Welcome to PulsePoint – the latest media stories & research related to family and society that you need to know about – issues from both New Zealand & overseas that the Family First team have been monitoring and researching over the last week. It’s time to cut through the spin and uncover the real issues.
On today’s Pulse Point:
- Is the government coming for churches in New Zealand?
- WPATH files suggest that the practice of transgender medicine is neither scientific nor medical.
- Irish voters reject changes to family and care definition.
- France puts abortion rights into their constitution.
- ACC NZ requires employees to support the transition of their colleagues.
- Married people are happier
You can check out all these stories and more on our website FamilyFirst.nz. We’ll keep watching the news… so that you don’t have to.
TRANSCRIPT:
Episode 1 (PulsePoint)
Coming up on today’s Pulse Point Headlines:
- Is the government coming for churches in NZ?
- Leaked files suggest that the practice of transgender medicine is neither scientific nor medical.
- Irish Voters reject changes to the definition of family and the role of mothers in their constitution.
- France puts abortion rights into THEIR constitution.
- ACC NZ requires employers to “support” the transition of their employees.
- And finally – research suggests that married people are happier.
Welcome to PulsePoint – the LATEST media stories AND research related to family and society that YOU need to know about – issues from both New Zealand AND overseas that the Family First team have been monitoring and researching over the last week. It’s time to cut through the spin and uncover the REAL issues.
I’m Tumby Stowers. And it’s Thursday the 14th of March.
1.We start this episode with an exclusive story which will concern you and should concern church leaders throughout New Zealand.
Briefing documents (known as “Briefings to Incoming Ministers” B.I.M’s) are provided to new Government ministers on key policies.
In the Briefing to the Incoming Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector from the Department for Internal Affairs after last year’s election and change of government, it says this:
There have been MANY requests from the sector and other interested parties over the years for a first principles review of the legislation…
Issues that stakeholders want reviewed include fundamental matters such as CHARITABLE PURPOSE (for example, should the advancement of RELIGION still be a charitable purpose with associated tax benefits) and advocacy by charities. There is also an expectation that ANY such review would be conducted INDEPENDENTLY of government.
That paragraph, in a government briefing, is VERY concerning.
Family First agrees that the Charities Act needs a review – because there are many groups who operate LIKE Family First but have NOT been deregistered. The Act needs to be clear and applied consistently.
The fact that the Department of Internal Affairs has even SUGGESTED this, indicates that the charitable status of CHURCHES & OTHER religious groups MAY be a target for stripping away tax benefits – despite the fact that 80% of charitable work in NZ is done by faith-based organisations.
We always expressed a concern that if the state deregistered Family First because it deemed its views on family and marriage as not being beneficial to the public – YES, that’s what the Supreme Court SAID in its judgement – then of course the state would come after OTHER groups, LIKE churches who hold similar views.
It is important that church leaders ensure that the new Minister Louise Upston and also Brooke van Velden who oversees the Department of Internal Affairs receive a STRONG message that faith & religion IS charitable, benefits society to the good, and should be supported.
2. Family First NZ is calling on the government to halt gender affirmative treatment of minors and for a full inquiry into the long-term effects and potential harms of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
The call comes in response to the leaked internal files from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).
The files provide clear evidence that doctors and therapists are aware that they are offering minors, life-changing treatments they cannot fully understand. WPATH members know that puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries will cause infertility and other complications, including cancer and pelvic floor dysfunction.)
A growing number of medical and psychiatric professionals say the promotion of pseudoscientific surgical and hormonal experiments is a global medical scandal.
But WPATH guidelines are the authority here in New Zealand.
And in news just announced in the last 24 hours, the NHS England confirms “Children will NO LONGER be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics.”
The decision comes after an independent review of services for children under 18 and a sharp rise in referrals to gender identity clinics.
The government said it welcomed the “landmark decision”, adding it will help ensure care is based on EVIDENCE and is in the “BEST interests of the child”.
You can read and watch more about this important story on the Family First website. We have put out a media statement, and Bob McCoskrie has also done a McBlog on it.
3. In 2015 Ireland became the first country to legalise gay marriage by popular – 62% support to 38% opposed.
In 2018 the people of Ireland voted by a similar margin to legalise abortion.
But last week, the people of Ireland strongly opposed reckless attempts by cultural elites to change constitutional definitions of the traditional family and the role of women.
One referendum proposed to expand the definition of the traditional family to include relationships outside the institution of traditional marriage.
The constitution currently says that “the state pledges itself to guard with special care of the institution of marriage, on which the family is founded, and to protect it against attack.”
The government wanted to change it to “marriage or other durable relationships “to which 67.69% voted NO.
The other proposed changes would have deleted all references to motherhood – in order to balance gender roles. The current constitution says, “the state recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the state a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.” The government also wanted to delete a statement that said mothers shouldn’t be obligated to work out of economic necessity if it would neglect their duties at home.
The Irish government was met with an overwhelming NO from the public, rejected by 73.93% of voters.
Irish Prime Minister Leo (Vuh-rad-kuh) took responsibility for the embarrassing double referendum defeats.
Over 60 percent voted no-no to the proposed changes to the moral institutions that have shaped Irish society for generations. Now that’s a win for traditional family values and democracy.
4. According to a report by Associated Press, the sad news in France is that the French lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill 780 votes to just 72 votes to enshrine abortion rights in France’s constitution, making it the only country to explicitly guarantee a woman’s right to end their pregnancy. (Video)
The move was proposed by President Emmanuel Macron to prevent the kind of rollback of abortion rights seen in the United States in recent years, according to the media report. In the lead-up to the shocking vote, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said, “We have a moral debt to women.”
What he DIDN’T say was that “we have a moral debt to unborn women” or to unborn children in general. Just to show how obsessed with abortion the French politicians are – since the French Constitution was enacted in 1958, it has been amended just 17 times over those 66 years. The last time was in 2008.
But killing the unborn child in France is tragically a new priority now.
And of course, in this long media report by the mainstream media celebrating the decision, there is not a single opinion or concern expressed by those seeking to protect the unborn child or the welfare and health of the pregnant woman. A sad day for life.
5. Unfortunately back home we have also taken a step in the wrong direction, as
ACC NZ released documentation to employees that requires them to ‘SUPPORT the transition of another employee, that a REFUSAL to use preferred pronouns (not just the changed name) will constitute discrimination, bullying or harassment, and that the person changing their sex can use the toilet of THEIR choice. In fact, under privacy requirements, other staff may not even be AWARE of this choice.
In other words, ACC is FORCING gender ideology on staff.
The Public Service Act is quoted in the document to remind employees that the workplace should be “inclusive of ALL groups”. However, that “INCLUSIVITY” doesn’t mention the rights of employees to express DISAGREEMENT with gender ideology, or to have the right to SAFETY and know that ONLY women can use the WOMEN’S toilets. It also FORCES employees to tell a biological lie by having to use ‘personal pronouns.’
6. Finally, On a happier note, adults who are married report being far happier than those in any other relationship status, according to a Gallup Poll.
From 2009 to 2023, more than 2.5 million adults in the United States were asked how they would rate their current life, with zero being the worst possible rating and 10 being the highest.
Researchers then asked respondents what they anticipated their happiness level would be in five years.
Over the survey period, married people consistently reported their happiness levels higher than their unmarried counterparts, ranging from 12% to 24% higher depending on the year, according to the data.
This result is no surprise to us. That’s why we say here at Family First that MARRIAGE MATTERS.
And THAT’S the latest episode of PulsePoint. You can check out ALL these stories AND MORE on our website familyfirst.nz. We’ll keep watching the news… so that you don’t have to.
See you next time.
