Ruth Institute Founder and President, Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., announced: “February 21st we reached a milestone when we presented our Make the Family Great Again petition to Mary Ann Glendon, Chairman of the State Department Commission on Unalienable Rights and former US Ambassador to the Holy See. Ambassador Glendon was grateful for our interest in the Commission’s work and said our petition would be permanently stored in the State Department’s archives.”
Morse continued: “As the Beatles song goes, it’s been a ‘long and winding road’ from when we launched our petition last September, in partnership with LifePetitions, to the presentation at the State Department on Friday.”
The Commission on Unalienable Rights was appointed by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to advise his department on how to incorporate an understanding of authentic human rights into its dealings with international bodies and foreign governments.
“Our petition urges the Commission to make the family its focus by acknowledging that human rights start with the family,” Morse said. It also declares that the Commission should work for an understanding of the rights which undergird the family, including:
- The right of every child to a relationship with his or her natural mother and father except for an unavoidable tragedy
- The right of every person to know the identity of his or her biological parents
- The right to life from conception to natural death
- The right of parents to educate their own children in their faith tradition and values without being undermined by the state
In addition to the 8,000+ online signers at LifePetitions.com, the petition was signed by an illustrious array of pro-family leaders in the U.S. and from around the world, including Nigeria, Malawi, Italy, Kenya, Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Venezuela, the United Kingdom, Canada, Uganda, Trinidad, and the Republic of Georgia.
Leadership signers include: Gary Bauer (President, American Values), Brent Bozell (Founder and President, Media Research Center), Fr. Shenan Boquet (President, Human Life International), Janice Shaw Crouse (Author, Columnist and Speaker), Pat Fagan (Director, Marriage and Religion Research Institute), Robert George (Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Princeton University), Jor-El Godsey (President, Heartbeat International), Governor Mike Huckabee (former Governor of Arkansas and commentator), Alveda King (Author and Activist), Michael Pakaluk (Professor, Busch School of Business, Catholic University of America), Tom Morrison (Representative, Ill. District 54), Steven W, Mosher (President and Founder, Population Research Institute), C. Preston Noell (President, American Society for Tradition, Family and Property), Sharon Slater (President, Family Watch International), Steven Smoot (President, Family First Foundation), Mathew D. Staver, Esq. (Founder and Chairman, Liberty Counsel), and Michael Voris (Founder and President, St. Michael’s Media).
Signers from outside the United States include: Rebekah Ali-Gouveia (Pro-Family Leader, Trinidad), Bishop Emmanuel Badejo (Bishop of Oyo, Nigeria), Moira Chimombo (Former Executive Director, Sub-Sahara Family Enrichment, Malawi), Silvio Dalla Valle (Executive Director, Association for the Defense of Christian Values, Italy), Ann Kioko (President, African Organization for Families, Kenya), Lech Kowalewski (Board Member, Polish Federation of Pro-Life Movements), Christa Leonhard (Foundation for Family Values, Germany and the Swiss Foundation for the Family), Gwen Landolt (First Vice President, REAL Women of Canada), Warwick and Allison Marsh (Founders, Dads4Kids, Australia), Dr. Theresa Okafor (Director, Foundation for African Cultural Heritage, FACH, Nigeria), Fr. Boniface Ssenteza, (Youth Chaplain for the Kasana-Luweero Diocese, and National Scouting Chaplain, Uganda), Christine Vollmer (Founder and President, Latin American Alliance for the Family, Venezuela), Andrea Williams (Chief Executive, Christian Concern, United Kingdom) and Levan Vasadez (Pro-Life Activist, Republic of Georgia).
Here is the complete text of Dr. Morse’s testimony to the State Department Commission on Unalienable Rights.
The Ruth Institute is a global non-profit organization equipping Christians to defend the family and build a civilization of love. Find more information here.
Jennifer Roback Morse is the author of The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives.
MATTEO ORLANDO