European Parliament Asks Sauerbrey to Reconsider

Ever hear of the group known as The World Congress of Families? Would seem like they actually have families in mind, but upon closer look they are anti-choice, homophobic, supremist ideologues.

Driven by righteous ideology, their mission is to spread venomous lies and hate to anyone who listens. Anti-contraception? Check. Anti-immigration? Check. Deaming homosexuals as "perverts"? Check.

But this groups isn't your ususal hate group. They have official backing. Backing by the President of The United States. Bush's appointee, Assistant Secretary of State Ellen R. Sauerbrey will be speaking at their conference in Poland next month.

According to The Baltimore Sun, next month's fourth World Congress of Families is to include sessions on "the mother in the home and the new economics," "the attack on marriage as the union of woman and man" and "beyond the contraceptive mentality."

Here are a few of the wonderful folks who are involved with the World Congress of Families:

Representatives of James "Daddy" Dobson's Focus on the Family group.

Wade Horn—he's the former Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Allan Carlson of the Howard Center—you may remember him from such events as the "Contraception Is Not the Answer" (CINTA) conference last fall, at which his particular presentation focused on and implored a return to the Protestant roots against contraception.

Roman Catholic Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, head of the Pontifical Council for the Family—he states that condoms don't protect against HIV and that safe sex campaigns lead to an increase in sexual promiscuity. (Reality check.)

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International—he was also a speaker at CINTA and represents an extreme organization that sees sniper attacks on doctors who perform abortions as a "superb tactic."

Stephen Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute—whose weekly briefing this week defends PRI's statement that Muslim immigrants are contributing to European countries' "demographic suicide."

Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (CFAM) -- who has previously "joked" about "taking out" Hillary Clinton.

So what about Sauerbrey, herself? When her nomination stalled in the Senate because of her conservative views, such as her attempt as U.S. representative to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women to remove abortion rights from a U.N. declaration on equal rights for women, Bush made a recess appointment and had her appointed without Senate approval. Incidentally, she attended the last World Congress of Families in 2004.

According to Proinsias De Rossa, a member of the European Parliament from Ireland, Sauerbrey's participation in the forum is a "diplomatic faux pas." Members of the European Parliament have asked Sauerbrey to reconsider attending the conference, citing several speakers' positions that clash with the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The Baltimore Sun cites members of the European Parliamentary Working Group on Separation of Religion and Politics saying that "several people scheduled to speak at the three-day conference have taken positions that clash with the European Charter of Fundamental Rights".