The Surviving Parents Coalition

The Surviving Parents Coalition is an organization that you might not yet be familiar with, but I'm sure you would recognize the names of many of its members.

If I were to say the name "Mark Lunsford" you would most likely recall his daughter, Jessica, who was murdered in Homosassa, Florida in 2005.

If I were to mention the name "Ed Smart", your thoughts would quickly turn to "Elizabeth Smart". This was one of the most highly publicized abduction cases in U.S. history.

Mark Lunsford and Ed Smart have even more in common than the fact their daughters were abducted, one murdered and one recovered alive. They are both also members of the Surviving Parents Coalition.

Mark Lunsford has become a national spokesman who has helped to change things through the passage of "Jessica's Law". This law has been passed in 20 states and calls for long-term monitoring of paroled sex offenders through GPS tracking.

Along those same lines, Ed Smart has also become a nationally known spokesman and advocate for the prevention of child abuse and the recovery of missing children.

These men are just two members of the organization known as "Surviving Parents Coalition, whose stated mission is to "prevent predatory crimes against children and young people". Members of the coalition are "parents of children who were abducted, sexually assaulted, murdered, recovered or are still missing".

Unfortunately, I could list many more names of parents who have suffered the loss of their children through abduction, sexual assault and/or murder. The parents of these children did not choose this pathway in life, but were thrust into it because of the never-ending pain they all suffer.

Pain can sometimes paralyze us, however, sometimes it pushes us into action. The formation of Surviving Parents Coalition is proof that many people who have suffered great pain and loss dedicate their lives to helping others through that same pain.

The legislative focus of this organization for 2009 includes the Protect our Children Act, specifically the technology that tracks computers via their IP addresses. Thanks to the use of this technology, more than 600,000 computers used to promote child pornography have already been located. Over a two year period of time, this technology revealed more than 800,000 transactions of a video of one little eight-year-old girl being raped.

The coalition also supports the TRAC/Sunshine Act. The law, according to the coalition websites, "is a full disclosure bill that will require states to track and publicly report the practices of judges, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies regarding crimes against children".

The Surviving Parents Coalition has partnered with The National Association to Protect our Children (PROTECT) and is currently lobbying for these two bills to be introduced to Congress this year.

Source:
http://www.survivingparentscoalition.org/resources.php