Share the good news of marriage with your friends by forwarding this newsletter to them!

"I find the attack on traditional marriage and parenting very disconcerting, to say the least. I wish there were more I could do to defend our way of life."

~Alicia, Oceanside, CA

Welcome to the Ruth Institute, Alicia! We're here to help.

Are you a Marriage Champion? Tell us what you or your organization is doing to promote marriage where you live. Or, let us know how the Ruth Institute is helping or inspiring you to support traditional marriage!

"Breaking Up is Hard to Do, Unless Everyone Else is Doing it Too" Is divorce contagious?  Can it matter to your marriage if your friends are getting divorced?  According to a new study by Drs. Rose McDermott, James H. Fowler, and Nicholas A. Christakis, the answer is yes. Dr. J has some insights into why this is so. (Click the POD icon.)

Lutheran Public Radio: Dr. J is usually on live on Tuesdays from 2-2:15 p.m. Pacific Time (Click the link to listen live or find a station near you.)

July 14 - August 15: Bus Tour for Marriage, sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage.

July 14: Augusta, Maine. Noon --rally in Capitol Park across from the State House.

July 15: Manchester, New Hampshire. Noon at City Hall Plaza.

July 17: Albany, New York. 2:00pm, West Capitol Park.

July 18: Providence, Rhode Island. 2:00pm rally on the South Steps of the Rhode Island State House.

Please visit www.marriagetour2010.com for the complete tour schedule and information, as well as the latest updates including tour photos, video footage, and more.

July 24: Santa Ana, California, International Life Services conference

August 12: Los Angeles, California, It Takes a Family Gala event with Dr. Miriam Grossman, author of "Unprotected" and "You're Teaching My Child What?: A Physician Exposes the Lies of Sex Ed and How They Harm Your Child." She will speak on "Truths That Cannot be Told: How ideology trumps biology in sex education." 

• To prevent mailbox filters from deleting mailings from The Ruth Institute, add jmorse@ruthinstitute.org to your address book

Don't miss this opportunity to spend an evening with the Ruth Institute team and Dr. Miriam Grossman, former  psychiatrist at the UCLA Student Health Service, and author of "Unprotected" and "You're Teaching My Child What?: A Physician Exposes the Lies of Sex Ed and How They Harm Your Child." She will speak on "Truths That Cannot be Told: How ideology trumps biology in sex education." 

The date is August 12, 2010. The place is the Renaissance Airport Hotel in Los Angeles. Can't make it, but you know someone who may like to attend? Forward this email to them! Get complete details here.

Or, if you are unable to attend the gala dinner in person, please consider supporting the dinner and the It Takes a Family student conference.

PRESS RELEASE: Ruth Institute President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse Laments Loss of DOMA

SAN MARCOS, CA - Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Founding President of the Ruth Institute, issued the following statement in response to the overturn of DOMA by a federal judge in Boston, Massachusetts, earlier this week:

“This decision reflects an extremely superficial understanding of the social purposes of marriage. The essential public purpose of marriage is to attach mothers and fathers to their children and to one another. Same sex couples really are different from opposite sex couples with respect to this purpose. Poor Judge Tauro seems to believe that marriage exists to provide health insurance to adults. He has no business accusing Congress of having no other motive than to ‘disadvantage a group of which it disapproves.’ Since Judge Tauro doesn’t understand the argument that same sex and opposite sex couples really are different, he concludes that there must not be an argument.

With all due respect to the Judge’s legal expertise, the issues are not that complicated. Same sex marriage undermines the principles that kids need their moms and dads, and that biology is the basis for parenthood.

Redefining marriage is a really massive social change, which shouldn’t be undertaken lightly. The voters understand this: Judge Tauro seems not to.”

To schedule an interview with Dr. Morse, please contact Mary Beth Hutchins at 703-683-5004, x.105 or mhutchins@crcpublicrelations.com.

What percentage of women who had abortions in the year 2000 used some form of contraception during the month that they conceived?

A. 5%. The vast majority of women who come for abortions weren’t using any protection.

B. 27%. Contraception is pretty effective, but not completely. As long as women use their contraception correctly, they won’t get pregnant. Women who get abortions just don’t use contraception consistently or correctly.

C. 54%. Contraception is not as effective or easy to use as you think.

What do you think is the correct answer? Click here to take the quiz. Pass it along to quiz your friends!

The Congress of Argentina will be voting on Same Sex Marriage tomorrow, Wednesday, July 14th. Today, supporters of natural marriage will hold a major rally in Buenos Aires. The lower house of the Argentine Congress approved a same sex marriage bill in May: now the measure goes to their Senate. The coalition supporting natural marriage is called Argentines for the Children. The Ruth Institute supports the Argentines in their struggle to preserve marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Argentines for the Children will be holding a huge demonstration in Buenos Aires today, Tuesday, at 6 PM Argentine time. They are one hour earlier than the East Coast of the US. So, if you want to say a prayer for them, Eastern time zone people can start praying at 5 PM, Central Time at 4 PM, Rocky Mountain Time at 3 PM and Pacific Time Zone at 2 PM.

Here is the statement we sent to the Argentines:

The Ruth Institute stands in solidarity with the Argentines for the Children. The Ruth Institute believes that natural marriage attaches mothers and fathers to their children and to one another. We believe that children need and deserve their mothers and fathers. Same sex marriage undermines the principle that biology is the basis for parenthood. Same sex marriage undermines the idea that children need their mothers and fathers. Therefore, we believe same sex marriage is an injustice to children. The Ruth Institute supports Argentines for the Children, as they strive to preserve marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman.

Support Ruth

If this email was forwarded to you from a friend and you would like to subscribe to our newsletter, click here to subscribe.