In This Issue:
- A Message From PRI’s President
- PRI in the Media
- Synod Takes Aim
- The China Update
- CCP Climate Talks
- Deepening Depopulation
- Cell Phones Over Children
- Japan’s Non-Solution
- China Fertility Plunge
- Communist China
- The “Gold-Swallowing Beasts”
- Vietnam & the Vatican
- CCP Ties in the USA
- Science Gone Mad
- Praise for Insanity
- Redefining Embryo
- Pro-Life Around the World
- Invisible Abortions
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- Abortion Pill Restricted
- Maternity Wards Close
- Abortion Reversal Decision
- Heartbeat in SC
- Good News
- Record-Breaking Mom
A Message From PRI’s President
It may sometimes seem that we are fighting a desperate rearguard action against an evil that is relentless and growing in strength. But never doubt our ultimate victory in this world and the next.
My friend, the late Congressman Henry Hyde, who authored the Hyde Amendment banning federal funding for abortion, encouraged us to never abandon our efforts to protect the unborn.
Cong. Hyde often reminded those of us in the pro-life movement that, on judgment day, when a soul stands before his God, he will not be alone: “There will be a chorus of voices that have never been heard in this world but are heard beautifully and clearly in the next world — and they will plead for everyone who has been in movement.
They will say to God, ‘Spare him, because he loved us!’”
Carry on bravely.
~ PRI President Steven Mosher
PRI in the Media
Synod Takes Aim: Steven Mosher recently interviewed the president of the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family (JAHLF), Dr. Thomas Ward. Once part of the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV), Dr. Ward, along with several other outspokenly pro-life members of the PAV, was asked to leave by Archbishop Paglia during the “reinventing” of the PAV seven years ago. Dr. Ward shared his concerns over the upcoming Synod on Synodality, which he believes will be used to affect a radical paradigm shift in Catholic morality on life and the family. He went on to substantiate this claim with a variety of evidence. From questionable appointments to statements in favor of immoral practices, the evidence suggests that the synod will not only be “a component of the cultural revolution” but “the actual mechanism through which the paradigm shift is to be accomplished.”
The China Update: PRI President Steven Mosher joined Raymond Arroyo as the first guest speaker on this episode of The World Over. Invited to speak on the latest issues with China, Jimmy Lai was the first topic at hand. Lai, along with six others, was granted a partial victory when one of the charges against them was thrown out in court. However, Lai is still imprisoned and has, in the past, expressed his expectation that he will die in prison. Lai is a faithful Catholic, whose beliefs are in direct opposition to Communism, meaning it is likely that he will become a martyr of our times. Further issues that were discussed included China’s warnings not to ally with Taiwan, spyware embedded in TEMU, the repatriation of North Korean immigrants, the newly announced birth rate, and the disastrous Sino-Vatican Agreement.
CCP Climate Talks: Canadian leaders are receiving backlash for pushing harsh environmental policies while maintaining a relationship with China, the world’s largest polluting country. Last week the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan attended the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCIED). There, a goal was set for Canada to have net zero pollution by 2035, while China was allowed until 2060 for the same goal. This obvious double standard has sparked a response on X (the app formerly known as Twitter).
“China is bringing a new coal-fired power plant online every few weeks,” Mr. Mosher shared. “The Chinese Communist Party realizes that cheap energy is essential to economic growth and prosperity, a lesson which Western governments seem determined to forget.”
“It amazes me that Canada, of all places, would get caught up in the ‘green energy’ scam, which is simply a way for clever politicians to funnel taxpayer money to interest groups involved in building, say, solar panel farms or windmills,” he continued. “The beneficiaries of this government largess in turn support their benefactors with generous campaign contributions. Ordinary Canadians not only see their tax dollars wasted on what might be called ‘green elephants,’ they see the environmental blight caused by arrays of solar panels and wind farms.”
Deepening Depopulation
Cell Phones Over Children: The Young Americans Foundation recently conducted a study to discover where students, both high school and university, land on major issues. Some concerning statistics emerged in the climate change section. Two-thirds of students believe climate change is an “existential threat,” but only one in five would give up their smartphones to help. More students would give up having children or eating meat, rather than ditch their phones. This finding illustrates the chokehold that smart technology has on the younger generations. Though unsurprising, given that smartphones are “essentially a visual stimulation drug,” these findings reveal a disorganization of priorities that could translate to real issues in the future.
“The climate cult has hacked the brains of young people in America, cynically terrifying them with apocalyptic scenarios that have been repeatedly refuted by more sober scientists,” says Steven Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute. “It is beyond ironic that Generation Z would rather sacrifice future generations than their cell phones to mitigate this imaginary crisis, since their cell phones–and the scary messages on climate they convey–are the primary reason they are fearful of the future in the first place.”
“Still, this does not diminish how alarming these findings are,” Mosher continued. “The barrenness they would embrace to mitigate the ‘climate crisis’ would actually contribute to a much greater one: a demographic collapse that is already in motion. Not only will the future lack of children harm society, economy, and culture, as it already is around the globe, but it will negatively affect these students’ own lives. The end result will be a lot of sad, lonely people who have never had any children. They will realize too late that they did not provide for the future in the most fundamental way, by having children and grandchildren.’”
Japan’s Non-Solution: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has proposed conditional subsidies for women who wish to freeze their eggs. Egg freezing, already growing in popularity as more women prioritize their careers, is seen as a solution to the country’s low birth rate. But when inspected closely, this “solution” doesn’t hold up. The egg freezing solution is based on two assumptions: (1) that women who freeze their eggs will eventually choose to use them to have a child and (2) that the implantation of the frozen eggs will be successful. The probability of successfully implanting frozen eggs is low, between 17% and 41%. Adding in the probability of successfully carrying and birthing the child conceived with that egg, the stats drop to between 4.5% and 12%. If Japan doesn’t consider a traditional approach to its fertility crisis, it will continue its path to extreme depopulation.
“Freezing eggs is an act of desperation on the part of dying Japan that is not only illicit according to longstanding Catholic teaching, but makes no scientific sense,” says Mr. Mosher. “If the Japanese government would only follow Hungary’s path in sheltering young couples with children from taxes, the country’s birth rate would soon recover. Instead, they are adopting ridiculous measures intended to placate feminists who are reaching the end of their reproductive years without children.”
China’s Fertility Plunge: The Chinese government announced the official fertility rate for 2022 and it was shockingly low. The fertility rate, coming in at 1.09, is one of the lowest in the world. China, clearly undergoing demographic collapse, has seen a 40% drop in its birth rate in the past five years alone. Last year, there were 9.56 million births, but the population still decreased by 850,000. Fewer than 8 million births are projected for 2023, increasing the likelihood that the total population will decrease for the second year in a row. Media outlets are suggesting that China is too far gone to recover from this depopulation, instead advising that the country get used to its new, aged, normal.
“China is dying,” says Mr. Mosher. “China reports that its fertility rate dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, but I believe it is even lower. The statistics from China are all fabrications. But those from Hong Kong are, at least for now, more reliable. And Hong Kong is reporting that the fertility rate is well under one child per woman over her reproductive lifetime, 0.8 children, to be exact. At this rate, the population of China will be less than that of the U.S. by 2080. Death by Communism, you might call it.”
Communist China
The “Gold-Swallowing Beasts”: Two years ago, the Chinese government cracked down on the for-profit tutoring business in the country. Despite this, parents still find ways to boost their children’s education, often for very high prices. These high costs of childrearing cause parents to refer to their children as “gold-swallowing beasts.” One couple spent 40,000 yuan, equivalent to $5,500, in one month to pay for their son’s study trip, tutoring, and summer camp. Chinese parents view these expenses as necessary, to give their children an advantage in the cutthroat educational and working world. With rising unemployment rates amongst teens and young adults, every advantage counts.
Vietnam & the Vatican: At the end of July, the president of Vietnam, Võ Văn Thưởng, met with Pope Francis in Rome. President Văn Thưởng recently spoke favorably of this visit, a sentiment that matches reports from the bishops present at the meeting in July. Many at the Vatican are taking this as, “further confirmation that the Vatican’s policy of ‘small steps’ with Asia’s officially communist states is working.” A conclusion that these individuals believe will apply to China as well. However, this hopeful view ignores the complete incompatibility of Catholicism and Communism, especially Chinese Communism.
“This ship has sailed,” said Mr. Mosher. “Years ago the Vatican proposed that China follow the Vietnamese model for appointing bishops. Under this model, the Vatican and Hanoi jointly pick three candidates, and the pope makes the final decision on which to appoint. Communist China rejected it then and will reject it now. The Sino-Vatican Agreement is a dead letter.”
Science Gone Mad
Praise for Insanity: An Alaskan gender clinic has spread damaging gender-neutral language and received praise from the Biden administration for doing so. Biden’s health secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, a man who identifies as a woman, praised the clinic for its work. Identity Alaska diminishes the importance of motherhood by replacing the word “mother” with “egg-producer.” Even worse, the clinic wants “gender-inclusive biology” to be taught in schools. This kind of biology would erase the terms “men” and “women” in favor of “people with testes” and “estrogen-dominant bodies.” Such language destroys the unique beauty of the two genders. Identity Alaska and the Biden Administration, through Levine, are attacking the family through this progressive stripping of language.
“This insanity speaks for itself,” says Mr. Mosher. “Those who make such proposals are living in an alternate reality of their own making, which is bad enough. Even worse is their effort to coerce young people into joining them in their bizarro world, where two and two make five.”
Redefining Embryo: Earlier this summer, scientists revealed that they could create a type of embryo from stem cells only. This advancement in embryology, or “stembryology” as it is colloquially called, has these same scientists calling for a redefinition of “embryo.” This new definition would read, “a group of human cells supported by elements fulfilling extra-embryonic and uterine functions that, combined, have the potential to form a fetus.” According to this definition, the stem cell creations of earlier this summer would not be considered embryos, unless proven to have the potential to grow into a fetus (past 8 weeks gestation). This redefinition is a nerve-wracking development that goes to show the limits that scientists are currently pushing and plan to push in the future as well. It leaves loopholes for unethical, and most likely immoral, experiments to take place.
Pro-Life Around the World
Invisible Abortions: A South African bishop raised concerns over the rise of “invisible abortions” in the country. Though this is not being broadcast in public, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka asked his fellow bishops to pay attention to the teen population in their areas. With the rise in teenage sexual activity, pregnancies, and baptisms with no father present, Bishop Sipuka assumes the simultaneous rise in abortions. In remarks addressing this issue, he stated, “Since the Year of Mercy, I think that most bishops have stopped the practice of requiring the sin of abortion to be reported to the Bishop, and this makes it difficult to ascertain its prevalence among the faithful. Teenage pregnancy is an issue; we can see it. Is abortion an issue in our Dioceses? If yes, how do we deal with it pastorally?”
Pro-Life on the Home Front
Abortion Pill Restricted: This month, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court approved additional restrictions on the abortion pill, as a result of Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. Food and Drug Administration. Though the court did not completely ban the abortion pill, it did reinstate restrictions that the FDA had on the medication prior to 2016. Most notably, this bans mail-order abortion and prescription via telemedicine. The 5th Circuit Court shared the reasoning behind their ruling, including that in loosening restrictions on the abortion pill the FDA “failed to address several important concerns about whether the drug would be safe for the women who use it.”
Maternity Wards Close: In blue states like New York, Illinois, and Oregon, hospitals are shutting down maternity wards because there are fewer babies being born. But there are abortion businesses across these blue states that make big bucks killing babies, both from these states and others surrounding their borders. While the Left complains that there is a lack of access to abortion, there is actually a growing lack of maternity care across progressive states. More than 5.6 million women are living in areas with no or limited access to maternal healthcare services, according to March of Dimes, an organization that aims to end preventable maternal health risks and death.
Abortion Reversal Decision: Last week, the Colorado Medical Board decided that the abortion pill reversal treatment is outside the “generally accepted standard of practice.” But, to state Democrats’ disappointment, the board did not declare the method unprofessional conduct. Unfortunately, this is still viewed as a step closer to a ban on the lifesaving treatment in Colorado. Such a ban would leave vulnerable women without options, in a state that has become an abortion destination.
Heartbeat in SC: The South Carolina Supreme Court has upheld the state’s ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. In a 4-1 decision, the court ruled in favor of a revised version of the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act. which was temporarily blocked in January. This ruling successfully reversed the decision made in January, which deemed the ban “unconstitutional” and temporarily blocked its enforcement. Justice John Kittredge shared the court’s conclusion that “at a certain point in the pregnancy, a woman’s interest in autonomy and privacy doesn’t outweigh the interest of the unborn child to live.”
Good News
Record-Breaking Mom: An elite marathoner and mom has set a world record for the fastest mile run while pushing a stroller. Neeley Gracey, a four-time Olympic marathon trials qualifier, is a mother to two beautiful children. Despite having won eight national titles and becoming a professional athlete prior to having kids, Neeley shared that she didn’t feel balanced and complete until the birth of her children. Now, she shares a record-breaking victory with her two-year-old son, Rome. Not only is Neeley a great example for her children, but she also wishes to be a positive example for other mothers. “Being a mother runner has opened up a whole new community for me, and it felt so authentic to have this goal and felt bigger than me to achieve it for other mother runners to know that, yes, they can still run down their goals after kids,” she said.
Quote of the Week
“The human need to belong, to have a place in a community, in a family, is literally written into our spiritual DNA.”
~ Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, founding superior of the Sisters of Life, source
