is a growing number of individuals who are being successfully treated for unwanted same-sex attraction. This policy brief explains why homosexual activists continue to attack those who help reorient individuals who seek help to overcome unwanted same-sex attraction.
“Junk Science” and Same Sex Parenting. Homosexual activists and their allies claim that research proves there are no significant differences between children raised by same-sex couples and those raised by heterosexuals. As outlined in this brief, however, unbiased scholars who have examined this research are highly critical of it and they conclude that it is essentially useless in determining if there are differences.
Sexual Rights
Yogyakarta Principles. This policy brief is an expose of the “analysis” of the international homosexual activist community claiming that international law makes the expression of one’s sexual orientation, no matter what it is, a fundamental “human right.”
The International Guidelines on Sexuality Education. This policy brief analyzes the original sexual rights-based publication issued by UNESCO in collaboration with UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO. It was intended to drive sex education programs taught to children in schools worldwide. It is very offensive and is contrary to what most parents would want their children exposed to. The original Guidelines have since been revised due to public outcry, but you can read them in their entirety here.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 2010-2011 Strategic Plan.This plan is an attempt to further implement the worldwide sexual rights agenda and is of great concern to those who seek to safeguard the institution of the family.
United Nations
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This UN treaty has been described as “the ERA on steroids” and it is pending before the U.S. Senate.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This UN treaty, ratified by all UN member countries except the United States and Somalia, is undermining parental rights around the world.
ICESCR Committee General Comment 20. This policy brief outlines considerations regarding the amendment proposed to OP10 in the resolution on International Covenants on Human Rights during the 2009 session of the General Assembly. The resolution would delete references to General Comments 19 and 20 issued by the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee.Comment 20 sought to reinterpret the term “other status” in the ICESCR to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” thereby making them protected classes like race and religion.The amendment to delete the reference to Comment 20 passed in the General Assembly.If the provision had been adopted, it would have undermined the family and marriage in every country in the world.
General Interest
Pornography. Pornography is a growing scourge that can lead to addition and deviant behaviors that in turn can destroy families and can pose a danger to individuals and society. This policy brief provides an overview of the problem.
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Many Americans thought that the Equal Rights Amendment has been dead for decades, but liberals and feminists are trying to resurrect this threat to women and the family.
Additional Family Policy Resources
The UN Doha Declaration
This is one of the most important United Nations family documents in over a generation. It is part of the UN’s recognition of the 10th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family and reaffirms the UN’s historic commitment to protecting and promoting the family. All too often, UN bureaucrats and UN committees, in concert with anti-family non-governmental organizations, try to push an anti-family agenda in their dealings with individual countries and at various UN meetings. The Doha Declaration is an invaluable tool in stopping these efforts.
The French Assembly Report
In early 2006 a commission composed of members of the French National Assembly issued the conclusions of their extensive investigation of what changes might be needed in French law and social policy to strengthen families and protect children. Among their recommendations: France should not legalize same-sex marriage, not allow same-sex adoption and not support artificial means for same-sex couples to have children. This was a particularly significant and surprising report because France is usually in the forefront of the effort internationally to promote these same policies and force them on other countries.
This is a 2 page summary of the pertinent findings related to marriage and children prepared by a Canadian pro-family group, Preserve Marriage.
This is the English translation of the Executive Summary of the Assembly’s report.
The New Hampshire Commission Report
An official New Hampshire Commission was created by law in 2004 to investigate and analyze whether the state should recognize civil unions or legalize same-sex marriage and concluded that neither should be legalized. The “New Hampshire Commission to Study All Aspects of Same Sex Civil Marriage and the Legal Equivalents Thereof, Whether Referred to as Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships, or Otherwise” was created by SB 427, Chapter 100:2, Laws of 2004. A brief summary of the major findings and conclusions is posted here along with links to the report’s executive summary and the complete Commission report.
What Same-sex Marriage has Done to Massachusetts
This report by a leading pro-marriage group in Massachusetts summarizes the major damage that has already been done to schools, parents’ rights, businesses, religious institutions, government finances and in other ways in Massachusetts since four activist judges imposed same-sex marriage on the people of that state.
The Evolution of the Family in Europe 2007
Prepared by the International Policy Institute, this study provides an overview of the problems and pressures facing the family in Europe along with some recommendations about what can and should be done to protect and promote families as an answer to many of Europe’s social problems.
Do Fathers Matter uniquely for Adolscent Wellbeing of their Children?
This research brief summarizes the findings of literally hundreds of academic studies that show that fathers, as well as mothers are critical in the wellbeing and healthy development of children at all ages.
The Shift and the Denial: Scholarly Attitudes toward Family Change, 1977-2002
Two noted researchers document the growing consensus over the past two decades that family structure, particularly the presence of both a mother and a father, are essential to the best development of children. They also document the disturbing development of activist researchers who deny or try to confuse this growing evidence.
The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Parenting
This is the first comprehensive scholarly effort to determine the cost to the taxpayers from the fragmentation of the family in the U.S. Its conservative estimate is at least $112 billion annually. Some of the factors leading to increased divorce and unwed parenting result in a changing perception and understanding of the social institution of marriage. The loss of the “social goods” from marriage is largely what is costing these tax dollars. But these negative influences on the institution are minor compared to the radical redefinition of the social institution that would result from legalizing same-sex marriage. We can reasonably expect that the costs from such an action would be much greater.
Marriage and the Betrayal of Perez and Loving
The comparison is often made between prohibiting same-sex individuals to marry and the laws banning interracial marriage that have been struck down by U.S. courts. As this law journal article, lays out, this is a false comparison. Interracial marriage is still traditional marriage between a man and a woman, and from a social institution perspective, it does not change the common understanding of marriage in society. Legalizing same-sex marriage, by contrast, is a radical redefinition of this social institution.
The Case Against Same-sex Parenting
Decision of the Irish High Court Rejecting Same-sex Marriage
This is a landmark decision by the Irish High Court rejecting the challenge to Ireland’s law limiting marriage to a man and a woman that had been filed by two lesbian Irish citizens who were demanding that their Canadian same-sex marriage be recognized in Ireland. In one part of this decision, the justices went into detail expressing concern about the impact same-sex marriage would have on children and reviewed the social science data underscoring the importance of children having both a mother and a father.
Like a number of professional associations, the AAP has taken positions on same sex issues based far more on political correctness and the demands of the activists in their ranks than on the facts or the science. Dr. Quick’s testimony in the Iowa court case Varnum et al v Brien outlines the problems with the process and the data used by the AAP to reach its position.
Defense of Marriage Policy Resources
Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles
Published by the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, this is an excellent medium-length summary of the social science-based case for preserving marriage as only between a man and a woman. It is the product of collaboration between scholars in a wide range of academic disciplines and seeks to broaden the debate over marriage to focus on the lessons of the social sciences and recent social experiences to make a conclusive case for preserving marriage.
VIDEO Presentation by Dr. Pat Fagan
Dr. Pat Fagan, an internationally recognized expert on what the social science research data show on the importance of family structure and the value of children being raised by their married biological parents speaks at a “Marriage Matters” forum sponsored by the Vermont Marriage Advisory Council at the University of Vermont in January, 2008.
Articles by Richard Wilkins
(Note: Richard Wilkins is professor of U.S. constitutional law and currently on leave from the Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School and serving as Managing Director of the Doha Institute for Family and Development. He is one of the most influential and widely respected advocates of pro-family policy at the international level and in the U.S.)
Government Structure, Marriage and the Constitution: What all Americans should understand
Richard Wilkins states flatly “Unless the American people amend the Constitution of the United States, marriage – in very short order – will no longer be a union between a man and a woman but, instead, a union of any two, three, four or more consenting adults.” An excellent, brief summary of why Americans must amend their federal constitution if they hope to preserve marriage as only between a man and a woman.
Articles by Monte Stewart
(Note: Monte Stewart, is currently president of the Marriage Law Foundation and is an internationally recognized scholar on marriage law and policy. He clerked for the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, has served as a U.S. Attorney, taught law and been appointed a Special Assistant State Attorney General.
Marriage Debates. The California Marriage Case: Interests of the State
This is the best short (only 11 pages) summary of why it is important to preserve the social institution of marriage as only the union of a man and a woman and why all of the legal arguments made by those demanding that same-sex marriage be legalized are invalid.
Judicial Redefinition of Marriage
This is a detailed examination of marriage law and policy based on Mr. Stewart’s 2004 post-graduate degree thesis at Oxford University. It was published in the September, 2004 Canadian Journal of Family Law and is widely regarded as one of the definitive reviews and analyses of marriage law and policy in the English-speaking world.
Genderless Marriage, Institutional Realities and Judicial Elision
Originally published in the Duke University Law Journal, this article is especially valuable because Mr. Stewart identifies, examines and thoroughly refutes each of the arguments commonly made by those advocating legalization of same-sex marriage.
VIDEO Presentation by Monte Stewart
This is a video of a presentation by Monte Stewart at a “Marriage Matters” forum sponsored by the Vermont Marriage Advisory Council at the University of Vermont in January, 2008.
Dr. Brad Wilcox, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia.
Why Marriage Matters: Marriage, Lone Parenthood, Cohabitation, and Child Well-being in the West
This is his excellent Power Point presentation, "Why Marriage Matters: Marriage, Lone Parenthood, Cohabitation, and Child Well-being in the
West" delivered at the World Congress of Families IV in Warsaw, Poland in May of 2007.
The Effects of Marriage on Health: A Synthesis of Recent Research Evidence
This report by the United States Department of Health and Human Services concludes that “A burgeoning literature suggests that marriage may have a wide range of benefits, including improvements in individuals' economic well-being, mental and physical health, and the well-being of their children.” It summarizes the literature in an easy to understand way.
Resources on Homosexuality
"What Research Shows" Executive Summary
"What Research Shows" is the most comprehensive scholarly review ever done of more than 125 years of clinical experience and research into the nature of homosexuality, its treatment, and the many health problems associated with the homosexual lifestyle. The research and clinical experience show conclusively that homosexuals are not "born that way," that it can often be successfully treated, that the therapy is not harmful, and that there is a wide range of mental and physical health problems associated with the homosexual lifestyle.
