Girl's Claim of Forced Marriage in Pakistan Probed

FoxNews.com

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Authorities are investigating a California girl's claim that her family tried to force her into an arranged marriage in Pakistan, prompting the 13-year-old to run away from home and hide in a nearby motel.

Jesse Marie Bender disappeared from her Southern California home Feb. 22. Local and federal authorities launched a nationwide search for the child after her mother, Melissa Bender, said she thought her daughter was kidnapped by someone she met on Facebook.

But the family's account fell flat when police found the girl early Wednesday hiding at the Black Horse Motel in Apple Valley, Calif.

Jesse Bender, who was found unharmed and in the company of her biological uncle, told police she ran away to avoid being forced into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.

Roxanne Walker, a spokeswoman with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office, told FoxNews.com that the teen lived in Hesperia, Calif., with her biological mother and stepfather, Mohammad Khan, a Pakistani native, but Walker said there were conflicting reports on whether Melissa Bender and Khan were legally married.

Walker said the girl was first reported as a juvenile runaway. She said the girl's mother told police that her daughter was upset about having to go on a two-month vacation to Pakistan. Melissa Bender then changed her story, Walker said, when she told authorities that Jesse may have been taken by a man she met on Facebook.

"She

Boehner Launches Effort to Defend Gay Marriage Ban- Md. House Committee Passes Gay Marriage Bill

AP

House Speaker John Boehner gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Jan. 26.

If President Obama will no longer defend the federal law against gay marriage, Republicans controlling the U.S. House say they will.

House Speaker John Boehner said Friday he is convening a bipartisan legal advisory group to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Boehner's announcement comes a week after the Obama Justice Department said it would no longer defend the law signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, a reversal for the Obama administration, which had defended it despite the president's misgivings with the policy. The nation's lawyers as recently as last month had filed a court motion in support of the law.

Attorney General Eric Holder has said that the Justice Department would continue to enforce the law but no longer would defend its constitutionality in court challenges.

"It is regrettable that the Obama administration has opened this divisive issue at a time when Americans want their leaders to focus on jobs and the challenges facing our economy," Boehner said in a statement. "The constitutionality of this law should be determined by the courts

Poll Shows Opposition Easing Toward Gay Marriage, Abortion, Legal Pot

AP

As the abortion and gay marriage debates simmer beneath the national brawl over spending, a new poll shows Americans are becoming much less conservative when it comes to social issues.

A Pew Research Center poll released Thursday showed growing support for legal abortion, gay marriage and marijuana legalization. 

The shifting attitudes on the latter topic were particularly dramatic. Americans opposed legalizing marijuana by an 81-16 split two decades ago. The latest poll showed just 50 percent now oppose the change, while 45 percent support legalizing marijuana. 

On the abortion question, the survey showed Americans trending toward supporting abortion rights after a brief drift in the opposite direction. A 54 percent majority favored legal abortion, while 42 percent opposed it. 

The poll also showed more Americans coming around to the idea of same-sex marriage. Though Americans were opposed to gay marriage by nearly 2-1 a decade ago, the latest poll showed 45 percent in support of it, with 46 percent in opposition. 

The survey showed the public split just about even over the issue of gun control, with as many people supporting gun rights as gun regulation. 

The survey was conducted Feb. 22 through March 1 among 1,504 adults. It had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

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Latest Politics Videos March 04, 2011Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:06:14 GMT6:03 PM EST

Maryland House Committee Passes Gay Marriage Bill

Associated Press

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A Maryland House committee has moved forward a bill to legalize gay marriage in the state.

The panel voted 12 to 10 to approve the bill Friday.

The bill, which already has been passed by the state Senate, now goes to the full House of Delegates.

Same-sex couples in Maryland would have the same full marriage rights as heterosexuals under the bill. It includes protections for religious groups and institutions to keep them from being forced to participate in gay weddings.

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Latest Politics Videos March 04, 2011Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:06:14 GMT6:03 PM EST

Boehner Launches Effort to Defend Gay Marriage Ban

AP

House Speaker John Boehner gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Jan. 26.

If President Obama will no longer defend the federal law against gay marriage, Republicans controlling the U.S. House say they will.

House Speaker John Boehner said Friday he is convening a bipartisan legal advisory group to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Boehner's announcement comes a week after the Obama Justice Department said it would no longer defend the law signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, a reversal for the Obama administration, which had defended it despite the president's misgivings with the policy. The nation's lawyers as recently as last month had filed a court motion in support of the law.

Attorney General Eric Holder has said that the Justice Department would continue to enforce the law but no longer would defend its constitutionality in court challenges.

"It is regrettable that the Obama administration has opened this divisive issue at a time when Americans want their leaders to focus on jobs and the challenges facing our economy," Boehner said in a statement. "The constitutionality of this law should be determined by the courts