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PRI Insider (Volume 4, Issue 48) December 6

PRI Staff

In This Issue:

 

Pro-Life Hero Passes

Rest in Peace, Msgr. Reilly: Monsignor Philip J. Reilly, a pro-life advocate and founder of the international organization Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, passed away on November 30, 2024, on the feast of Saint Andrew. He was 90 years old. Reilly was a pioneer in pro-life activism, especially known for praying outside abortion clinics and helping countless mothers and babies. He endured significant personal challenges, including a long battle with cancer, but continued his work to protect the unborn. Reilly’s legacy is marked by the closing of abortion mills around the country and the conversion of abortionists.  

“Msgr. Reilly was a dear friend of mine,” says Mr. Mosher. “We labored together in the pro-life vineyard for many decades. He also made many visits to Australia, where he worked closely with our Australian affiliate, Family Life International-Australia, in organizing prayer rallies in support of the unborn. He is now in Heaven, where he at last knows how many lives were saved by his efforts.”

Rest in Peace, Msgr. Reilly. 

 

PRI in the Media

Celebration for Life: Senator John Schickel was awarded the 2024 John Bauer Award at Northern Kentucky Right to Life’s 51st Celebration for Life, held in Erlanger. The event also featured PRI President Steven W. Mosher as the keynote speaker and a tribute to Rhonda Massie for her contributions to family values. NKRTL President Fred H. Summe recognized Schickel for his 16 years of dedication to pro-life causes in the Kentucky Senate. Schickel’s advocacy has led to significant pro-life legislation, including laws requiring ultrasounds before abortions, restricting abortion after 20 weeks, and establishing a “trigger law” to protect life. His efforts helped make Kentucky a leader in pro-life policies, culminating in the 2022 Human Life Protection Act.

 

Deepening Depopulation

NatalCon 2025: Pro-natalism, the support of policies and practices that encourage childbirth, has made a comeback in the past year, at a time when the world desperately needs help with its fertility crisis. This year, the world’s biggest pro-natal conference will gather in Austin, Texas in March. The speakers will include Mrs. Catherine Pakaluk, Malcolm and Simone Collins, Dr. Pat Fagan, Institute for Family Studies scholar Lyman Stone, Professor Michael Anton, and prolific blogger and mother of five “Peachy Keenan.” NatalCon 2025 will address the changes needed in popular culture, to reverse the birth dearth around the world. As leading celebrities and politicians bring attention to the issue, supported by growing pro-family scholarship, renewed online freedom of speech (thanks to Elon Musk), and dedicated advocates gathering in Austin, change is beginning to take shape.

 

Communist China

CCP Censors the Truth: A top Chinese economist’s speech went viral for telling the truth that the widespread lack of opportunities for young people was dragging down economic growth. Gao Shanwen, chief economist at SDIC Securities, gave this speech at an investor conference in Shenzhen. The speech was posted in full on Chinese social media, WeChat, but was quickly censored for “complaints of violations.” Shanwen’s speech was honest about the situation of young people in China today. Instead of embarking on promising careers and boosting the economy with their disposable income, young people are tightening their belts and “turning off the lights and eating noodles.” This speech directly contradicted Chinese Communist Party propaganda that young people will be the driving force behind post-lockdown economic growth.

 

UN Misdeeds

Gender Ideology Rejected: At the recent UN Climate Conference (COP29), Western governments, including the U.S. and the EU, pushed for the inclusion of gender ideology in the final document. These progressive nations wanted to use the document to push “gender diversity” and access to abortion. Thankfully, their efforts were blocked by a coalition of representatives from traditional countries, such as the Vatican, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, and Egypt, who rejected the inclusion of these controversial topics in the final agreement. 

 

Science Gone Mad

Dead Soldiers Reproduce: The war in Ukraine has had a surprising side effect: Demand for the procedure of preserving one’s own genetic material has greatly increased. Russian soldiers are freezing their sperm before they leave for war. The Clinical Institute of Reproductive Medicine in Yekaterinburg, even offered the service to men leaving for war for sperm “safekeeping” and the turnout was huge. These actions aim to enable the wives of Russian soldiers to bear their husbands’ children, even if he is killed in combat. However, this does the children conceived an injustice. For with in-vitro fertilization (IVF), they are conceived separate from their parents’ union and are deprived of one parent from the moment they are conceived. 

The Catholic Church clearly states that IVF is an illicit practice, as can be seen in the following from Donum Vitae: 

“Such fertilization entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person. Such a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children.”

For more information on IVF, read our fact sheet. 

 

Pro-Life Around the World

A Deadly Vote: Britain’s parliament has initially backed a bill to allow assisted dying, with 330 lawmakers voting in favor and 275 against. The “Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)” bill would grant mentally competent, terminally ill adults in England and Wales the right to choose assisted death, provided they have six months or less to live and are assessed by doctors. If passed, Britain would be following in the deadly footsteps of countries like Australia, Canada, and some U.S. states. However, the bill could still be amended or rejected as it moves through both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Arrested for Advocacy: Claire Brennan, a Catholic woman from Northern Ireland, was convicted and fined £750 ($953) on December 2, 2024, for praying and holding a pro-life sign outside an abortion clinic. Brennan was standing in the designated “buffer zone” of the Coleraine clinic. At her trial, Brennan pleaded not guilty, stating that her actions were protected under the European Convention on Human Rights, specifically the right to freedom of religion. However, District Judge Peter Kind ruled against her, citing a 2022 U.K. Supreme Court decision that upheld Northern Ireland’s abortion protest restrictions. 

 

Pro-Life on the Home Front

Classifying Abortion Drugs: Following in Louisiana’s successful footsteps, a Texas lawmaker has introduced a bill to classify abortion drugs as controlled substances. Texas lawmaker-elect Pat Curry filed House Bill 1339, which would classify the abortion pill drugs mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV controlled substances. This would increase oversight over both drugs to reduce potential abuse. The abortion pill, consisting of mifepristone and misoprostol, is used to terminate pregnancies by starving the preborn child and then inducing delivery. Research, including a study from the pro-abortion group Gynuity, shows that 6% of women who take the pill require emergency medical care, indicating risks to both the mother and child.

“Any restrictions on the purchase of abortion pills, especially by mail, will help to save lives,” says Mr. Mosher. “We applaud this move, and hope the Texas legislature passes it.”

For more information on how the abortion pill works, read our fact sheet. 

Targeting Pro-Life States: Media outlets, following ProPublica’s lead, have sensationalized the issue of “preventable” pregnancy-related deaths, focusing on cases in pro-life states while ignoring similar deaths in pro-abortion states. These reports falsely suggest that pro-life laws are responsible for women’s deaths. However, most pregnancy-related deaths are classified as “preventable” regardless of state abortion laws, a fact long known by sources like the CDC. About 80% of such deaths are preventable, with the leading cause being mental health conditions, including suicides and substance abuse. Pro-abortion media have ignored these causes, focusing instead on specific cases to push for the repeal of pro-life laws.

13,000 Saved: Following the Supreme Court’s decision to allow states to protect unborn children, an estimated 13,000 unborn babies were saved from death in the womb. This estimate is a testament to pro-life laws going into action after the fall of Roe v. Wade. Despite this, the abortion industry still performed over 600,000 abortions in 2022, including tens of thousands in the second or third trimester. While no deaths from illegal abortions were reported, five women died from “safe, legal” abortions that year. Data also revealed that nearly 90% of abortions were performed on unmarried women.

 

Good News

Chile Protects Children: Chile’s Senate has passed a law that prohibits the government from using public funds for sex reassignment surgeries or hormonal treatments for children under 18. This makes Chile the first country in Latin America to adopt such a law, setting a significant precedent for child protection against gender ideology. The law follows a report from a Chilean Congressional investigative committee, which recommended suspending programs like “Growing with Pride” (PAIG) that promote gender transition for minors. The report revealed concerns over treatments given to 4,142 children and adolescents, amid growing skepticism within the medical community. 

“PRI has been actively fighting gender ideology in several Latin American countries, including Chile,” says Mr. Mosher. “Denying government funding for transgender surgery or sterilizing hormones given to minors is only a first step, of course. Such practices ought to be forbidden altogether.”

 

Quote of the Week

“I am a Christian and a pro-life activist, so my moral duty is to stand in the gap for the least of these little ones. No men have the right to take life, and it is my moral duty to defend the rights of the Bible.” 

~ Claire Brennan at her trial for praying outside an abortion clinic, source

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