MADRID, Spain, MARCH 18, 2011 (Zenit.org).- A growing number of organizations are defending the rights of German families to remove their children from state-sponsored sex education, as more parents have been imprisoned for refusing to send their children to the classes.
The case of one woman, Irene Wiens, who refused to send her children to the classes in 2006 is now before the European Court of Human Rights.
Her husband already served a six-week jail term, and Irene Wiens is now in jail.
The couple refused to send their children to the classes, saying that they present a permissive view of human sexuality in conflict with their religious convictions.
According to the U.S.-based Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the case, four other parents have also been imprisoned.
In Spain, Professionals for Ethics is promoting a declaration in favor of Wiens, which has been endorsed by 43 associations from Spain, Ireland, Italy, the United States, Kenya and other countries.
Just this week at the United Nations in New York, the Holy See’s permanent observer reminded that parents have a right to educate their children according to their beliefs, «including education about authentic human love, marriage, and the family.»
