Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Roberts Nomination
 Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve the nomination of Judge John Roberts as the next Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The final vote tally was 13-5, with all ten of the Committee's Republicans being joined by three Democrats - Vermont's Patrick Leahy and Wisconsin's Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl.
"Thus far, it appears that Judge Roberts has been given a fair hearing and will now get a timely up or down vote in the full Senate," said MFF Executive Director Brad Snavely. "It is unfortunate, however, that some Senators have chosen to side with liberal interest groups who oppose Judge Roberts for political reasons." The full Senate is expected to vote on September 26.
Click here for more details about the Committee vote.
More Women Choosing Motherhood as a Career
 A recent New York Times article highlighted the lives of several Ivy League women and their future plans. The women, who generally were 4.0 students with very high college entrance scores, are part of a growing group who plan to scale back or put their professional careers on hold when they become mothers.
Faculty at Ivy league schools such as Harvard and Yale say these women are part of a growing trend on college campuses. At the height of the feminist movement, women were encouraged to put their careers before family life, but today's students view things differently. In fact, an interview of 138 freshman and senior females at Yale University found that 60-percent of them planned to either cut back or quit working when they had children.
To read the article in its entirety, click here.
Gonzales Will Defend Pledge
 U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has announced that the Justice Department will fight to overturn a Court ruling outlawing recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. Gonzales said the Pledge is "one of several expressions of national identity that mention God" and that the "Supreme Court has ruled on several occasions that such official acknowledgements of our nation's religious heritage are Constitutional."
Lawrence Karlton, a District Court judge in California issued the ban earlier this month after ruling on a case involving atheist Michael Newdow and three sets of parents he represented. A similar case involving just Newdow was rejected by the Supreme Court last year on a technicality. The high court is expected to take up this case resulting in a final ruling on the words "under God" as part of the Pledge.
To read more about this issue, click here.
Stat of the Week
A new report from the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that compared to teens who have dinner with their family five or more times per week, teens that have dinner with their family two or less times per week are:
- three times likelier to try marijuana
- two and a half time likelier to smoke cigarettes, and
- more than one and one-half times as likely to drink alcohol.
Source: Joseph A. Califano, Jr., "Accompanying Statement," The Importance of Family Dinners II, CASA Family Day, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, September 2005; http://www.casafamilyday.org/PDFs/FamilyDinnersII.pdf
"If You Were Mine" Adoption Seminar
 FamilyLife Ministries is sponsoring a one-day workshop entitled "If You Were Mine" on Saturday, October 1 at Kentwood Community Church near Grand Rapids.
The conference will offer an inspiring and informative look into adoption from a Christian perspective. For more information, click here or call 1-800-358-6329.
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