In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- A Well-Laid Trap
- Catholic Leaders’ Duty
- 21st Century Cold War
- COVID Controversy
- Hidden Vaccine Effects
- Deepening Depopulation
- County Resists the Trend
- Communist China
- A New Way to Control
- Catholic Priest Convicted
- Science Gone Mad
- A Greater Toll
- Artificial Womb Trials
- Pro-Life Around the World
- The SoHO Market
- Bishops Express Concern
- Outlawing Doctrine
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- The Post-Roe Moment
- Demanding Abortion Data
- Good News
- An Angel Volunteer
PRI in the Media
A Well-Laid Trap: Former-president Donald Trump is under fire once again for criticizing Florida’s six-week abortion ban. But there is more to this controversial interview than what meets the eye. It goes without saying that we here at PRI fully support Florida’s law and work for a day when all abortions are banned. As PRI President Steven Mosher puts it, “Trump’s candor on the issue is disconcerting and refreshing at the same time: disconcerting because we were hoping for more from the most pro-life president in a generation. Refreshing because he is far more candid on this issue than most politicians, who generally tell you only what they think you want to hear.” But as Mr. Mosher reveals in this Life Site News article, Trump is setting a trap for pro-abortion Democrats.
Catholic Leaders’ Duty: In secular society today, human dignity and sexuality continue to be misunderstood and twisted. Ideologies celebrating abortion, homosexuality, and gender confusion not only flood the internet but have made their way into the realm of education as well. In 2017, Dr. Carlos Beltramo, Director of PRI’s European Office, along with other Catholic experts on life and family, wanted to start an initiative to remedy this issue. An initiative that would offer families around the world a program to provide parents and schools with the educational resources to teach their children about the goodness of our sexuality as created by God. With the necessary funding, provided by PRI, the program took off and was aptly named “GoodLove.” Dr. Beltramo shared, “I estimate that perhaps a million and a half families around the world are currently using these programs to teach about love. As to how many students that represents, it’s hard to say, but probably many more, since nearly all of these families have more than one child.”
21st Century Cold War: Mr. Mosher appeared on the Brian Kilmeade Show this week to discuss the relationship between the United States and China. For thirty years, China and the U.S. have been locked in a cold war. A simmering conflict involving the CCP’s theft of intellectual property, infiltration of schools, and even the “elite capture” of American leaders’ loyalties. Since the recent informal alliance of China and Russia, mirroring their 20th-century Sino-Soviet alliance, this conflict has started dividing up the globe. Rather than address these tensions, President Biden’s apparent goals are to “responsibly manage conflict” with China, instead of “decoupling” with the country. This weak response will come across as a unilateral surrender on the part of the United States, at a time when the leader of the nation should have projected strength.
COVID Controversy
Hidden Vaccine Effects: The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) instructed the city’s health officials to ignore, or even hide, reports of health complications resulting from the COVID vaccine. The PHAC memo containing these instructions claimed that since these vaccines “undergo rigorous testing for safety, quality and efficacy,” instances of medical complications need not be reported. This policy has left 55,145 Canadian cases of such complications unreported, according to PHAC. Of these cases, 10,906 were considered serious, including 88 miscarriages, 116 cases of kidney damage, 198 cases of facial paralysis, 283 heart attacks, 289 strokes, 1,167 cases of heart inflammation, and 442 deaths. Out of 1,859 claims for compensation for these complications, only 103 have been paid out. Instead of warning the public, this information was kept out of the public eye in order to keep the vaccine in circulation.
“The Canadian government, headed by Trudeau, is trying to cover up the damage caused by its disastrous vaccine to tens of thousands of Canadian citizens,” says Mr. Mosher. “This cover-up, done for reasons of political expediency, will prevent those injured by the mRNA vaccines from receiving the compensation they deserve. Contrast this with South Korea’s provision of roughly $25,000 to its tens of thousands of vaccine victims.”
Deepening Depopulation
County Resists the Trend: South Korea has the world’s lowest fertility rate, and preliminary data suggests that it will fall even further by the end of 2023. But one county is resisting this trend. Hwacheon County, located in northern South Korea, has a rising fertility rate resulting from a future-oriented family-friendly agenda. When Mayor Choi Moon-soon saw that baby bonuses and lump sum payments had only limited success in other countries, he took a “think globally, act locally” approach. His solution involved assistance for parents from the time their children were in the womb until they were in college. In 2021, the county had a birth rate of 1.2. By the following year, it had substantially risen to 1.4. While this is still well below replacement, it shows that with the right approach even a small county can resist the nationwide birth dearth.
Communist China
A New Way to Control: Starting this week, health authorities in China will be handling mpox with the same level of control as they handled COVID-19. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention claimed that there were 501 new cases of mpox in August, though no severe cases or deaths. With this alleged increase in cases, the disease is now being handled with Category B protocol. Under this category, China can take emergency measures such as restricting gatherings, suspending work and school, or sealing off areas when there is an outbreak of a disease. Along with mpox, COVID-19, AIDS, and SARS are all also considered Category B infectious diseases.
Catholic Priest Convicted: Last week, a Catholic priest in China was convicted of “fraud” and “impersonating religious personnel.” Father Joseph Yang Xiaoming of the Wenzhou Diocese was found to be in violation of the law after he refused to register with the state-sanctioned Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA). Yang challenged the allegations by presenting a valid certificate of ordination, proving he was ordained according to the rules of the Catholic Church. But this made no difference. Yang’s court-imposed administrative penalties include “the cessation of his [priestly] activities, the confiscation of illegal proceeds of 28,473.33 yuan ($3,913), and a fine of 1,526.67 yuan ($210).”
“The Chinese Communist Party, rather than China’s bishops, are now deciding who can function as a priest and who cannot,” says Mr. Mosher. “If you refuse to join the CCP-run–and schismatic–Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, you are charged with ‘impersonating religious personnel’ and ‘fraud.’ This was not how the Sino-Vatican Agreement was supposed to work. Cardinal Parolin told me in 2018 that he had no objection to the requirement that priests and religious register with the government, ignoring my warning that such ‘registration’ would result in Catholics being forced to join a schismatic organization.”
Science Gone Mad
A Greater Toll: Since the increase in chemical abortions in 2020, pro-life pregnancy centers have seen an uptick in the number of emotionally distraught women reaching out after, or even during, their abortion. This trend has raised the question: Do chemical abortions have a greater psychological toll on women than surgical abortions? With limited scientific research on the topic, there is no definitive answer. Based on anecdotal evidence, however, staff at pregnancy help organizations say the psychological toll often begins during the abortion as many women try to navigate the process on their own. It is theorized that chemical abortions do cause more psychological damage because the mother more actively participates in aborting her child, rather than passively submitting to an abortionist. Without legal protections banning chemical abortions, vulnerable women will continue to take these abortion drugs, traumatizing themselves and killing their babies.
“The abortion pill puts women themselves, rather than the abortionist, directly in charge of all aspects of the abortion that follows,” says Mr. Mosher. “It forces women to be acutely aware of what is happening in their body, stripping away the pretense that this is anything but an act that ends a child’s life. Of course, it takes a psychological toll.”
Artificial Womb Trials: In April, researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in Pennsylvania published their success in gestating lambs in an artificial womb. Now they are ready to begin the first human clinical trials, if allowed. This device, the Extra-uterine Environment for Newborn Development, or EXTEND, was designed to increase survival and improve outcomes for extremely premature babies. The researchers have made it clear that this technology is not designed to support life from conception to full-term, dispelling rumors worthy of science fiction. However, they have been careful not to comment on whether this technology will affect fetal viability. For abortion legislation around the world that relies on viability as a marker, this technology may have a major impact.
Pro-Life Around the World
The SoHO Market: On September 12th, the European Parliament cemented a common EU framework to allow the sale of human embryos and other bioproducts. MEPs overcame ethical and regulatory concerns to approve new rules on the management of substances of human origin (SoHO). The measure passed with 483 votes to 52, with 89 abstentions. According to the press release, “ENVI committee MEPs want to reinforce measures to ensure improved protection for citizens that donate blood, tissues or cells, or are treated with these substances.” This framework ignores the respect due to fetuses as little human lives, considering them on the same level as blood and cells. Further, the acceptance of this draft may lead to the legalization of a “human lives” market in Europe. A market in which embryos and fetuses travel across the European Union to be “donated with compensation,” effectively sold to the highest bidder.
Bishops Express Concern: In response to the European Parliament’s draft regarding “substances of human origin,” two groups of Bishops released a joint statement. The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), along with the Commissariat of the German Bishops-Catholic Office in Berlin, expressed profound concerns about the definition of “human substance” outlined in the draft, which could include human embryos and fetuses. The five main concerns were as follows:
- Human life is not just a “substance of human origin”
- Human life is not divisible
- Human life does not receive its value through purpose
- Human life must not be selected
- Deviating ethical decisions by EU member states must remain possible
The Bishops stated, “As Catholic Church we are convinced, with many others and for many reasons, that human life from the beginning, including unborn life, ‘possesses its own dignity, right and independent right of protection …’ Therefore, we want to draw attention to the consequences of the SoHO regulation, considering the compromise amendments adopted by the ENVI Committee of the European Parliament.”
Outlawing Doctrine: Australian Catholics are raising the alarm against a bill aimed at regulating “misinformation and disinformation.” The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combating Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill is vaguely worded but leaves Catholic leaders concerned that it will outlaw certain teachings of Catholic Doctrine. It would become illegal to teach that homosexuality is disordered or that euthanasia is not medical care. Instead of opposing the bill outright, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference is pushing to make sure a person expressing sincere religious beliefs cannot be charged under this legislation.
“The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference should not just be working for a ‘carve out’ to protect sincere religious beliefs, but opposing this attempt at government censorship altogether,” says Mr. Mosher. “If the government is allowed to declare that something is ‘misinformation’ or ‘disinformation,’ then it will surely begin to censor all views that it does not agree with, or that jeopardize its hold on power. We saw that very clearly during the Covid pandemic, when I myself was labeled a ‘conspiracy theorist’ for pointing out the coronaviruses lab origins and censored for supposed ‘misinformation.’”
Pro-Life on the Home Front
The Post-Roe Moment: In the past year, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) saw an increase in donations. Yet this summer, the abortion corporation fired over a hundred of the company’s national staff. The leadership claimed that this move was done “to better serve those on the front lines.” But recent events “contributed to an internal perception that PPFA had fumbled and was operating without a clear vision for the future in a post-Roe world.” Both pro-abortion individuals outside of the company, and within, perceive PPFA as floundering, despite a general hesitance to criticize the abortion giant. While PPFA claims to be poised to rebuild, it is clear that the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the ongoing pro-life movement have shaken PPFA to its core.
Demanding Abortion Data: Republican leaders from the House Veterans Affairs Committee are ready to subpoena data on abortions performed at Veterans Affairs facilities if the department keeps refusing to turn over the information. Chairman Mike Bost and health subcommittee Chairwoman Marianette Miller-Meeks want the information released to their panel by the end of the month. If this is not done, Bost and Miller-Meeks are prepared to schedule a vote to force the department to turn over the information. In a joint statement, they asserted, “American taxpayers funding these abortion procedures at VA deserve to know how VA is carrying out the policy.”
Good News
An Angel Volunteer: A 25-year-old Tanzanian woman has given up all her time to provide 24-hour “kangaroo care” to abandoned premature infants. Mariam Mwakabunga, a selfless mother of two, devoted herself to caring for premature babies after learning of their plight while visiting a friend in the hospital. The “kangaroo care” she provides involves holding a premature baby on her chest, skin-to-skin, to create an incubator-like environment at the perfect temperature. As of August, Mariam had saved three premature babies through this therapy and was supporting a fourth. In recognition of her work, the President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, awarded Mariam with a prize and instructed the Ministry of Health to employ her as a nurse on a permanent basis.
Quote of the Week
“In firmly rejecting ‘pro-choice’ it is necessary to become courageously ‘pro woman,’ promoting a choice that is truly in favor of women. … The only honest stance, in these cases, is that of radical solidarity with the woman. It is not right to leave her alone.”
~ Pope Saint John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope
