In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- Three Magic Weapons
- Walz Fails to Answer
- Deepening Depopulation
- Lonely Americans
- Lowest of Lows
- Communist China
- A Day of Mourning
- Conflicted Adoptees
- Science Gone Mad
- IVF Link to Heart Defects
- Birth Control for Men
- Pro-Life Around the World
- Euthanasia for Mental Illness
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- Fact Check on Walz
- A Letter from the Archbishop
- A Radical Wish List
- Good News
- One in a Million
Vote as if Life depends on it- because it does!
PRI in the Media
Three Magic Weapons: Mao Zedong liked to brag about the “three magic weapons” he used to seize power. These weapons were propaganda, the People’s Liberation Army, and united front tactics. In this piece for Life Site News, PRI President Steven Mosher pointed out that Harris and Walz are using a similar approach to the upcoming election. But their three weapons are propaganda, lawfare, and front organizations. In Mr. Mosher’s words, “You may dismiss all the parallels between America’s Marxists and Mao’s Three Magic Weapons as mere coincidence and conjecture if you are so inclined. But I see a pattern. And it is not all that different from the pattern used by the CCP to seize and hold power in China for the past 75 years.”
Walz Fails to Answer: At the vice presidential debate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz failed to provide a clear answer about his whereabouts during the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. The moderators challenged Walz, asking him to reply to a report that surfaced recently that Walz had falsely claimed to have been present in Hong Kong during the communist mass killings. All Walz could offer as an answer at the debate was that he is “a knucklehead at times” and simply “misspoke.”
Breitbart included the following statement from Mr. Mosher to drive home how horrific the Tiananmen Square Massacre really was, emphasizing that this event cannot be taken lightly.
“There were tanks rolling into crowds of people at high speed, crushing them into literally hamburger,” Mr. Mosher told Breitbart News Tonight on the 30th anniversary of the killings. “The streets had to be scraped afterwards with bulldozers to get off the remains of the human beings who were killed by these tanks that ran over them. The butchery was horrible.”
Deepening Depopulation
Lonely Americans: The number of elderly Americans living on their own is on the rise. Over 16 million Americans aged 65 and older live alone, many of whom are facing disabilities, cognitive issues, and isolation. This so-called “gray revolution” has been caused by “longer life spans, rising rates of divorce and childlessness, smaller families, the geographic dispersion of family members, an emphasis on aging in place, and a preference… for ‘intimacy at a distance’ — being close to family, but not too close.” These factors have left many seniors with concerns over their independence, available support, and future care. Unfortunately, this trend will not end in the near future. Rather it will be perpetuated by falling marriage rates and birth rates.
“From the beginning of time, human beings have lived in extended families, with grandparents, parents, and children all living under the same roof,” says Mr. Mosher. “That pattern was broken by the Industrial Revolution when the nuclear family became the norm. Now, as rising numbers of people never marry or have children, living alone is becoming more and more common. The saddest funerals, Father Paul Marx used to say, were those where there were no children.”
Lowest of Lows: In 2023, Canada recorded its lowest fertility rate ever, 1.26, for the second consecutive year. Of the Canadian provinces, British Columbia has the lowest fertility rate at 1.0. Although the number of births remained stable at around 350,000, the declining fertility rate is attributed to an increase in the number of women of childbearing age. Canada has now joined countries with “lowest-low” fertility rates, such as South Korea and Italy. Additionally, the rate of premature births reached its highest level in 50 years, likely linked to an increase in older mothers, with over a quarter of new mothers aged 35 or older. Experts suggest that high living costs and economic instability are causing young Canadians to delay or reconsider having children.
Communist China
A Day of Mourning: On the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, President Xi Jinping celebrated the Communist Party’s achievements since its founding by Mao Zedong in 1949. He described this anniversary as a pivotal moment in Chinese history during a gathering of 120,000 people in Tiananmen Square, the site of the 1989 massacre perpetrated by the CCP. While Xi celebrates, many groups resent the brutal control of the CCP. For Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Hong Kongers, the anniversary symbolizes oppression, with many protesting globally against Beijing’s control. Qelbinur Sidiq, a former Uyghur camp teacher, emphasized that while the Chinese government views the day as a celebration, for Uyghurs it marks the anniversary of their occupation and is a day of mourning.
“The 75th anniversary of the biggest killing machine in human history–the Chinese Communist Party–is nothing to celebrate,” says Mr. Mosher. “Five hundred million people have lost their lives at the hands of this tyrannical regime, as I recount in The Devil and Communist China, and the death toll continues to mount. Anyone who would like is welcome to sign up to receive a free copy of my latest book.”
Conflicted Adoptees: Following China’s recent announcement to suspend international adoptions, Chinese adoptees have experienced a mix of emotions, including anger, relief, and grief. With over 80,000 children adopted from China to the U.S. over the past three decades, many adoptees are reflecting on the implications of this policy change. They have expressed a range of emotions, from relief that Chinese children can now preserve their birth cultures to grief over the conclusion of a program that was crucial in their own lives. The suspension of international adoptions comes after years of declining birth rates in China, exacerbated by the brutal one-child policy, in one of many attempts to bolster the population.
Science Gone Mad
IVF Link to Heart Defects: A large international study involving 7.7 million children from four northern European countries has found that children conceived through IVF and other reproductive technologies have a 36% higher risk of serious heart abnormalities compared to those conceived naturally. Published in the European Heart Journal, the study highlights that while the overall risk of heart defects remains low at 1.84% for assisted reproduction versus 1.15% for natural conception, the risk is notably higher for multiples born through IVF, at 2.47% compared to 1.62% for naturally conceived multiples. Study leader Professor Ulla-Britt Wennerholm noted that previous research has also linked assisted reproduction to increased risks of preterm birth and low birth weight.
Birth Control for Men: Drug developers have a new project: male birth control pills, particularly targeting male Gen Zers and millennials. Early-stage trials have identified non-hormonal mechanisms for inhibiting sperm production. California-based YourChoice Therapeutics recently launched a human trial for an experimental once-a-day pill that inhibits a receptor for vitamin A in the testes, a concept derived from historical research on vitamin deficiencies and male fertility. However, developers face hurdles in two areas: physiological differences in sperm and egg production and FDA approval standards.
Pro-Life Around the World
Euthanasia for Mental Illness: A euthanasia advocacy group in Canada, Dying with Dignity Canada, has filed a court appeal seeking to extend euthanasia provisions to individuals suffering solely from mental illness. Euthanasia was legalized in Canada in 2016 and legislation to allow assisted suicide for mental health conditions was introduced in 2023. This dangerous legislation was not dismissed. Instead, its implementation was postponed until 2027. Now, Dying with Dignity Canada has claimed that this delay is discriminatory, as it allows those with physical ailments to access euthanasia while excluding those with mental illnesses. They further contended that this exclusion violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Should someone be encouraged to kill themselves because they are mentally ill, or even because they are merely depressed?” asks Mr. Mosher. “The answer that any sane person would give is ‘no’, but the Canadian euthanasia lobby is pushing hard for euthanizing anyone at any time for seemingly any reason. It would be un-Christian of me to suggest that the euthanasia lobby themselves lead the way on their proposal, so I won’t. But one would think that if they were truly committed to their cause, they would practice what they preach. And the rest of us could go on to live our lives.”
Pro-Life on the Home Front
Fact Check on Walz: Recently, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz seemed to deny that sweeping abortion legislation he signed in 2023 allows abortions in the ninth month of pregnancy. This implied denial is false. A Breitbart fact check found the following: “Walz made Minnesota the first in the nation to codify abortion via legislative action after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Minnesota is now one of nine states, including Washington, DC, that has no restrictions on abortion, meaning abortion would technically be legal in the final month of pregnancy.”
“Tim Walz claims that his record is ‘pro-women’,” says Mr. Mosher. “It’s not. It is simply pro-abortion. As governor, he signed something called the PRO Act into law. This purports to establish a ‘fundamental right’ to abortion for any reason at any stage in pregnancy. Abortions up to birth are occurring in Minnesota today because of Walz’s abortion radicalism, and at least 8 babies have been allowed to die after failed abortions. This is, by anyone’s definition, infanticide.”
A Letter from the Archbishop: Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila has released an open letter to the faithful in Colorado regarding Amendment 79, referred to as the “Right to Abortion” amendment, which will be on the state ballot this November. He encouraged everyone to vote against this proposed amendment, emphasizing its serious implications for women, children, families, and the state. For more information about the campaign opposing the “Right to Abortion,” visit www.RightToKnowCO.com.
A Radical Wish List: A proposed referendum in New York, known as Proposition 1 or the Equal Rights Amendment, aims to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. It has also drawn opposition due to concerns that it could grant voting rights to illegal immigrants. Lawyer Bobbi Anne Cox has argued that the amendment’s language, which prohibits discrimination based on “national origin,” may extend protections to non-citizens, potentially allowing illegal immigrants to vote. Cox also noted previous attempts, such as a New York City law to permit voting for 800,000 non-citizen green card holders, which was blocked in court. Additionally, Republican pollster John McLaughlin highlighted that the measure could have broader implications and stated, “This ballot measure is a radical wish list that will change New York forever.”
Good News
One in a Million: A Chinese woman has gained attention for giving birth to twins from her two uteruses. The woman, Li, has a rare condition known as uterus didelphys, which means she has two separate uterine cavities, each with its own fallopian tube and ovary. This anomaly affects only 0.3% of women. However, Li’s case is particularly exceptional because she naturally conceived in both uteruses, resulting in a twin pregnancy. Her pregnancy was closely monitored, and she successfully delivered a healthy boy and girl via C-section at 37 weeks. The twins weighed 3.3 kg (7.28 lbs) and 2.4 kg (5.29 lbs) and were discharged four days after birth. Dr. Cai Ying, the obstetrician at the hospital where the twins were born, described this occurrence as a “one in a million” event, highlighting the rarity of both the condition and the successful delivery of twins from it.
Quote of the Week
“As a community, we must stand together to protect the most vulnerable among us and ensure that our laws reflect respect for life, parental rights and the truth that life is a gift. Every Catholic is called by God to be pro-life.”
~ Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila
