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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

A federal proposal -- hotly contested in early public comments -- would urge U.S. health care providers to discuss the benefits of circumcision with parents of newborns, boys and teens, as well as with adult males who are not circumcised. (AP Photo/Ben Jary)

CDC circumcision proposal getting thumbs down

In the first week of public comments on a federal proposal to encourage male circumcision in the U.S., most people are telling Uncle Sam to leave the foreskins alone.

December 9, 2014
In this file photo, two women from Centreville, Va., hold hands after exchanging wedding rings during a ceremony in front of the Arlington County Courthouse in Arlington, Va., Monday, Oct. 6, 2014. A Virginia photographer, Chris Herring, is suing the state over a new law taking effect in July 2020. Mr. Herring says the law will infringe on his First Amendment rights by requiring him to promote same-sex weddings on his website. Mr. Herring has religious scruples that forbid him to photograph such ceremonies and argues in a court filing his free-speech rights are also infringed by the legislation. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) **FILE**

Plan to trim census marriage questions blasted

A government proposal to trim five marriage-related questions from a key Census Bureau survey is attracting blowback from scholars and research groups who say the data are essential to tracking changes in the American family, including patterns in same-sex marriage.

December 4, 2014
Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi and other state officials are reviewing the decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to allow gay marriage to go forward in Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

11th Circuit denies stay in Fla. gay marriage cases

A three-judge panel of a federal appellate court has denied Florida's request to keep its marriage law while two gay marriage cases are heard. The ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals means same-sex marriages can commence after Jan. 5 unless another judicial intervention occurs.

December 3, 2014
American Red Cross worker Scott Moore prepares to draw blood from Apollo High School student Hanna Pierskalla during a blood drive at the school in St. Cloud, Minn., Wednesday, March 20, 2014. The annual drive is organized by the Apollo Student Union. The number of 16-year-old blood donors in Minnesota has risen steadily since state law was changed in 2008 to allow their participation. Teens are a key demographic in blood donations, Minnesota Red Cross communications program manager Sue Thesenga said. "Twenty percent of our blood donations come to us from high school and college students in the academic year," she said. The number of participating 16-year-olds in Minnesota has grown from 3,700 donors in the 2009 fiscal year to 5,000 during the 2013 fiscal year. Thesenga estimates that 16-year-olds can now give blood with parental consent in 45 states. When the law was passed in Minnesota in 2008, that number was closer to 25. (AP Photo/The St. Cloud Times, Dave Schwarz) NO SALES

FDA ponders change to gay blood donation policy

The hotly debated blood-donor policy for gay and bisexual men was discussed by a federal advisory panel Tuesday, but no votes were taken and no official recommendations were made.

December 2, 2014
(Associated Press)

Blood bank organizations urge against policy change on gay donors

Eleven organizations that represent users of blood plasma and related products will urge a federal panel on Tuesday not to change the donor policy for gay and bisexual men unless a “robust” blood-monitoring system is also put in place.

November 30, 2014
Mimi Chacin helps her son Diego, 9, place home made pizzas onto a tray while cooking dinner at her home in Miami Shores, Fla., Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) **FILE**

Women’s ‘utopian’ joy of cooking slammed in survey

As millions of American households prepare to enjoy the delectable smells of Thanksgiving turkey and pumpkin pie, some social scientists say it's time to loosen belts and lower expectations. Women, who prepare the overwhelming majority of Thanksgiving repasts, need a break from expectations about "utopian" family meals.

November 26, 2014
A woman smokes a cigarette. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Smoking among adults hits historical low: CDC

The U.S. adult smoking rate fell to its lowest recorded point in 2013, although cigarette smoking remains high in certain groups, the federal government said Wednesday.

November 26, 2014
FILE - In this May 10, 2012 file photo, Dr. Lisa Sterman holds up a Truvada pill, an HIV treatment pill used to prevent infection in people at high risk of getting the AIDS virus, at her office in San Francisco. Research showing that the pill does not encourage risky sex and is effective even if people skip some doses was discussed Tuesday, July 22, 2014, at the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. The research was published by the British journal Lancet Infectious Diseases (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Many HIV sufferers untreated: CDC

Some 70 percent of people — nearly 840,000 — believed to be living with HIV in 2011 have not successfully treated their dangerous infections, the federal government said Tuesday.

November 25, 2014
President Barack Obama speaks during a nationally televised address from the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014. Spurning furious Republicans, President Barack Obama unveiled expansive executive actions on immigration Thursday night to spare nearly 5 million people in the U.S. illegally from deportation and refocus enforcement efforts on "felons, not families." (AP Photo/Jim Bourg, Pool) **FILE**

Family-values groups object to Obama’s orders on immigration

President Obama is selling his unilateral immigration package unveiled last week as, in part, a way to keep millions of families from breaking up. But family-values groups, many of which focus heavily on keeping families together on matters such as refugee and asylum cases for home-schoolers, are rallying around one position: White House usurpation of the issue is wrong.

November 23, 2014
Rep. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican, said the administration's handling of the abortion issue in the Affordable Care Act has been "unconscionable," and the new website should be a helpful tool for consumers who don't want to pay for other people's abortions. (Associated Press)

Website exposes insurance plans’ abortion coverage

Decrying the lack of "transparency" about abortion coverage in health care plans, pro-life groups are asking consumers to visit a new, privately operated website to see which insurance plans cover abortion, which do not, and which are "unknown" on the issue.

November 20, 2014
"A primary way to fight child trafficking is to fight demand created by sex tourists," said Rep. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican. Data show that "registered sex offenders are traveling disproportionately to countries where children are trafficked for sex," he said, adding that a "deeply disturbing" 2010 Government Accountability Office report found that at least 4,500 U.S. passports were issued to registered sex offenders in 2008.

Groups push for openness on subsidized abortions

In response to evidence that hundreds of taxpayer-subsidized health care plans under Obamacare include abortion coverage, pro-life groups are using a Capitol Hill press briefing Thursday to launch a new website aimed at making clear which plans will pay for the procedure.

November 19, 2014
FRC Action and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins speaks during the Values Voter Summit, held by the Family Research Council Action, Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana/File)

Author sees growing religious censorship in U.S.

America's religious believers are facing a growing movement to censor expressions of faith and should prepare both to put up a fight and to suffer in the struggle, a prominent Christian leader and author told the Family Research Council Tuesday.

November 18, 2014
Pope Francis shakes hands with Senegal's President Macky Sall during a private audience, at the Vatican, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)

Pope Francis: Man-woman union at ‘root of marriage’

Pope Francis said Tuesday that the union of a man and a woman is "at the root of marriage," dashing hopes among gay rights supporters that he might open the door to acceptance of same-sex unions by the Catholic Church.

November 18, 2014