A Question for Mr. Romney

I think it is high time someone in the media asks Mitt Romney for his detailed response to the states of Utah and Arizona openly refusing to prosecute the federal crime of polygamy, in favor of seeking only prosecution for crimes against women and children.

Mr. Romney, what is your position on the decriminalization of polygamy in America, if individual states choose to do so?

Call me cynical, but nine years ago, when the US went into Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power, the running of the country was immediately turned over to the fundamentalist Islamist, aka the Muslim Brotherhood. Polygamy, which had been penalized under the previous secular dictatorship, was again encouraged, and practiced.

The condition of women in the NEW Iraq we have left behind is now worse than when we arrived. Now, fully 20 percent of the homeless populations, wandering and begging in Iraq's larger cities, is comprised of the cast off first, or second or third or fourth "wives" of Iraqi men, who have decided they no longer wish to provide for their concubines and the children produced from these Imam approved "marriages."

Times are hard, you know.

Add to these, the same Imams allow what are called "temporary marriages," which in fact are nothing more than religious approved prostitution contracts. These marriages can last as little as an hour, to as much as a lifetime, and children as young as mere babies may be "married" in these situations as well.

Utah and Arizona can legalize the concubinage of women if they want to? Personally, I'd like to hear Mitt say he thinks that's okay "for them," kind of like he says government run health care is OK for Massachusetts, because the states do have a right to decide these things legislatively, right Mr. Romney?

Just some advice for Mr. Romney: he should take a good look at the flag of the Battle of San Jacinto at the top of this page. It was a gift from the women of Kentucky and Ohio, who sent their men to Texas to win it from the Mexicans.

Somebody's going to have to KILL a LOT of Texas women before such a thing is ever allowed down here.

AAAP Cause Bracelets Have Arrived!

New! AAAP Cause Bracelets Are Here!

For every $5 donation made to support the efforts of the AAAP we will send you one of our new cause bracelets, so you can show your support for the victims and survivors of the human rights abuse of polygamy in America.

In bright RED, the bracelet discretely reads:
POLYGAMY IS ABUSE.COM-Americans Against Abuses of Polygamy

It is a wonderful way to support the AAAP and let the world know you stand against the human rights abuse of polygamy in America.

Donations can be made on the PayPal link on www.PolygamyIsAbuse.com. Please specify in the space for a note how many bracelets you would like. You may have one bracelet for every $5 donation increment.

Texas Heroes

Howdy Warren,

And, "Wel-come-to-the- great- state- of -Tex-as! If you didn't grow up going to the State Fair of Texas at Fair Park in Dallas, to stand at the feet of Big Tex every year, to be fair, you may not get that one.

I had an interesting meeting with a writer from Austin yesterday, who has written a book on religious maltreatment. We do not agree on all of her hypothesis, which I found broad. What we have in common are some core understandings of what constitutes an abuse of religious authority in a child's life. Or even the abuse of adults, spiritually.

Texas, although many people will never even know it, is full of heroes. The local abuse hotline staff, Schleicher County Sheriff's Office, Texas Rangers, and Child Protective Services, right down to ordinary citizens, including churches, on the ground made heroic efforts to save 400 children from the abuse, which was occurring on the grounds of the YFZ Ranch, in Schleicher County, Texas, in April of 2008.

Although those of us in the media have come to call this 'a raid,' the truth is, it was a rescue mission. Right up until someone in Austin decided to throw their hands in the air and say 'We give up! Take them all back.'

Since the trial for Warren Jeffs begins on Monday, I thought we could perhaps review some of the heroes of this story that will probably never get the attention and admiration they really deserve.

The FLDS had been in these good Texas people's backyard in tiny Eldorado, Texas for around five years when the call came into the hotline. There had been plenty of time, and plenty of warning given to the citizens of the area regarding the ritual sex practices of the FLDS, which include incest, regular child marriage and regular child rape. Little girls are born only to become future concubines for powerful men.

These men have money and plenty of it. They own and operate businesses from Utah to Texas, and Mexico. They even have lucrative government contracts, at both the federal and local levels, as well as multiple businesses devoted to the construction industry. Within years of locating their giant houses designed for communal living, instituting massive infrastructure improvements including a sewage treatment plant, a cement plant, a brand new religious temple along with manned and armed guard towers overlooking Schleicher County, one of their concrete companies had the contract to lay the pad for every new wind turbine in West Texas.

This FLDS is the same one Flora Jessop remembers as a child in Colorado City, Arizona, when Senator Orin Hatch used to come and play the organ in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints services. Senator Hatch, typical for a Utah politician, is for ignoring the felony crime of polygamy, and he personally knows "many fine polygamist people."

Needless to say, these are the kinds of forces our heroes knew nothing about. The heroes simply set out to do a job, and that was to be prepared. So they were very prepared for the abuse they saw. Nothing, however, could have ever prepared them to understand or account for the inexplicable actions of top ranking state employees, who shut them down after they had done nothing but their job, and document it.

Top ranking heads rolled in Austin for taking the position that someone like Warren Jeffs, and other parents on that ranch, had no business having any legal parental rights to any child in the state of Texas. The position from the top was clear, 'It doesn't matter how much abuse you have documented, we're giving them all back.'

The heroes of our story kept working. They did things like push children across the floor as they cried and begged not to be made to go back to their abusers. They handed over a toddler with bone scans showing multiple fractures through his tiny body. They gave girls back to mothers, who they knew had willingly turned their child over for sex, with a man on the YFZ Ranch. They handed a young girl back that spent 3 days in labor on the ranch, without any pain medication or a doctor.

They hugged them. They told them they could always call, no matter what.

But the real story of our unsung Texas heroes is even deeper. These social workers had something happen to them when they started working with the FLDS children. The children were racists. They were raised that way. In the early days of the rescue many of the children, who had most likely never even laid their eyes on anyone who was not also Caucasian, hurled racial insults at some of the social workers.

I think, because of that, I was unsure what the emotional reaction of the minority social workers might have been. That was all put to rest when me and Flora took to the road in the summer of 2009 and we met them, these heroes. They didn't just come to buy Flora's book, they needed to meet her, viscerally.

I could give multiple accounts of meeting social workers across the state who expressed the same feelings, but I never saw anything like I saw when we got to San Antonio. That was special. Flora's appearance, signing, speaking and question and answer periods were clear and concise. The event was at the San Antonio Public Library, where there was a crowd.

At some point, while answering a question about the abuses common in the group that Flora grew up in, a woman from the back of the room spoke out and challenged Flora, and told her she was exaggerating the abuse found on the YFZ Ranch. She then actually said there was no abuse found on the ranch, and that she was an attorney who represented one of the FLDS women in the case.

Incensed, I grabbed my satchel and whipped out the final CPS report. I shook it at her and said, "Excuse me, ma'am, but I have the final report here and it identifies victims, lots of them. Don't you dare come in here to Texas and think you can sell anyone on the idea that it's okay to rape little Texas girls, just as long as you call it your religion."

It's one of those moments in life, where things could take any old turn, and for a moment you wait to see if a crowd turns on you or stands with you. Two women jumped up from the crowd, like lions and started blurting out that they were CPS caseworkers, and had worked with the FLDS children. Before we knew it, the room went rather wild with people turning on the woman identifying herself to be an FLDS woman's attorney in the case. It was a CPS room, and they had all worked with FLDS children taken in the 2008 Texas rescue mission at the YFZ.

They started shouting out about their cases, especially the idea that the FLDS women on the YFZ were in some significant part just as legally guilty as the men. The caseworkers understood the children's abuse, much of it ritual, racist and full of hate, had to have required the enthusiastic participation of the children's mothers as the girls were traded, inside the fences of the YFZ Ranch, across the country to Mohave County, Arizona, up to Bountiful B.C., and down to old Mexico. Nobody's little girl just leaves for Canada one day and never comes home again, right?

No one could possibly be a capable and responsible parent if when you wake up, and you're told by your husband or maybe even one of his other concubines, that your 13-year-old-daughter has gone to live in another country, you don't demand her return, and then immediately notify the law.

If you don't pick up the phone and call the police to report your 13-year-old is missing, aren't you a criminal participating in the disappearance and sex trafficking of your baby?

Imagine, if you will, you are the young idealistic graduate who decided to go into social work, because you deeply cared about people and truly wanted to help protect them. Imagine you carry within you, this noble desire to protect the innocent from harm and to provide hope to the hopeless, so with your life, you serve. It's not hard to imagine what must be in the hearts of lots of people who go into social work or law enforcement.

Now imagine having all of this in your heart and then being a minority faced with pure racism, up close and personal, so blatant that it takes your breath away?

What I discovered is that these ordinary Texas folks were so taken back with the evil of it, that the only weapon with any chance of working was love. So they did that.

They grabbed these kids by the scruff and loved on them. With a white-hot-fierce sort of love they overcame their own distaste and repulsion, and just loved them. They prayed for them. They rocked some of them. They hugged some of them. And when they had to give them back, to whatever force that had shoved so much hatred and evil at those little souls to begin with, they cried, like babies.

After the FLDS attorney had been put in her place, it was like Oprah entered the room. Suddenly, it was alive with people talking to each other, sharing their grief at what happened to the FLDS children, how they were terrified Texas was making a mistake in giving them back to an institutionalized abusive society, run by sex predators, and using fundamentalist Mormon religion to protect themselves from prosecution of their crimes.

The trouble is, our constitution does not allow religious individuals or organizations to commit crimes and then declare immunity from prosecution, just for being who they are, that is to say: religious.

"Before the Supreme Court, Reynolds argued that his conviction for bigamy should be overturned on four issues. These included that his grand jury had not been legal; that challenges of certain jurors were improperly overruled; that testimony by Amelia Jane Schofield was not permissible as it was under another indictment; and, most importantly, that it was his religious duty to marry multiple times."

Among other findings one from the court wrote, ""to permit this would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself."


These Texas heroes loved the hate right out of those kids, and in return they got kicked in the teeth. My new friend, the writer from Austin, has a chance soon to speak to a lot of these heroes. I hope she tells them what I think of them, and that someone out there still knows.

In my mind's eye I see every one of these Texans wearing a white hat. In case, in this strange world we live in these days, you don't know what that means; in Texas it just means they are the 'good guys.'

The CPS workers who jumped out of those chairs, like lions, reminded me of the goddess of Liberty on the San Jacinto Battle Flag. These weren't women or government workers who didn't give a damn about what was happening, these were heroes. These people had been wounded in the heart by the hate and abuse they saw perpetrated against the FLDS children.

I hope someday, some of them will feel safe to come forward and share their stories. That is my brightest hope. I'd like all Texans to know about these real life Texas, good guy, heroes.

Have you ever held anger, racism and hate to your breast and rocked it to sleep with a sweet song, praying that while you did it the hate was being rubbed right off and away? That's a true Texas kind of love.

I know heroes who have.

I know lions of love.

I know the kind of people Dr. Martin Luther King dreamed about.

I have a good life.

G-d Bless Texas

Glorious and Free

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

The Canadian reference case on whether the ban on polygamy violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is, in essence, over. Closing arguments are scheduled for March 28th and B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Bauman has been asked to determine whether the polygamy law is constitutional.


Late last week, special prosecutor for the state of Texas, Eric Nichols sent information gleaned from the 2008 raid on the YFZ Ranch in Scleicher County to the prosecutors in B.C. This information included evidence that one 13-year-old girl child and two 12-year-old girl children had been trafficked from their homes in Bountiful B.C. to Mohave County, Arizona, and then on to Texas for the purpose of "marriage" to FLDS leader, Warren Steed Jeffs.

Activist have known for years that this trafficking of minor female children has taken place under the noses of both Mohave County and Canadian officials. But in the warped politically correct world of "can't touch that" religion, a blind eye was turned.

Now Texas has shown them all the truth, and like roaches I'm sure most Mohave County, Arizona officials are creeping into the dark corners of their filthy hives to do their best to ignore it. I'll give anyone a dollar who can show me a story run on this development in the Mohave Valley Daily "News" in the last week.

Moreover, I will also give anyone a dollar who can show me a link to a CNN story on the same development in the last week, and I will give you $2 if you can show me a link where they run this old interview of FLDS "mothers" from 2008, starting at about the 5 minute mark.

Pray for Canada. Get on your knees for her and pray like the future of your daughter, your grand daughter and her great grand daughter depend on it. For indeed, it does!

For if the court should decide to recommend the decriminalization of polygamy in Canada, then it will surely spread here. And that is when the future for all our children will change forever, and someday a girl child in the future will look back on the freedoms you have today and sigh, saying before she is led to the alter and then the bed of slavery, "What must it have been like in the golden age?"

Texas sends help

Breaking News in Canada

Texas sends help to B.C. prosecutors

The debate goes national

The comments on this story, so far, are quite discouraging. The good news is that Mr. Heck, a Christian, is showing extraordinary courage in addressing this issue. I'd hope that anyone who follows this blog, or this issue, will visit the American Thinker over the next few days and help enlighten the public on the real issues surrounding the abuse of polygamy.

American Thinker
The Polygamists Make Their Move

By Peter Heck
The debate over whether or not those practicing homosexuality should be eligible to obtain the legal status of "married" for their same-sex relationships is persistently mischaracterized by activists on both sides as an attempt to redefine marriage. For those opposing such a move, this is most likely an error of ignorance, while for those favoring, it likely is an intentional tactic of misdirection. To be clear, in order to "redefine" anything, there must be an alternative definition being advocated. To this point, no such proposed substitute has emerged.... (Read Full Article)

Toronto Star exposes worldwide abuse of polygamy

The Eyes of Texas

There's an issue among those of us who oppose polygamy that needs to be addressed. Since the airing of the TLC show "Sister Wives", I have heard from more than one quarter that "I simply refuse to watch the garbage".

I understand. It was hard for me to tune in as well. I had to DVR it, so I could step away and have my fits of indignation. I understand those, and the need for them.

I have watched all 7 episodes of the show, exactly once, and I already have a list of issues, either lies the Browns have told, or obvious problems with their assertions that none of this polygamous behavior is coercive.


If any of you think that the opposition, the Plural Voices group, or the Safety Net Committee, or the governments of Utah and Arizona are skipping the show, or skipping looking at us, their opposition, you are wrong.

The AAAP has an online discussion group where we post empirical medical research done on the affects of polygamy on women and children. And guess who came to the party this week wanting to take a gander at our research? The email address ends in utah.gov.

I know it is hard to look at this stuff, whether because of basic human principle or because all our sensibilities are so offended when we look at it, but that's what we're here for, isn't it?

Believe me, more than once when someone has expressed interest in "what I do", they have told me, "Wow, this stuff is really a bummer, isn't it?"

Yes, it's a bummer. That's why everyone isn't an anti-polygamy activist. It takes someone strong to continue looking right back at evil behavior and to stand your ground and say, "I'm watching YOU!"

I have yet to go back and re-watch the 7 "Sister Wives" episodes. Maybe I'll need a stiff drink or something to get through it. But my point is that in just one viewing I spotted many lies and inconsistencies. I need more eyes willing to watch and ask questions.

Utah is obviously gearing up for a full court press to decriminalize this human blight. They aren't asking for access to the research we've compiled because they don't think it is a threat. They are there to find holes.

Don't you think, as activists, we should be looking back?

Well? Don't you?

Jeffs Begins His Fight

POINT OF THE MOUNTAIN STATE PRISON, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Warren Jeffs won't be going to Texas without a fight.

In prison on Thursday, he was given a "waiver of extradition" which he refused to sign. That means he will have a hearing on extradition before a Utah judge in the next 30 days.
For the rest of the story click here: http://www.abc4.com/content/news/slc/story/Polygamist-leader-Warren-Jeffs-fighting/9Lnu_v2gjE6uA6A8kuthXw.cspx


I just don't see "Mistaken identity" as a defense that will hold up for Warren to avoid being brought back to Texas in shackles.

The Victim Game

I'm not a big victim fan. I am, however, a huge fan of survivors. That's one reason I loved Flora from the moment I met her. She started life as a victim and fought her way out of it until she was free. That made her a survivor.

That said, I have noticed in people who express genuine concern for the victims of American polygamy a disturbing pattern emerging. I call it "the never ending victim".

Perfectly reasonable people who understand that most pedophiles were abused as children themselves, and have no problem sending men to prison once they have crossed the line from victim, over to abuser, want to brand the women of polygamy as completely helpless victims who should not be held accountable for their actions.

I find this to be a blatantly anti-feminist and misogynistic way of thinking. Everyone knows that abuse is a cycle. Everyone knows that just because a boy grows up in an abusive home where his father is an alcoholic wife beater he is never excused or given a free pass once he begins to engage in the same behavior.

As I read more about polygamy around the world I understand that women are not only a necessary part of the victim cycle, they are also a necessary part of the polygamy abuse cycle.

Take these two quotes, both from national news stories about polygamists this week:

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press Writer

On the Tony Alamo Case:

"One woman even testified that she was "married" to Alamo at age 14 during a visit to him in prison, with a group of other "wives" blocking guards' view as he groped her".

Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Associated Press

On the Elizabeth Smart case:

"At a hearing last month, Smart said that within hours of the abduction, Mitchell took her as a polygamous wife and then raped her. Smart said Barzee washed the teen's feet and dressed her in robes before the ceremony."

In both cases women were facilitating the abuse occurring within their respective polygamous practice.

Why do some act as though it is a big mystery how the abuse cycle, any abuse cycle, works?

Is it not evident that polygamy needs a very strong matriarchal structure to function? How would it continue without the cooperation and active participation of the women themselves?

Why, when over two hundred Texas children were identified as having been the victims of abuse, were they sent back to the very women who facilitated it? These women blatently attempted to obfuscate facts as simple as their names and ages when questioned by Texas authorities. Why?

Because they completely understand this country's laws against polygamy and have made the conscious decision to break the law, no matter what it ever costs them.

Now, I'd like to know exactly what other felony crime a woman can commit in this country with complete immunity from prosecution? Never mind when she hands her child over to a polygamist she is earning her heavenly brownie points, or upping her standing within the community. Do you really think there is no reward in giving her children over for rape? Do you really think there is no reward in preventing her little girl from ever knowing about the freedoms and opportunities she is born entitled to in America?

Every time you excuse one of these women in the name of "she's just a victim", you are spitting on little Flora Jessop as she tries to cross a desert to get away, because she knew it was all wrong.

They all know it, they've just made different choices, illegal choices.

Oh Canada, "Thank you"!

Canadians support polygamy prosecutions

Only 18 per cent of those surveyed believe practice is protected under Charter of Rights and Freedoms

By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun October 30, 2009

Most Canadians believe Bountiful residents should face prosecution for polygamy and that their leaders, Winston Blackmore and James Oler, should go on trial, according to a new Angus Reid poll.

The online poll found 64 per cent, or almost two-thirds, of the 1,001 Canadians surveyed believed polygamy -- being legally married to more than one person at a time -- was a criminal offence and residents of Bountiful should face the law.

About 53 per cent of those surveyed also said they believe the government should pursue a case against Blackmore and Oler, who were charged with polygamy earlier this year, while 23 per cent thought the case should be abandoned.

The online survey comes just weeks after the B.C. Supreme Court in September quashed the case against the two men, saying it disagreed with the way the issue was handled by former B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal.

The B.C. government has since asked the B.C. Supreme Court to rule on whether Canada's anti-polygamy law violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Blackmore has 19 wives, nine of whom were 18 or younger when they married. Oler is married to three women.

B.C. residents were more vehement when it came to prosecuting those involved in polygamy, the survey said....

Our Canadian cousins are ahead of the curve on this, due in very large part to the work of Nancy Mereska of Stop Polygamy in Canada. Their journalists are much better educated to the most common abuses of the practice, worldwide.

For more, please visit the Vancouver Sun at: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Canadians+support+polygamy+prosecutions/2161358/story.html

Some of the Research on Polygamy

I'd like to thank Dr. Susan Stickevers for her dedication to researching the effect the human rights abuse of polygamy has on women and children, worldwide.

Not only is there more, there is a lot more where this came from. If anyone would like a list of papers written on the effects of polygamy on women, please shoot us an email. We are also working on a dedicated page on the AAAP website to list links to this research.

A Comparison of Family Functioning, Life and Marital Satisfaction, and Mental Health of Women in Polygamous and Monogamous Marriages

Alean Al-Krenawi
Ben-Gurion University
John R. Graham
University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

Background: A considerable body of research concludes that the polygamous family structure has an impact on children’s and wives’ psychological, social and family functioning.

Aims: The present study is among the first to consider within the same ethnoracial community such essential factors as family functioning, life satisfaction, marital satisfaction and mental health functioning among women who are in polygamous marriages and women who are in monogamous marriages.

Method: A sample of 352 women participated in this study: 235 (67%) were in a monogamous marriage and 117 (33%) were in a polygamous marriage.

Results: Findings reveal differences between women in polygamous and monogamous marriages. Women in polygamous marriages showed significantly higher psychological distress, and higher levels of somatisation, phobia and other psychological problems. They also had significantly more problems in family functioning, marital relationships and life satisfaction.
Conclusion: The article calls on public policy and social service personnel to increase public awareness of the significance of polygamous family structures for women’s wellbeing.
The Journal of Social Psychology
Volume 148, Number 6 / December 2008

Psychosocial and Familial Functioning of Children From Polygynous and Monogamous Families
Alean Al-Krenawi and Vered Slonim-Nevo
Ben-Gurion University

Abstract: A sample of 352 Bedouin Arab children— 174 from monogamous and 178 from polygynous families—participated in this study. The authors used standardized measures to assess the participants’ level of self-esteem, mental health, social functioning, father-child relationships, mother-child relationships, and family functioning. The findings revealed that children from polygynous families reported more mental health and social difficulties as well as poorer school achievement and poorer relationships with their fathers than did their counterparts from monogamous families. In addition, the children from polygynous families rated their families’ functioning and economic status as poorer than did those of monogamous families. Thus, the authors suggest that a polygynous family structure negatively affects the family’s socioeconomic status and interpersonal relationships and impairs the children’s psychological and social functioning. The authors discuss implications for practice and policy.
International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Vol. 52, No. 1, 5-17 (2006)

Behavioral Problems and Scholastic Adjustment among Children from Polygamous and Monogamous Marital Family Structures: Developmental Considerations
Elbedour S, Onwuegbuzie AJ, Alatamin M.
Department of Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies, School of Education, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
Participants were 255 3rd-grade children. One hundred fifty-three children came from monogamous families that were characterized by 1 wife (i.e., 1-wife families), and 102 children came from polygamous families consisting of 2 wives (i.e., 2-wife families). Teachers completed the Teacher’s Report Form of the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenback, 1991). A series of logistic regression analyses, after adjusting for maternal education level, revealed that 2-wife children tended to have higher levels of externalizing problems in general and higher levels of attention problems in particular than did their 1-wife counterparts. Also, 2-wife children had higher rates of school absenteeism and lower levels of overall academic achievement than did 1-wife children.

Women from Polygamous and Monogamous Marriages in an Out-Patient Psychiatric Clinic
Alean Al-Krenawi
Ben-Gurion University, Israel
Female subjects were interviewed using a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire. The subjects were divided into two groups: (1) senior wives in polygamous marriages and (2) wives in monogamous marriages. There was a greater prevalence of various symptoms among polygamous respondents, two of which are of particular interest: low self-esteem and loneliness. Findings also showed a relationship between a high number of female children among polygamous respondents and low self-esteem. Polygamous respondents who thought that they were perceived as old by their husbands also reported low self esteem. In addition, respondents from polygamous marriages reported poor relationships with their husbands. Implications for further research and intervention are discussed. Transcultural Psychiatry, Vol. 38, No. 2, 187-199 (2001)

WOMEN OF POLYGAMOUS MARRIAGES
IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CENTERS
Alean Al-Krenawi, Ph.D, Ben Gurion University
ABSTRACT: Clinical implications for working with polygamous families are discussed following a report of research among a sample of 126 women from polygamous marriages who were being seen in primary health care centers. Of these, 94 were senior wives who were followed by another wife in the marriage, and 32 were junior wives, the most recent wife joining the marriage. Data revealed that senior wives reported lower self-esteem as compared to junior wives. Findings also showed that senior wives reported poorer relationships with their husbands compared to their junior counterparts.
These factors also contribute to the senior wife’s low self-esteem and marital dissatisfaction.
Contemporary Family Therapy, 21(3), September 1999, Human Sciences Press, Inc.
Journal of Nervous & Mental Disorders 1985 Jan;173(1):56-58.
Women of Polygamous Marriages in an Inpatient Psychiatric Service in Kuwait.
Chaleby K.

The practice of polygamy, although varying from culture to culture, is widespread in many areas of the world. In Kuwait, for example, 8 to 12.5% of all marriages contracted are polygamous. Although sociologists and anthropologists, as well as common sense, have suggested that a polygamous marriage may have a negative effect on the wives involved, an extensive literature search failed to uncover any psychiatric research that attempts to examine this situation or objectively delineates possible psychiatric sequelae. The present study was a pilot effort to determine whether Kuwaiti wives of polygamous marriages were disproportionately represented in the inpatient psychiatric as opposed to the general population. A second purpose was to determine the extent of the relationship between psychiatric disorder and marital situation. Preliminary data indicated that the percentage of wives of polygamous marriages was significantly greater in the inpatient psychiatric population than in the general population of Kuwait, as reflected in the 1975 census. 25% of those admitted for inpatient psychiatric treatment in Kuwait between 1975 – 1985 were polygamous wives.(less than 10% of all married women in Kuwait were in polygamous marriages in that time period). In addition, the results suggested a relationship between the nature of psychiatric disorder and the marital situation.

Emotional distress and its correlates among Nigerian women in late pregnancy
FO Fatoye 1, AB Adeyemi 2 and BY Oladimeji 1
1Department of Mental Health, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Address for correspondence: FO, Fatoye, Department of Mental Health, College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria fofatoye@yahoo.com


A cross-sectional study was carried out in a Teaching Hospital to compare women in late pregnancy and matched controls for emotional distress. Each of the 156 pregnant women was matched with a control and studied to determine the relationship of some obstetric and sociodemographic factors with anxiety and depression. All the subjects were evaluated using the state form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-state) and the Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), which are standardised instruments for assessing depression and anxiety, respectively. The pregnant women had significantly higher levels of anxiety and higher levels of depression than their non-pregnant controls. Four of the factors evaluated (age, level of education, socio-economic status and parity) were not found to be significantly related to anxiety or depression among the pregnant women. However, four other factors, i.e. polygamy, previous abortions, mode of previous delivery (caesarean section and instrumentally-assisted delivery) and previous puerperal complications had positive and significant associations with anxiety and depression. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Taken from the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
2004, Volume 24 (5) pp 504 - 508


Socio-demographic correlates of psychiatric morbidity among low-income women in Aleppo, Syria

Wasim Maziak , , a, Taghrid Asfarb, Fawaz Mzayekc, Fouad M Fouadd and Nael Kilziehe
a Georg Forster Fellow, Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Domagkstr. 3 48129 Munster, Germany
b General Practitioner, Al-Shahba, 3rd St., Aleppo, Syria
c Head of training, Aleppo Directorate of Health, Aleppo PO Box 12782, Aleppo, Syria
d Director, Primary Health Care, Aleppo Directorate of Health, PO Box 246, Aleppo, Syria
e Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Washington, VAPSHCS, Mental Health Service (116-M), American Lake Division, Tacoma, WA 98493, USA
Available online 25 March 2002.
Abstract
Interest in mental morbidity as an important component of health is increasing worldwide. Women generally suffer more than men from common mental disorders, and discrimination against women adds to their mental sufferings. Studies looking into the socio-demographic correlates of women's mental morbidity are lacking in most Arab countries. In this study we wanted to determine the spread and socio-demographic correlates of mental distress among low-income women in Aleppo, Syria. A sample of 412 women was recruited from 8 randomly selected primary care centers in Aleppo. Response rate was 97.2%, mean age of participants 28+8.4 years, where married women constituted 87.9%. A special questionnaire was prepared for the study purpose, utilizing the SRQ-20 non-psychotic items and questions about background information considered relevant to the mental health of women in the studied population. Interviews were conducted in an anonymous one-to-one fashion. The prevalence of psychiatric distress in our sample was 55.6%. Predictors of women's mental health in the logistic regression analysis were; physical abuse, women's education, polygamy, residence, age and age of marriage. Among these predictors, women's illiteracy, polygamy and physical abuse were the strongest determinants of mental distress leading to the worse outcomes. Our data show that mental distress is common in the studied population and that it is strongly associated with few, possibly modifiable, factors.

Taken From : Social Science & Medicine
Volume 54, Issue 9, May 2002, Pages 1419-1427
Taken from :
Z Psychosom Med Psychoanal. 1981 Apr-Jun;27(2):180-91
Family therapy in polygamous families
Ebigho PO, Onyeama WP, Ihezue UH, Ahanotu AC.

Patients from polygamous families are over-represented in the Enugu Psychiatric Hospital. The authors came to this conclusion after case notes from 116 anxiety neurotic, 101 schizophrenic and 117 depressive patients were examined. The patients were treated from 1970 to 1979. Polygamy was shortly described with its advantages and disadvantages. Competition between the wives, over-burdening of the husband and often poor care of the children represent the background for the symptoms of the patients, who come from such families. Looking for useful therapeutic methods the method of the natives to solve family quarrels were viewed. Making use of psychoanalytic therapy models especially as represented by Dührssen, Richter and Toman a family therapy model was presented which takes the native judgment model into consideration.
Mental health aspects of Turkish women from polygamous versus monogamous families.
Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2006; 52(3):214-20 (ISSN: 0020-7640)
Ozkan M; Altindag A; Oto R; Sentunali E
Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Diyarbakir, Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Polygamy is illegal in Turkey, but is common among rural villagers in the southeastern region. Polygamous marriage may have a negative effect on the wives involved. AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the relationship between psychiatric disorder and polygamous marriage. METHOD: The mental status of 42 senior and 46 junior wives from polygamous marriages and 50 wives from monogamous marriages was evaluated using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) and Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ). RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference among senior, junior and monogamous wives in terms of the prevalence of somatization disorder. The prevalence of somatization disorder was the highest in polygamous senior wives. The mean total SDQ scores differed significantly among the three groups. It was the highest in senior wives. CONCLUSIONS: It is clear that the participants from polygamous families, especially senior wives, reported more psychological distress. It is essential to increase awareness of the significance of polygamous family structures among psychiatrists and other therapists.

Mental health aspects of Arab-Israeli adolescents from polygamous versus monogamous families.
J Soc Psychol. 2002; 142(4):446-60
Al-Krenawi A; Graham JR; Slonim-Nevo V
The authors considered the mental health consequences of polygamy in a sample of 101 Arab Muslim adolescents (19 from polygamous and 82 from monogamous families) at Juarish (Ramla), Israel. The respondents completed the Self-Esteem Scale (SE; M. Rosenberg, 1979), the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; L. Derogatis & N. Melsavados, 1983; L. Derogatis & P. Spencer, 1982), and the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD; N. B. Epstein, M. N. Baldwin, & D. S. Bishop, 1983). The respondents from polygamous families had lower SE scores, statistically significant higher scores in 2 BSI dimensions, higher scores in all other BSI dimensions, and higher levels of self-reported family dysfunction. The respondents from polygamous families reported lower levels of socioeconomic status, academic achievement, and parental academic attainment.
Title: The psychosocial profile of Bedouin Arab women living in polygamous and monogamous marriages.
Author: Al-Krenawi A; Slonim-Nevo V
Source: Families in Society. 2008 Jan-Mar;89(1):139-149.

Abstract: This study examining the psychosocial profile of Bedouin Arab Women living in polygamous and monogamous marriages found that women in polygamous marriages reported lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of somatization, depression, anxiety, hostility, paranoid ideation, more problematic family functioning, less marital satisfaction, and more problematic mother-child relationships than women in monogamous marriages. The sample consisted of 315 women, 156 from polygamous and 159 from monogamous families. The respondents completed the Self-Esteem scale (SE), The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), The McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD), The Enrich questionnaire and the Index of Parental Attitudes. The polygamous family structure and the economic difficulties apparently constitutes a substantial contribution to the polygamous household's impaired family functioning.


Factors associated with depressive symptoms among postnatal women in Nepal
Signe Dørheim Ho-Yen 1,2†, Gunnar Tschudi Bondevik 1, Malin Eberhard-Gran 3 and Bjørn Bjorvatn 1
1Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, Section for General Practice, University of Bergen, Norway
2Division of Psychiatry, Stavanger University Hospital, Norway
3Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
†Correspondence: Signe Dørheim Ho-Yen, Division of Psychiatry, Stavanger University Hospital, PO Box 8100, NO-4068, Stavanger, Norway sdhy@sus.no


Background. Depression after childbirth affects both the mother and her infant. In South-Asia, maternal depression might also contribute to poor infant growth. Knowledge of risk factors could improve the health workers’ recognition of depression. Aim. To examine possible risk factors for depression in the postnatal period among women in one clinical, one urban and one rural population in Lalitpur district, Nepal. Method. A total of 426 postnatal women were included in a cross-sectional structured interview study, 5–10 weeks after delivery. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale [EPDS]. Results. Multivariate analysis showed that depression (EPDS >12) was strongly associated with husband's alcoholism, polygamy and previous depression. Other significant factors were stressful life events, multiparity, smoking and depression during pregnancy. There was a non-significant trend of lower depressive scores among women living in arranged marriages, and among women practicing the tradition of staying in their maternal home after delivery.
Taken from :
Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica
2007, Vol. 86, No. 3, Pages 291-297

Factors influencing the quality of life of infertile women in United Arab Emirates
G. M. Khayata , , a, D. E. E. Rizkb, M. Y. Hasanc, S. Ghazal-Aswadb and M. A. N. Asaada
a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tawam Hospital, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
b Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
c Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
Available online 24 January 2003.
Abstract
Objectives: To measure the quality of life in a representative sample of infertile women and evaluate their sociocultural attitude to this condition. Methods: Two hundred sixty-nine infertile women attending the Assisted Reproduction clinic, Tawam Hospital were consecutively selected. They were interviewed about the effect of infertility on their quality of life using a structured, measurement-specific and pre-tested questionnaire. Results: Parameters mostly affected were mood-related mainly in women > 30 years old, with primary and female factor infertility and those in polygamous marriages expressing higher levels of dissatisfaction. Quality of life did not affect sexual performance and was not affected by duration of infertility or cost of treatment. Conclusion: The results highlight the importance of bearing children and the stresses exerted on infertile women in Eastern societies. Thorough counseling and continuing support of infertile women is therefore indicated to improve their quality of life.
Title: Violence against women
Author: Maziak W
Source: Lancet. 2002 Jul 27;360:343-344.

Abstract: In this letter to the editor, Wasim Maziak commends the publishing of articles on violence against women, given this issue of The Lancet on the serious implications of women's health and well- being. Maziak also details findings of a study on 412 Syrian women. Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are mentioned as the most frequent mental health sequelae of intimate- partner violence. Women of polygamous marriages were 2•3 times more likely to report physical abuse than were women in monogamous marriages in Syria.
Psychiatric morbidity and its sociodemographic correlates among women in Irbid, Jordan

T.K. Daradkeh,1 A. Alawan,2 R. Al Ma’aitah3 and S.A. Otoom4
A total of 2000 women participated in the project. Their ages ranged from 18 to 85 years with a mean of 32.1 years
The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) was the first mental health diagnostic test that could be entirely self-administered by the patient and is 85% effective in suggesting the presence of a mental health problem [12]. The physician applies algorithms to make the final diagnosis and the PHQ simplifies the differential diagnosis by assessing only 8 disorders. These are divided into “threshold disorders” corresponding to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) diagnoses (e.g. major depression, panic disorders, other anxiety and bulimia nervosa) and “subthreshold disorders” (e.g. other depressive disorders, probable alcohol abuse, and somatoform and binge-eating disorders). If a patient scores positive for any problems they are asked: “How difficult have these problems made it for you to do your work, take care of things at home, or get along with other people?”

Our findings with regard to the prevalence of mental disorders in polygamous marriages showed an interesting pattern. Overall, 42.9% of women in polygamous marriages suffered mental disorders compared with 26.7% of first and only wives. Further analysis suggested that polygamous marriage has a very deleterious effect on mental health for second wives. We have no clear explanation for such observations. Our results provide strong evidence for the deleterious effect of this practice on women consenting to be the second wife in already established marriages.
Taken from: The World Health Organization : The Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal Volume 12, Supplement 2 (electronic)ou

For Immediate Release

AMERICANS AGAINST ABUSES OF POLYGAMY
*********PRESS RELEASE*********
Media Contact:
K. Dee Ignatin, Executive Director
928-897-9335
TripleAP@gmail.com
www.TripleAP.org

AAAP RESPONDS TO PLEA AGREEMENT WITH YISRAEL HAWKINS OF THE HOUSE OF YAHWEH

Austin, Texas - October 30, 2009 – Board members and the executive director at Americans Against Abuses of polygamy wish to express both shock and disappointment that the Bigamy charges against Yisrael Hawkins have been dropped and a plea agreement reached in the case.

Citing the estimated costs of a trial and issues with the statute of limitations, Callahan County District Attorney Shane Deel cut a deal with the 74 year old leader of the House of Yahweh cult, in which he must pay a $2,000 fine and serve 15 months of probation in each misdemeanor child-labor case.

Although we understand that the investigation resulting in the Bigamy charges predated the Texas legislature making Bigamy a felony crime, this news is still quite disturbing for the future of women's rights in the state of Texas.

Hawkins' sect is still currently, flagrantly, flaunting the Texas Bigamy/Polygamy laws and in the process endangering Texas women and children. There is no religious exemption provided to allow men to abuse women and endanger children in Texas.

Although the United Nations has clearly defined polygamy as a human rights abuse of women, worldwide, it continues to flourish here. We encourage the governor and the Texas attorney general to continue investigating the crime of polygamy being committed on Texas soil by this sect located in West Texas.

In almost every instance where the crime of polygamy is identified, religion is used to either force or coerce women into the practice. There is no constitutionally protected right in the United States to intimidate women into the practice of polygamy using either the threat of an eternal fiery damnation, or the promise of glorification or reward in the afterlife.

Reynolds v. United States has not been overturned and, indeed, the Supreme Court of the United States has refused to hear arguments against that ruling as recently as 2007.

We encourage elected leaders and law enforcement to consider the felony crime of polygamy a serious offense, and to take immediate action to prevent spread of this human rights abuse in Texas.
Abuse of any kind is not a recognized religious freedom in America.

Americans Against Abuses of Polygamy is a non-profit, conservative feminist, human rights organization, based in Texas. The AAAP is dedicated to educating the public on the human rights abuses inherent within the cultural practice of polygamy, worldwide and within the United States, and the potential dangers of decriminalization of the felony practice. www.TripleAP.org

A Re-Boot

AMERICANS AGAINST ABUSES OF POLYGAMY
*********PRESS RELEASE*********

Media Contact: For Immediate Release

K. Dee Ignatin October 28, 2009
Executive Director
928-897-9335
TripleAP@gmail.com
www.TripleAP.org

AAAP ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Austin, Texas - October 28, 2009 – Americans Against Abuses of Polygamy is pleased to announce the results of its recent election for the Board of Directors.
Traceye Jones of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, has been elected President. Ms. Jones is the general manager of radio stations KJJJ and KNTR, located in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Ms. Jones has had the distinction of serving on many nonprofit boards in Mohave County, Arizona, the northern portion of which is the traditional home of the largest concentration of practicing polygamists in the U.S., comprised of members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, still loyal to convicted sex offender Warren Jeffs, currently in custody in the city of Kingman, Arizona.


Susan Stickevers, MD, of Long Island, New York has been elected Vice President. Dr. Stickevers is an assistant clinical professor at SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine. She received her MD degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, and her Bachelors Degree in Biology summa cum laude from Queens College. She completed her residency training and served as chief resident at Columbia University Medical Center in NY City. She developed an interest in the study of polygamy while treating Muslim women in polygynous relationships in New York City.

Connie Reece of Austin, Texas has been elected Treasurer. She is an author, speaker, and a marketing and communications consultant who specializes in online media and social networks. She is currently working on a novel about a teenage runaway from a polygamist cult. Ms. Reece has many years of experience consulting with nonprofit organizations.


Kim Silvia of Amarillo, Texas has been elected Secretary. She is a successful real estate professional with a history of activism for the human rights of women and children. Following her own investigation, she was instrumental in assisting the FBI to apprehend the organizers of a human trafficking ring in West Texas. Ms. Silvia has served on the boards of several charitable organizations in the Amarillo area.

Note to Reporters: Photos are available upon request.


Americans Against Abuses of Polygamy is a non-profit, conservative feminist, human rights organization, based in Texas. The AAAP is dedicated to educating the public on the human rights abuses inherent within the cultural practice of polygamy, worldwide and within the United States, and the potential dangers of decriminalization of the felony practice. www.TripleAP.org

A Free Pass

I was sitting here today wondering what it must look like.

I've wondered who issued it, too?

The free pass that allows thousands of men to raise women and children, like veal in stalls, convincing them through fear that they must participate in a felony crime once they have reached puberty.

What exactly does it look like?

What do you have to do to get one?

What other felony crimes do men in this country get a free pass to practice, without fear of prosecution? And where do the women who participate in the same crime get theirs?

Why has Nurse Sally (Ann) Wayman (maiden name) Jeffs (first husband's name, "married" till he was excommunicated) Nielsen (reassigned to Nielsen after Jeffs was excommunicated)not been charged with anything?
She is, as you know, the mother of Janet and the nurse/midwife who went along with the plan to leave the 16 year old girl in heavy labor for three days on the YFZ Ranch. Where did she get her free pass? Does she have a license to practice as a midwife in Texas? If not, why is she not being prosecuted for this? Does she have a current Texas Nursing license? If so, why is it not under review?

Exactly where did she get her free pass to endanger the life of two human beings for the explicit purpose of covering up the illegal sexual assault of her 16 year old patient?

There is so much I admit I don't understand about all of this.

I don't understand how 439 children, over 200 of whom have been identified as abused, could be given back to abusers who are known to be practicing a felony crime, which the U.N. clearly defines as a human rights abuse.

So let me get this straight: None of the carebear colored mothers on the YFZ Ranch were brought before the grand jury, even though at least an estimated 50 of them ended up being identified as "abusers", right?

Every single last child was returned to their abuser, and not one woman was charged?

Why?

For Pete's sake, this is the state that put Carla Faye Tucker down! What the heck is going on in Austin?

What are they thinking? Are they thinking they cannot withstand the bad PR of the Carebear colored mothers on the stand in front of a jury attempting to explain how, 'Yes, I understand that polygamy is a crime [that's why we isolate ourselves, so you won't see us doing it] but I choose to do it anyway, because the men have convinced me from birth I will go to eternal burning Hell if I don't'?

So she is a VICTIM? Okay, so you think she is just a victim and should not be held responsible to the laws of our country, because she cannot help being a victim.

So why in the Hell would you send the children back so they can make MORE of these victims?

I can guarantee you that if I had a nursing license in this state and I had left a 16 year old in hard child labor for three days, and refused to take her to the hospital, because I knew it would get the father in trouble with the law, I would be in BIG trouble. So why isn't Sally in any trouble?

Abuse is a cycle. One may start out as a victim. Once you have moved from victim to abuser, I think your free pass should be yanked.

This is the most ridiculous misogynistic bunch of bologna I have ever seen. The women are victims and cannot help it, so we will allow them to breed more and more of them, and what, just hope no one notices when the homeless abused boys start getting dumped along the roads in Texas?

Then, just like Utah and Arizona they can say, "We will not prosecute the crime of polygamy in Texas, because there are just too many to prosecute".

Never mind that right now that is NOT the case.

If you care anything about the future of human rights for the women and children of the state of Texas, I'd suggest you start contacting every elected official you know, as well as those who plan to run for office in 2012. Let them know you want abusers, regardless of whether they started life as victims, and regardless of their gender, prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Tell them you want a mother, any mother, who willingly hands her 12 year old over to a 50 year old man for SEX, to be prosecuted for it, just like YOU would be if you had done it!

I've about decided that the women of the FLDS are the fundie equivalent of bad pop icons, like Paris Hilton. There just seems to be a strange, easier, kind of justice set aside for them.

Just say NO to the free abuser passes being handed out in Texas.

Being a "dumb woman, incapable of being responsible for the protection of your children is NOT a legal defense.

Abuse is not a religion.

Do we really want to allow "religious freedom" to trump U.S. law?

Well, do we?

Texas Women and San Jacinto

The Battle Flag of San Jacinto

I am humoring myself, lately, with pondering the Battle Flag of San Jacinto.

When I returned to Texas in 2008, I met in Austin with the assistant to Representative Hilderbran. I remember showing the documentation I'd returned with and saying, "Eldorado was like an Alamo for the future of women's rights in Texas, and if we don't get a San Jacinto we're going to be in trouble".

Over a year later, I took the time to look up the San Jacinto Battle Flag, and found myself amazed at the prescience of the characters of the women who were behind it, and their remarkable story.

http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/sylvesterjames.htm

"Thousands are said to have waved the company off as they departed by steamer from Cincinnati on the Ohio River. Legend says that Private James A. Sylvester was given a long red glove (a white glove in some accounts) by the daughter of the host at a departure dance just before leaving for Texas which he tied on the flag staff. It was said to be a "talisman" and inspired the ranks at San Jacinto."


"I take it as a pledge of victory, and shall die before I surrender it to a foe."
~Private James A. Sylvester

As I ponder this revealing historical information I wonder about things.

I wonder what a group of officer's ladies in Kentucky in 1836 would have thought of a religious leader who proclaimed the color red to be completely banned from all public or private settings.

Would this have been a case of the ladies of Kentucky Vs. The Grinch?

The Grinch is, after all, the only other character in recent history who has successfully banned the color red from the sight of children. Even if it was only a bad fairy tale, and not the stuff of every day life, as it is for FLDS children, one has to wonder about this person's genuine spirituality...

The battle flag has captured more than my imagination since taking a good long look at it, and the history, which brought it to the field in Texas where our liberty as Texans was so decisively won. It was here the stage was set for the Mexican-American war and gave The United States the northern half of Mexico. This area later became the U.S. states of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

And there was our gift back.

Everything about the Battle Flag of San Jacinto is the ultimate antithesis of Warren Jeffs, and indeed, polygamy.

After all, if someone can document, historically, one incidence of an FLDS lady presenting a long red glove to her man as a talisman of good luck, or designing a flag for him to carry into battle, which features a bare breasted woman wearing a red skirt, raising a sabre, and holding a banner that says "Liberty or Death"...well, I will be glad to eat my hat for anyone who can produce such historical evidence.

She was called by the women who sent it to us, "The Goddess of Liberty".
Only Texas women have the pleasure of such a history.

We do not come from Utah and Arizona where the liberty of their women is so lightly removed in the criminal practice of the human rights abuse of polygamy.

We are free women.



It was gift from our sisters in Kentucky and Ohio, who seemed to understand their own liberty was a gift from the creator, and no man could take it way from them in a civilization where human liberty was to flourish as prolifically as wildflowers.

We are free women.

Someone else can tell my Cherokee or Hillbilly friends in Tennessee, that Texas has decided to lay down the power to protect its women and children.

I will deliver my sisters there no such message.

Someone else can go tell the Mississippi Girls that we have laid the banner down and will be quiet now that we have a group lobbying our legislature, hoping to form a "Safety Net" style Committee here in Texas.

I will not.

Someone else can go tell the Alabama women, where they are proud to declare "We dare defend our rights", that polygamy will be normalized and accepted here in Texas as long as the children here are raised to believe doing it is their only means to eternal salvation.

I won't be making that call to Alabama either.

Nope, I don't plan to pick up the phone and make any such report to anyone in any state.

We are free women.

When we take a husband he is our only living equal. The law supports us and protects us in this right. We will be appealing to our laws.

After all, aren't our laws what make us civilized?

Men are good at killing people and breaking things but only women can build a culture worth living in on top of the ruins.

I like my civilization, here in Texas, just as it is right now, thank you very much.

I should really go get a copy of this flag.

Eldorado needs this flag.

The Ironies of the Civil Rights of Preston Barlow

Four days ago, former Colorado City police officer Preston Barlow filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Arizona Attorney General and the Arizona Police Officer's Standards and Training Board, insisting that his civil rights have been violated, because of his decertification.

I find this especially ironic, because in 2006 I had occasion to have a somewhat tense encounter with Officer Barlow in Colorado City, Arizona, right outside the Hildale Health Clinic.

Flora and I had gone up to Saint George to attend the initial hearings of Warren Jeffs in the Elissa Wall case. Flora brought with her a trailer load of clothing, books, toys, food, furniture and other items for distribution to women and children who had escaped polygamy. Her Suburbans power steering went out right outside of Kingman, so we were forced to abandon it and attach the trailer to my truck for the trip up there.

We spent the three days delivering the goods, meeting with the families in need and attempting once again to locate Flora's mother. After a long day of hearings in Saint George, where Flora went inside to observe, and I stayed outside schmoozing with the national media, we set out for Colorado City.

Since my truck had Texas plates, we knew it would draw some serious attention in Colorado City. At that time, most of the FLDS residents there were in serious denial that Warren was abandoning them and moving "the elect" to Texas. Many residents at the time refused to believe there was even a settlement there, claiming we were all liars.

We visited the cemeteries first, documenting the baby cemetery in Hildale with photographs.

As it was starting to get dark, we headed for the health clinic, which was the last known residence of Flora's mother, since she had been last 'reassigned' as a concubine to the doctor who lived in the house behind the security gates attached to the clinic.

Flora drove, since she was familiar with the area. We pulled into the driveway and she followed the instructions on the sign, which were to turn off the vehicle's engine and press the button on the call box.

Flora asked to speak to "Mother Pat" and there was a long pause before a voice responded, "Who is this"? Flora laughed and said, "You know damn well who this is. This is Flora, and I want to speak to my mother. Is she in there? Is she still alive?" She was instructed to wait. So we did. By this time it was dark.

A few minutes later a Colorado City Police vehicle pulled up, with lights flashing, blocking us into the clinic driveway. The officer got out of the vehicle and began to approach my truck. At that time both Flora and I exited the vehicle. As the officer approached us, I said "Howdy, sir!", opened the back door of my truck, and out came the network newsman with camera rolling we had brought with us.

Officer Preston Barlow froze where he stood, and it was all I could do not to blurt out as I stood my ground, "Donut"?

Flora walked around the truck to speak to him and said it was nice to see him, calling him "cousin". She explained that she was attempting, again, to ascertain whether her mother was inside and still living. She explained to Officer Barlow that she wished to file a missing persons report on her mother and he refused to do it, insisting she was fine.

Flora asked him if he liked his new job as a police officer and he expressed that he did indeed enjoy it, then called for back up from Washington County. A Washington County Sheriff's Deputy car arrived, shortly thereafter, to block us in as well.

The camera man milling around the driveway, with tape rolling, was obviously making officer Barlow quite nervous. After his repeated refusal to fill out a missing persons report for Flora, she looked at him and said, "Well, Cousin Preston, I hope you have enjoyed this job because you're not going to get to keep it, I'll guarantee you that much".

The Washington County Deputy was very cordial and told Flora he would take the missing persons report for her, since Colorado City's Officer Barlow refused.

We were asked to clear the driveway for an incoming vehicle with an emergency and we complied by pulling the truck out and to the side of the road, where the W.C. Deputy took her report.

The clinic in Hildale receives public funding from the state of Utah and is listed on their state health department's website as a location where one can receive AIDS testing, WIC assistance and flu shots. It is, however, set behind a tall security fence, stretching right out over a road maintained by Washington County and they refuse treatment to all but loyal members of the FLDS in good standing...thus creating a 'religious test' for treatment.

Has anyone bothered to ask about the civil rights violations of the FLDS apostates who are denied medical care by this state funded medical clinic?

How ironic that Preston Barlow believes his civil rights have been violated.

It's Liberty Stupid

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

FLDS and many other polygamist women are born, and indeed, bred in captivity, not Liberty.

Their unalienable right to ‘Liberty’ is gone the day they are born.


I’d like someone to ask Flora Jessop if she believes she was born with any access whatsoever to Liberty as the dictionary plainly defines it here; and exactly at what point in her life she finally obtained it.

Liberty
n. pl. lib•er•ties
1.
a. The condition of being free from restriction or control.
b. The right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one's own choosing.
c. The condition of being physically and legally free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor. See Synonyms at freedom.
2. Freedom from unjust or undue governmental control.
3. A right or immunity to engage in certain actions without control or interference: the liberties protected by the Bill of Rights.


Was Flora Jessop born a free citizen of the United States of America?

Was Flora Jessop born into an illegal Theocracy, operating independently of, and opposed to the laws and values of the United State’s Constitution?

You could even say, “It’s the Constitution, stupid”.

Flora Jessop was born into an organized crime family. The sexual crimes committed against her person as a little child were heinous. Escaping, only to be betrayed by a Utah Judge, who called her a liar to her face, Utah CPS sent her back for more physical, mental and emotional abuse by the same group of organized criminals who had conspired from her birth to ensure she became one of them, and would 'choose' to break America's polygamy laws.

Flora Jessop was born in the Concubine state of Utah.

Things really are just this simple sometimes.