Pro Morality Believing that America's greatness is linked to America's goodness and believing that God says that righteousness exalts a nation, AdvanceUSA is committed to calling our government to follow traditional, Judeo-Christian values in its lawmaking. We support strong laws against pornography which damages the lives of men, women, and children. We support strong laws upholding community standards so that local citizens can decide what businesses can and cannot exist in their neighborhoods. We support strict laws regarding indecency on the public airwaves. Pro Morality News Court Tosses FCC 'Wardrobe Malfunction' Fine Congress Extends Abstinence-Education Funding Let My People Go, AIDS Profiteers Child Sex Ring Busted; Hundreds Arrested Senate Cmte Cuts Abstinence Education Funds 25 Percent, Bush May Veto Internet Providers Agree To Block Child Pornography Pornographer Convicted of Obscenity Crimes 6th Circuit Upholds Regulations on Sexually Oriented Businesses Abstinence Education Proponents Prepare One Million Parent March 6th Circuit Upholds Protections for Grand Rapids Citizens Against Sex Shops archive...

PEPFAR Abortion and Abstinence Policies: If They're Not Broken, Don't Fix Them
UPDATE (4/4): The House of Representatives has approved a version of PEPFAR anti-AIDS funding that is much improved from the original version which would have mandated abortion funding, drastically cut back abstinence and faithfulness education, and weakened anti-prostitution provisions. Though significant improvements have been made to the bill, not all conservatives support the measure because of fiscal concerns over massive spending increases and concerns that there is insufficient accountability over how funds are spent. The bill will now go to the U.S. Senate.

UPDATE (2/20): The House Foreign Affairs Committee will vote on PEPFAR anti-AIDS funding reauthorization on Thursday, February 28. Call your representative today (especially if they serve on this committee) and urge him or her to vote against the PEPFAR legislation unless pro-abortion code words like "family panning" and "reproductive health" are removed and abstinence education and anti-prostitution language is maintained. LifeNews reports on the abortion funding aspect while the AP reports on President Bush's statements urging lawmakers to preserve crucial abstinence and faithfulness funding.

UPDATE (2/13): AdvanceUSA has learned from friends in the House of Representatives that the Foreign Affairs Committee hearings on PEPFAR have been postponed until the "week of February 25."

UPDATE (2/8): The AP reports on PEPFAR concerns here. The Foreign Affairs Committee will likely vote on PEPFAR on Thursday, February 14. Be sure to contact members of this committee and urge them to preserve the crucial pro-life and pro-morality provisions of PEPFAR.

UPDATE (2/7): The House Foreign Affairs Committee markup for PEPFAR originally scheduled today has been postponed to next week. As currently written, the legislation undermines effective abstinence programs and mandates taxpayer support of overseas abortions. FRC has provided a helpful list of committee members. If your representative is in this list, be sure to encourage him or her to oppose any provisions which undermine the Mexico City Policy, allow tax dollars to support overseas abortion providers or proponents, undermine anti-prostitution regulations, or weakens support for successful abstinence and faithfulness education programs. If these concerns are not met, your representative should be encouraged to oppose the underlying bill.

Liberals in Congress should stop endangering critical AIDS funding with attempts to advance their anti-life, liberal social agenda.

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which was begun in 2003, has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and will be up for renewal this year. Unfortunately, there is an aggressive push by liberals to disregard current stipulations that mandate funding for the "AB" ("abstinence" and "be faithful") portion of "ABC" education ("C" = condoms). The new efforts would allow funding for "reproductive health" (a.k.a "abortion") and ease the regulations that require groups receiving PEPFAR funds to pledge opposition to prostitution. The liberals claim to want only to fund "what works" despite the mounting evidence that teaching abstinence and faithfulness (as is done in Uganda) and taking a strong stance against prostitution are the most effective ways to combat the spread of the dreaded AIDS virus. Also, Americans should not have to subsidize overseas abortions with their tax dollars so Congress should be wary of allowing funds for "reproductive health" purposes as this is a broad term used by liberals to promote abortion.

Our friends in Congress tell us that PEPFAR will likely be considered by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on February 7. If your representative sits on this committee call him or her today and encourage them to be sure to 1. attend the February 7 hearings, 2. voice their support for abstinence funding and anti-prostitution efforts, 3. oppose taxpayer funded "reproductive health" (abortion), and 4. vote against any amendments which would weaken these crucial provisions.

Fighting the Culture War One Life at a Time: Teaching Abstinence and Fighting Pornography
AdvanceUSA hopes these resources will assist you and your family as you seek to preserve the moral truths so essential to our nation's well-being in your home and in your community.

A recent report from Baptist Press exposes the pervasiveness of pornography in society generally and in the church particularly. Another article highlights helpful online resources for battling pornography addiction. The National Coalition for the Protection of Children is an organization that seeks to preserve a biblical perspective on sexuality and also does great work assisting communities to write new obscenity laws or enforce laws already on the books. Check their website if you are interested in battling "adult" businesses in your neighborhood. Finally, visit 4parents.gov for resources to help you talk to your pre-teen children about waiting until marriage to be sexually active.

Court Approves of "Fleeting Expletives" Anytime on TV
UPDATE (9/20): Rep. Charles Pickering (R-MS) has proposed the Protecting Children from Indecent Programming Act in the House which would allow the FCC to enforce its guidelines for so-called "fleeting instances" of profanity and indecency.

In a blatant display of judicial activism, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could not intervene in cases of "fleeting instances" of indecent words or images over the broadcast airwaves. This ruling, in effect, makes the penalty increase passed by Congress totally ineffective. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) recently proposed an amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill to give the FCC authority to enforce indecency regulations even for "single word[s] or image[s]." The amendment was defeated in committee, but thankfully Senators Rockefeller (D-WV) and Pryor (D-AR) have introduced the same legislation as a separate bill (S. 1780). It is crucial that this bill be passed before the oral arguments begin in the notorious "Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction" court case so that the FCC has solid guidelines with which to defend its intervention in that perfect example of "fleeting indecency."

Senators should be aware that "a vote against S. 1780 is a vote for airing the f-word and s-word [and indecent images] at any time of day on broadcast airwaves." AdvanceUSA applauds the efforts of Senators Brownback, Rockefeller, and Pryor to protect the publicly owned airwaves from being used to broadcast indecency during hours when children are watching.

• Press Release: FCC Launches Website for Indecency Complaints (PDF)
• File an Online Complaint for Obscenity, Indecency, or Profanity

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