This week on the Pro-Life World View, we bring you interesting articles on the New Zealand government seeking to silence parents on sex education, Italy banning surrogacy for Italian citizens, new research demonstrating the benefits of marriage for individuals and society, and the Chilean Senate voting to ban the funding of so-called sex “transition” for children under the age of 18 by the Chilean government.
Let’s talk about it: Review of relationships and sexuality education – Summary
Education Review Office (ERO)
Sex education curriculum to be reviewed after critical report
RNZ News
School sex education plans derailed by misinformation, bigotry and threats of violence – report
RNZ News
Gender, sexuality, and relationship-based guidelines out by the end of term 1 next year, but a rewrite is planned.
The Minister of Education, Erica Stanford, has announced that the gender, sexuality and relationship-based education guidelines will be removed before the end of the first term in 2025, while a rewrite of the entire Relationships and Sexuality curriculum is on the cards. The move fulfils a coalition promise between National and NZ First and comes on the back of a report from the Education Review Office (ERO). The report “Let’s Talk about It: Review of Relationships and Sexuality Education – Summary” accuses parents involved in the consultation process of “abuse and intimidation” and cites one school leader saying, “Why do we consult? We don’t ask what we should teach in maths.” Ruth Shinoda, the deputy chief executive of ERO, said: “Relationships and sexuality education are too important to leave to chance, and we need to make it easier for schools so they can focus on teaching.”
A key recommendation in the ERO report is that there be a “requirement” for parents and caregivers to be informed “about what they [educators] plan to teach and how they plan to teach it before they teach it.”
Other recommendations (abridged):
• RSE continues to be compulsory from Years 1 to 10.
• The Government consider how to extend RSE teaching and learning into Years 11 to 13.
• The Ministry of Education review the Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) curriculum to ensure clarity on what should be taught and when spanning from Years 0 to 13.
• The Ministry of Education provides evidence based resources and supports for school leaders and teachers, including curriculum and teaching guidance.
• Teachers, especially those in primary schools, receive the professional development necessary to effectively teach RSE.
• Consider replacing the requirement on school boards to consult the school community on RSE (as part of the Health and Physical Education curriculum) with a requirement to inform parents and whānau about what they plan to teach and how they plan to teach it, before they teach it. Schools should continue to take steps to understand students’ needs. Schools should also ensure that parents and whānau know that they can withdraw their children from any element of RSE that they are uncomfortable with.
• Retain the ability for parents and whānau to withdraw their children from RSE lessons and provide clear information about how to do this.
FLI Comment:
Parents are the first teachers of their children, and it is their responsibility and God-given right to educate them on the delicate matter of sexuality. The Catholic church has been clear of this fact, and that others may only assist them in this critical task with their permission and with full knowledge of what is being taught, and it must always be grounded in solid moral principles. Parents must stand firm and insist that they have a say about what is taught in schools in this matter and not merely be “informed.”
It is heartening that the report found that 13% of parents do not want RSE taught in schools at all, while 38% of parents of primary-aged students are concerned that the RSE content is not age-appropriate. Such unease means that some parents still have an innate sense of this important responsibility that they bear.
Experts laud Italian ban on surrogacy abroad as step toward universal abolition
Catholic News Agency
Surrogacy banned for Italian citizens inside and outside its borders
Italy has banned surrogate motherhood at home and abroad. Italian citizens who commission surrogacy in other countries will now be prosecuted under Italian law. Giorgio Mazzoli, the director of U.N. Advocacy for Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADF), says:
“As the first country in the world to ban surrogacy outside its borders, Italy could serve as a model for countries determined to combat this deeply unethical, inhumane, and exploitative practice, which turns children into commodities and women’s reproductive capacities into tools for others’ desires.”
Earlier this year, Pope Francis called the practice of surrogacy “deplorable“ saying that it represented “a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs… A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract.”
Study Shows Marriage Protects against Suicide, Drug Deaths
Dan Hart – The Washington Stand
Marital Status and Deaths from Alcohol, Drug Overdose, and Suicide in the United States: 2000–2021
Ruan, H., Gao, M. G., Xiong, Y., & Cohen, P. N. – Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World [Sage Journals]
Study shows marriage protects against suicide, alcohol and drug deaths
Research published in the sociology research journal Socius adds to the growing body of evidence demonstrating the benefits of marriage for individuals and society. The mortality rates among the US unmarried population, ages 25 and above from 2000 to 2021, rose to 2 to 3 times higher than the married population in alcohol-related deaths, 4 to 5 times higher in deaths from drug overdose, and 2.1 to 2.7 times higher in deaths from suicide. In the words of His Eminence, Raymond Cardinal Burke: “There is no greater force against evil in the world than the love of a man and woman in marriage. After the Holy Eucharist, it has a power beyond anything that we can imagine.”
STATEMENT: Chilean Senate protects children, takes a stand against dangerous gender ideology
Press Release – Alliance for Defending Freedom International
Chilean Senate protects children, takes a stand against dangerous gender ideology
Following the publication of a Congressional investigative report, Chile’s Senate has voted to ban the Chilean government’s funding of so-called sex ‘changes’ involving surgical or hormonal interventions for children under the age of 18. The Chilean government’s policy of support for gender ‘reassignment’ (mutilation) for children includes prosecuting parents who oppose the transitioning of their children. Chile’s government is now seeking to challenge the new law in the Constitutional Court.
Michelle Kaufman, National Director of Family Life International NZ, welcomed the Chilean Senate’s legislative initiative: “This is part of a growing worldwide trend to objectively assess the dangers of puberty blockers and surgical interventions on children and young people. So-called gender-affirming care, whether supporting and facilitating social, chemical, or surgical transitioning, is harmful to individuals who cannot possibly have the ability to give informed consent to the interventions.”
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