New Zealanders Defend Marriage STUFF.COM, Aug. 24 — About 5,000 protesters took part in an organized march to oppose legislation that would sanction homosexual “marriage” or civil unions, reported the stuff.com, website of Fairfax New Zealand, a media company.

Marchers, led by a group of indigenous Maori warriors, chanted, “Enough is enough.” The report added that “there were many schoolchildren and babies in prams in the crowd.”

One mother, Claire Story, with a 5-month-old baby, said she felt compelled to take part in the rally. Said Story, “I'm just really here to support families and to support life.”

Parliament to Reconsider Abortion THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, Aug 25 — A possible review of Britain's abortion law is gathering momentum in Parliament, as the majority of members move toward a consensus away from late-term abortions, reported the British daily.

In British law, babies can be aborted up to 24 weeks after conception, but the latest ultrasound images of children in the womb and the fact that babies born at 24 weeks can survive outside the womb may be prompting a shift in popular opinion.

Pro-life activist Anthony Ozimic warned that any review would be in the hands of Parliament's pro-abortion majority, and that this attempt at reform “would again be wide open to hijack by the pro-abortion lobby, which calls explicitly for total deregulation of abortion.”

Zanzibar Refuses to Sanction Sodomy REUTERS, Aug. 23 — The Zanzibar government has passed a law making homosexual sex illegal, with life imprisonment as the penalty for sodomy with a minor.

The bill was passed unanimously by Parliament, and President Amani Karume signed the bill into law in August. Muslim Zanzibar is an Indian Ocean archipelago and a semi-autonomous state of Tanzania that is famous for its white-sand beaches. Travel agencies that specialize in tours for homosexuals threaten a boycott.

Teen Sex is of a Piece THE NEW YORK TIMES, Aug. 20 — The connection is now clearer between teen sex — often depicted by society in morally neutral terms — and other unhealthy behaviors, including smoking and substance abuse.

A study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that teen-agers who reported at least half of their friends were sexually active were 31 times more likely to get drunk, 5.5 times more likely to smoke and 22.5 times more likely to have tried marijuana.

The survey asked teens extensive questions about the activities of their friends as a surrogate for the teen-ager's own behavior. It showed that a teen-ager with a majority of friends who regularly viewed Internet pornography was “three times more likely to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs than a teen who has no such friends.”