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Cheryl Wetzstein

Cheryl Wetzstein

cwetzstein@washingtontimes.com

Cheryl Wetzstein, a Washington Times staff member since 1985, is manager of special sections in The Washington Times' Advertising and Marketing Department.
Previously, she spent 30 years as a Washington Times news reporter, covering national domestic policy, in addition to being a features writer, environmental and consumer affairs reporter, and assistant business editor.
Beginning in 1994, Mrs. Wetzstein worked exclusively on welfare and family issues such as child support enforcement, abstinence and sex education, child welfare, sexually transmitted diseases, marriage, divorce, cohabiting and gay marriage.
She has won several newspaper awards, including 1977 Cub Reporter of the Year and 1983 Heart of New York award, both from the New York Press Club.

Articles by Cheryl Wetzstein

Members of Students For Life of America pray at the Supreme Court last week while waiting for a ruling on the health care reform law. The law was upheld last Thursday, and foes' attention now turns to the presidential election in November, which holds the key to the law's fate. (Raymond Thompson Jr./The Washington Times) ** FILE **

Abortion activists concur: Presidential vote paramount

In the wake of the Supreme Court's stunning ruling on health care, activists on both sides of the abortion issue have pledged to bring the full weight of their movements into the November election battles.

July 1, 2012
Asked whether she could think of a reason why eight men would come forward to accuse her husband, Jerry Sandusky, of molesting and raping them, Dottie Sandusky's answer was: "I have no idea. ... I don't know what it would be for." (Associated Press)

How could Sandusky’s wife not know?

Perhaps one of the most shocking witnesses at the child-molestation trial of Jerry Sandusky was his wife of 46 years, Dorothy, known as Dottie.

June 26, 2012
Illinois state Attorney General Lisa Madigan (left)and Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, both Democrats, agree with gay plaintiffs that the state's marriage law violates their right to equal protection and won't defend it in court. But private legal groups have stepped in to fill that breach. (Associated Press)

Private groups in Illinois ‘proud’ to defend marriage

A traditional-values advocacy group says it will intervene to file legal papers this week in support of an Illinois marriage law, after officials in the Democrat-dominated state government refused to defend the law in court.

June 20, 2012
**FILE** Mother-to-be Tammy Gerencser speaks with Dr. Michael L. Cacciatore at Florida Hospital in Orlando. (Associated Press)

Report shows bounce in bouncing babies

Two-thirds of U.S. pregnancies now end with the birth of a baby, a significantly higher rate than in 1990, when abortions were one-third more common than now, a federal report says.

June 20, 2012

Gay parenting studies disputed by association

Amid a firestorm of criticism over a pair of new studies on gay parenting, the world's largest organization of psychologists has affirmed its own position that sexual orientation is not a factor in parental fitness.

June 13, 2012
In this 2011 family photo, lesbian couple Giuseppina La Delfa (left) and Raphaelle Hoedts (right) celebrate the eighth birthday of their daughter, Lisa-Marie, in Naples, Italy. (Associated Press)

Study suggests risks from same-sex parenting

Two studies released Sunday may act like brakes on popular social-science assertions that gay parents are the same as — or maybe better than — married mother-father parents.

June 10, 2012
In this Monday, June 4, 2012, photo provided by Karen Ocamb from LGBT POV, Chad Griffin, center, is kissed by Sandy Stier, left, and Kris Perry at the home of actor/director Rob Reiner, who co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, in Brentwood, Calif. (AP Photo/LGBT POV, Karen Ocamb)

LGBT teens find fitting in difficult

A first-of-its-kind survey of 10,000 American youth who say they are a sexual minority finds that most feel accepted by their families, but they often struggle with community acceptance and even believe they will have to leave their hometowns to be happy someday.

June 7, 2012
** FILE ** President Obama cited a respect for states' rights in connection with his "evolution" toward supporting gay marriage. (Associated Press)

Boston court hands same-sex marriage backers big victory

A Boston federal appellate court ruled Thursday that the federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman is unconstitutional, handing gay-marriage proponents their biggest judicial victory to date and driving the issue closer to a Supreme Court showdown.

May 31, 2012
FILE -- In this file photo from May 8, 2012, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., right, walks with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., left, following a weekly House GOP strategy session, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, May 8, 2012. Franks has authored a bill, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, that would prohibit all D.C. abortions beyond 20 weeks except to save the life of the mother, based on the much-debated idea that fetuses beyond that point are capable of feeling pain. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

Bill would outlaw abortion for sex selection

Congress is set to wade into one of the most sensitive topics in the abortion debate, with a House vote Wednesday on a bill that would ban abortions that are performed solely because of an unborn child's sex.

May 29, 2012

Stop-smoking efforts don’t see money

States have collected billions of dollars from tobacco companies but spent only 3 percent of it to combat smoking - a less-than-robust response to the high costs of health care associated with smoking, a federal report released Thursday says.

May 24, 2012
**FILE** Lisa King (left) and Gus Turner hold pro-choice signs in front of the Supreme Court Building in 2009 while debating with pro-life protesters at the annual March for Life rally. (The Washington Times)

‘Pro-choice’ Americans found in record-low minority

A record low 41 percent of Americans identify themselves as "pro-choice" on abortion, according to a poll released Wednesday, while the number of Americans who say they are "pro-life" bounced back into the majority.

May 23, 2012
Rep. John Conyers, Michigan Democrat, noted that about 300 organizations voiced opposition to the House domestic-violence bill before the vote. "Who supports this bill? Who thinks this is a step in the right direction?" he asked. (Associated Press)

House approves violence bill

The House passed a domestic-violence bill Wednesday along largely party lines despite a warning from the White House that President Obama would veto it.

May 16, 2012
The ban on MSM (men who have have sex with men) donations was established because in the early stages of the AIDS epidemic, during the 1980s, a major share of cases involved transmission by blood transfusion. Now such cases are rare — less than 1 percent of all new HIV infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Associated Press)

Study could end ban on gay men donating blood

The federal government has one study in a planning stage and three studies under way that could eventually provide evidence to end the ban on blood donations from all gay men, a federal official said Wednesday.

May 16, 2012

Bill offers benefits to gay partners

In the wake of President Obama's shift last week in support for gay marriage, a Senate panel announced plans to mark up a bill Wednesday that would extend marital and retirement benefits to federal employees in same-sex domestic partnerships.

May 14, 2012