Newborn baby abandoned next to this dumpster.

I know firsthand the fear of becoming pregnant at 17-years-old. Except I didn’t keep my baby. I had an abortion It’s something I don’t think I’ll ever come to terms with. Especially now that I have children. And honestly, in a way, I kind of think what I did was worse than what a teen did. At least her baby is still alive.

Police in Kimberly, Wisconsin are releasing new details about the teen couple who abandoned a baby next a church dumpster the day after Mother’s Day. Continue reading »

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Just a few days after massive public protests in Egypt toppled Mubarak’s decades long regime, we’re getting a taste of popular demonstrations here at home.

You may know Wisconsin is erupting in protests, or you might be just hearing about it. If you’re having one of those moments where you’re bemoaning the day Sesame Street replaced NPR as your default soundtrack, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered on this unfolding news story.

Protests in Wisconsin have been raging for days. Here’s the rundown on what’s happening in Wisconsin, for busy parents everywhere:

Continue reading »

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The Chicago Tribune reported last week that a woman, identified as Wendy, “who raised two adopted children for years in a same-sex relationship is not considered their parent under Wisconsin law,” according to the District 4 Court of Appeals.  The court ruled Thursday that Wendy’s former partner Liz is the only legal parent of the children because their adoptions were processed under Liz’s name.  ”Same-sex couples do not have adoption rights in Wisconsin, meaning that only one of them can be considered the legal parent,” according to the Tribune.

As you can imagine, this decision is crushing for Wendy, who was a stay-at-home mom to the children for seven years.  In response to the judge’s ruling, Wendy said, “I shouldn’t have to fight to parent my kids who I’ve been parenting 24-7.  For me to read in the court documents that I’m not a parent is disturbing and troubling.”  She is considering taking her case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

This ruling is in line with a recent decision by a judge in the UK, who determined the non-biological lesbian mother of a ten-year-old boy is not his legal parent.  It does not, however, follow the precedent just set by the U.S. government allowing the partners of gay biological and adoptive parents who have an in loco parentis relationship with their partner’s child to care for said child under the Family and Medical Leave Act.  The FMLA ruling does not indicate that non-biological gay parents are the legal parents of a child they care for, but that they have a legal right to care for their child.  If gay parents have a legal right to care for a child that is ostensibly their child via the aforementioned in loco parentis relationship, then why, provided that they are responsible and loving parents, is it so difficult for non-biological/adoptive gay parents to be granted the same parental rights after a split?  It just doesn’t make sense. Continue reading »

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When Wisconsin mom Johan Ortiz went into labor, she didn’t panic. She didn’t rush to the hospital. Instead, against her doctor’s orders, she got in her SUV and went to pick up her husband.  He was in a plane, flying toward an airport three hours away from her Milwaukee home.

When Melvin Ortiz’s plane landed, he was ordered to hurry off the plane while his fellow passengers cheered him on. Continue reading »

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The teenage son of two truck drivers who spends two-week stints at home by himself is about to show the world he can truly hang with the big boys. He’s thrown his hat in the ring for governor of Wisconsin.

Jared Christiansen is only seventeen, not yet even able to VOTE, but he’s hoping to take the seat soon to be vacated by retiring Gov. Doyle. Continue reading »

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I confess ignorance on this vital piece of info for boozing parents: Wisconsin is one of the few states left where little kids can drink in bars as long as their parents are present.

But that may be about to end. Continue reading »

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Respectfully, Wisconsin, I have to ask: Are you people frickin’ NUTS??

The state Senate has voted to lower the hunting age, the firearms hunting age, to 10. Yes, one decade old. As in, let’s give a ten-year-old a large lethal weapon and send him out into the woods.

I’ve gone through a bit of an evolution in my attitude towards hunting: I don’t do it and think it’s a pretty lame way to spend time, but I have friends who are hunters and understand the argument that if they didn’t hunt, deer would overbreed to the point of starvation. Also, I eat meat and certainly think killing an animal who’s lived its life out in the woods where it belongs is a whole lot more humane than cramming them into feedlots so I can have a cheap burger.

But the idea of saying, “Here, fifth grader, take this ginormous gun and shoot something with it” doesn’t seem all that smart. The bill requires only Continue reading »

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