Columnist Fails to Note Adopter’s Abortion Connection

NEW YORK POST, Oct. 23 — Post Columnist Andrea Peyser criticized the singer Madonna’s Malawi adoption while praising the adoption of a New York City widow, Merle Hoffman. But she ignored the fact that Hoffman is president of one of the country’s largest abortion businesses.

Peyser described Hoffman as a more ethical adopter for working through an agency to adopt a 3-year-old girl from Siberia.

Hoffman compared Madonna’s adoption to a human auction, removing a baby from a father who loved him. “It’s like putting people on the auction block,” she said. “I can’t even imagine what’s in her consciousness.”

Hoffman founded the nation’s first abortion business, Choices Women’s Medical Center, which serves more than 50,000 patients a year.

Group Accuses Madison Diocese of Violating the Law

WBAY-TV, Oct. 17 — A voter watchdog group has accused the Diocese of Madison, Wis., of failing to disclose attempts to influence a same-sex “marriage” referendum on the ballot, reported WBAY.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has asked the state Election Board to take action against the diocese for failing to register its activities in support of a proposed amendment to ban same-sex “marriage” and civil unions. The group has urged a “No” vote on the referendum.

The group cited a brochure distributed by the diocese that encourages citizens to vote Yes to uphold “the Catholic teaching that marriage is a union between a man and a woman.”

State law requires that groups that spend more than $25 to influence state referenda register with the Elections Board, and those who spend more than $1,000 must disclose their fund-raising and spending. The diocese has not registered. If found guilty of violating the law, the diocese could be fined.

Brent King, a spokesman for the diocese, said that the diocese had been advised by its attorneys that lobbying rules do not apply to the Church when it is communicating with its own members in a Catholic setting.

School Drops Plans for TM Program

INSIDEBAYAREA.COM, Oct. 19 — After parents raised concerns, a Marin County, Calif., high school has dropped its plans to start a transcendental meditation program at the school, said the Oakland, Calif.-based news website.

Terra Linda High School principal Carole Ramsey announced the plans for the club after applying for and receiving a $175,000 grant from the David Lynch Foundation. Lynch, a Hollywood filmmaker, offers grants for the spread of transcendental meditation in schools. The grant would have funded workshops for students as part of a new wellness program at the school.

Ramsey ended an informational meeting for about 75 parents after opponents criticized the program as a religious movement. The school and the foundation felt that the controversy was becoming a distraction.

Bob Roth, a spokesman for the foundation, said that the grant will go to another school. Said Roth, “There’s a long waiting list,”