Through adoption by Board of Trustees the "Ideas" below are now the official policies of the New York Society for Ethical Culture.
5 Ideas-in-Brief on:
I. Iraq
A. Renounce any intention of establishing permanent bases in Iraq;
B. Draw down and remove U.S. forces from Iraq as quickly as possible consistent with our moral obligations for protecting human life;
C. Relinquish to the duly elected government of Iraq ownership and management of all natural resources and public goods; and
D. Encourage multinational agencies to take over as much as possible of the responsibility for managing the external effort for reconstruction of Iraq while fulfilling our moral obligations for repairing the damage caused by the U.S. invasion.
(For discussions of Iraq and the other Ideas click on the web address below each Idea)
http://www.nysec.org/pic/iraq
II. Stem Cell Research and Therapeutic Cloning
A. Legislation is advocated to reverse current administration policy and permit and encourage federal and state funding for research on stem cells derived from surplus embryos produced, via in vitro fertilization, which would otherwise be destroyed. Informed consent of the donors of the embryos would be required.
B. In addition, we strongly advocate research into the risks and benefits of cloning to produce human tissue for therapeutic purposes.
http://www.nysec.org/pic/stem-cells
III. Global Warming
Immediate efforts to dramatically curb the harmful effects of global warming should be given the highest priority. All necessary resources of the federal government (research, engineering, economic planning, and diplomatic) must be made available for this initiative. We need a definitive and authoritative plan of action, adequately funded. As the choices will require great awareness and effort by the public, it will be necessary to launch an intensive and extensive educational campaign by the president, congress, political candidates, and the general public. Our goal is to persuade our country and the world that self-interest demands a significant reduction of those actions leading to global warming.
http://www.nysec.org/pic/global-warming
IV. Paid Family Leave
A. The membership of NYSEC supports the New York State Families in the Workplace Act passed in the Assembly in 2005 and pending in the Senate (S1501). The bill seeks to amend the Disability Benefits Law to provide that employees who have been granted leave under the Federal Family Leave Act of 1993 would be entitled to receive twelve days of paid disability payments for such leave. It also provides that in all firms with ten or more employees, the employees are entitled to 7 days per year paid leave in order to care for immediate family or household members in a medical situation; up to seven days bereavement per occurrence; and three days per year per child for school visits.
Earnings are 50% of salary or a maximum of $170 per week. The estimated cost per worker, per year is $14.33.
B. Following adoption of (A) above, NYSEC joined the Paid Family Leave Coalition, an eight-state consortium that promotes state or federal paid leave benefits.
www.nysec.org/pic/paid-family-leave
V. Child Health Insurance
A. The membership of NYSEC endorses the Children's Defense Fund Proposal entitled: Covering All Children in 2007: An Achievable, Smart and Right Goal. It would consolidate children's health coverage under Medicaid, and the federally funded State Child Health Insurance Plus or SCHIP program into a one program. It would guarantee that children in all 50 states and the District of Columbia receive all medically necessary services. It would increase the number of children eligible for health insurance coverage, eliminate barriers to enrolling children in health coverage and keep them enrolled, address the variations among states in services offered to children, address inadequate provider reimbursement which compromises access to care for low-income children, and provide coverage for pregnant women. Providing universal access to health care for children will ensure that the families of all children can choose their own regular sources of health care, including their physician, and that they can take full advantage of preventive services.
B. The membership of NYSEC endorses the Black Congressional Caucus proposal to include in the federally funded SCHIP program dental and mental health coverage, as well as childhood obesity prevention provisions.
C. C. The membership of NYSEC endorses the action of the Public Issues Committee that has made a request to the United Social Services, Inc. (USS) to develop a program with their collaborators to facilitate the enrollment in SCHIP of interested families of the children, who are served by the USS. (This request has since been approved by the USS.) The hope is that such a project would become a model for similar faith-based and secular organizations serving children.
http://www.nysec.org/pic/child-health-insurance
The 5 Ideas were researched by the Public Issues Committee of the New York Society for Ethical Culture.
