In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- Abortion on the Chopping Block
- Desperate for Children
- Deepening Depopulation
- India’s Elderly
- Communist China
- Full-Time Children
- UN Misdeeds
- Silencing Social Conservatives
- Science Gone Mad
- Another Baby Bonus
- The Quest for IVG
- Pro-Life Around the World
- Abortion Isn’t Healthcare
- India’s March for Life
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- DeSantis Backs Ban
- A Septic Lawsuit
- The Abortion Chatbot
- Two Blocked Provisions
- Good News
- Protections in Place
PRI in the Media
Abortion on the Chopping Block: Chile is on the cusp of victory over abortion. In 2022, Leftist leader Gabriel Boric attempted to have a new constitution voted in, one that promoted gender ideology and included abortion-on-demand and euthanasia as fundamental rights. This draft constitution was shot down, with 62% of voters against. But it still served as a wake-up call, so much so that when Boric convened a second constitutional convention this year to try again, voters were ready. Of the 50 representatives voted in to draft another constitution, 33 were pro-life. The new draft defended life in no uncertain terms. Article 16 of the constitution, passed on September 20, reads: “The Constitution assures to all persons the right to life. The law protects the life of the unborn person.” It is certain to be approved by the voters at the upcoming November referendum, after which it will be used to overturn an existing Chilean law allowing abortion under some circumstances.
Desperate for Children: As China faces its demographic dilemma with an increasing number of elderly and a decreasing number of newborns, President Xi Jinping has given soldiers and their spouses a new order: lead the charge in childbearing. On September 7, China’s communist leaders announced a new executive order on family planning and the military. Highlighting the urgency, the order went into effect September 10. Full details of the 33-item plan are yet to be publicized, but state media says the policy will “standardize adjustments in [planned] births, incentives, related services,” and form “a complete chain” from childbirth to child care, “with full technical support.” PRI President Steven Mosher shared that the new measures for the military are a sign that “China is growing desperate for more children.” He also noted that the new measures came as part of an order on how the armed forces ought to carry out laws concerning population and planned birth, which was signed by Xi in his capacity as head of the Central Military Commission.
“[Xi]’s the chairman of the Central Military Commission and thus is the commander-in-chief of the Chinese military. Hence his ‘suggestion’ is tantamount to an order,” Mr. Mosher said.
Deepening Depopulation
India’s Elderly: Last week, the UN released the “India Ageing Report.” Currently, India is the world’s most populous country. It also has the world’s youngest population. Despite this, the UN estimates that by 2050 over a fifth of India’s population will be over 60. Demographers, and those of us working at PRI, have opposed coercive population control measures, which are abusive and have long-term effects on societies. It is such policies that contribute to the shifting of India’s demography and lead the UN to state, “Undoubtedly, the relatively young India today will turn into a rapidly ageing society in the coming decades.”
Communist China
Full-Time Children: As job prospects grow slimmer, Chinese young adults are opting to be “full-time children.” This latest national trend means these young adults are moving back home to run errands or do chores around the house for a monthly allowance or some kind of compensation. While it’s mostly motivated by unemployment, social media users state that it is also caused by burnout. Chinese youth are unwilling to follow the Chinese “996” attitude, described as working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week with no extra pay. This trend will contribute to China’s economic and demographic issues as these adults postpone or outright refuse to have children.
“The official unemployment rate for young people from 16-25 in China is 21 percent,” says Mr. Mosher. “The actual number is probably twice that, meaning that 2 out of every 5 young people are unemployed and living off their parents. This is yet another sign that the giant, Communist-run Ponzi scheme that is the Chinese economy is collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions.”
UN Misdeeds
Silencing Social Conservatives: A UN group is recommending the suppression of organizations that don’t support the woke agenda. The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression has released a report recommending governments and social media companies silence those who express traditional views of marriage, abortion, sexuality, and gender identity. The effort comes under the umbrella of ensuring widespread access to information promoting “sexual and reproductive health” and “diverse gender identities”. However, in the name of “freedom of expression,” the report advocates the silencing of pro-life and pro-traditional family content. For example, a traditionally-minded parent who openly opposes advertisements on social media encouraging their teenage child to explore variations on sexuality would, by the standards of this report, engage in “gendered disinformation.”
Science Gone Mad
Another Baby Bonus: A new study showed that women who have multiple children may have a reduced risk of dementia. Experts have discovered that higher exposure to estrogen throughout a woman’s life could lead to a healthier brain. Those with a longer “reproductive lifespan,” or who have had several children, accumulate a higher exposure to the hormone. This appears to lead to a lower risk of cerebral small vessel disease – a condition that results from damage to small blood vessels in the brain and is linked to cognitive impairment and dementia. This is another natural and physical benefit of having children.
“Having children produces many health benefits,” says Mr. Mosher. “Past studies have shown that women get smarter with each child they bear. Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York found that for every extra year a woman was exposed to estrogen in her life, average grey matter volume in certain areas of the brain increased by 1 percent. For each additional child a woman had, grey matter volume rose by an average of 2 percent.
“Now we have a new study that suggests that having more children reduces the likelihood that you will develop dementia, because of the protective effect of the female hormone estrogen.”
The Quest for IVG: A Japanese scientist who successfully created healthy, fertile mice from artificial eggs and sperm is now trying to do the same with humans. A team at Osaka University in Japan is focused on one controversial (read: unethical and immoral) field of biomedical research: in vitro gametogenesis (IVG). The goal of IVG is to make unlimited supplies of artificial eggs and sperm from any cell in the human body. This would enable anyone — including older, infertile, single, gay, or trans people — to have genetically related babies. The scientists responsible for these experiments believe that they will have IVG eggs ready to fertilize, to create embryos, within 5 to 10 years. While they recognize that there are a host of ethical issues involved in these experiments, this knowledge has not slowed their progress. Nor have they acknowledged the immorality of these experiments and the many embryonic lives that will be created and destroyed in their quest to replace traditional reproduction.
“These IVG experiments have already been carried out on mice and resulted in live births,” says Mr. Mosher. “Modified skin cells (induced pluripotent cells or iPS cells) into an embryonic blastocyst and implanting them in a uterus. Doing this on humans is obviously fraught with questions. From a Catholic point of view, the life and organization of a human body is dependent on the soul. Does the presence of an embryo–however “conceived” prove the presence of a soul?”
Pro-Life Around the World
Abortion Isn’t Healthcare: The maternal mortality rates in Africa are among the worst in the world. This is mostly due to the lack of medical resources available to many African women, yet abortion lobbyists continue to push abortion and contraception as “solutions” to this problem. There are a few main conditions that contribute to the African maternal mortality rate, including hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, non-obstetric complications, and pregnancy-related infection. These medical complications have modern treatments and medications, which are not always readily available to many African women. Bringing these real, life-saving treatments to developing African countries should be prioritized, instead of continued funding for the suppression of African fertility. PRI does its part to support the health of African mothers and babies by sending ultrasound machines to Catholic clinics in need.
India’s March for Life: Nearly five times as many people gathered for the 2023 March for Life in India compared to last year. Close to 1,000 pro-lifers marched to oppose 52 years of legal abortion in India. This second national March for Life took place in Pune, Maharashtra. The 1,000-strong crowd was predominantly made up of people in their teens and twenties who were marching on the 52nd anniversary of the legalization of abortion in India through the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971). One pro-life youth activist who attended shared:
“Our country is slowly opening its eyes towards the cruelty of abortion. There have been many initiatives and steps taken by our local pro-life leaders, who travel around the country…creating awareness.
We decided to take a bold step last year, to create a greater impact in our country by introducing the first March for Life India, in the 51st year of the legalization of abortion in our country. Two hundred people gathered to fight for the common cause of protecting life after conception until natural death. We were very excited to see nearly five times as many people turn out for the second march for life this year.”
Pro-Life on the Home Front
DeSantis Backs Ban: At the second Republican Presidential Debate this past Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed his support for a federal 15-week abortion ban, should he be elected president. He is the fourth GOP presidential candidate to have made such a commitment. This stance is consistent for DeSantis, in light of the 6-week abortion ban he signed into Florida state law. He opposed several other candidates who either did not support national bans (in favor of state legislation) or who did not think that such a ban would be possible in the current political climate.
A Septic Lawsuit: A 24-year-old mother from Nevada, Alyona Dixon, passed away last year from “septic abortion” just days after being prescribed abortion pills by Planned Parenthood. Now, her husband, Michael, has brought a wrongful death lawsuit against Dignity Health Emerus, the hospital system where she went for help after experiencing pronounced abdominal pain. The case alleges that the hospital failed to perform a pelvic exam and negligently had no OB-GYN on call. Alyona died from a failed abortion after the abortion drugs failed to completely evacuate her uterus. Now, not only her baby, but Alyona has passed as well, proving the dangerous nature of abortifacients.
The Abortion Chatbot: A new AI-powered chatbot has been launched by pro-abortion advocates to encourage and enable abortions for women across the country. The chatbot’s influence even covers states where there are significant restrictions on abortion. Mothers’ health, age, or possible medical conditions are not taken into account when the AI recommends different types of abortion. It also doesn’t warn women about the many dangerous side effects of abortion. Warnings for the abortion pills specifically are also not included. The bot does not tell users that FDA guidelines for abortion pills only approve their use through 10 weeks or that complications are more likely the later abortion pills are used in pregnancy. This technology puts pregnant women in danger, especially those who access information on obtaining mail-order abortion pills to attempt the dangerous, deadly, procedure on their own.
Two Blocked Provisions: A judge has blocked two provisions of North Carolina’s new abortion law, but the ban after 12 weeks still stands. U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles issued an order blocking the requirement that surgical abortions after 12 weeks—allowed for extenuating circumstances such as rape or incest, for example—be performed only in hospitals, not abortion clinics. In the same preliminary injunction, Eagles prevented the enforcement of a rule that doctors must document the existence of a pregnancy within the uterus before prescribing a medication abortion. While pro-abortion advocates may praise these moves as “victories,” they only serve to put vulnerable women in danger by allowing abortions in unsafe environments and reducing proper documentation.
Good News
Protections in Place: The House has voted to reauthorize the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with pro-life protections in place. This blow to the Biden administration puts PEPFAR back in place for one more year with an amendment preventing the use of its funding to promote abortions overseas. This close-call, 216-212 vote “came after heated debate over the Biden administration’s September 2022 plan, ‘Reimaging PEPFAR’s Strategic Direction,’ which called for integrating the program initiated by President George W. Bush with areas such as ‘sexual reproductive health, rights and services.’”
“The African people are tired of ‘health’ programs that are little more than cover stories for the promotion of abortion and population control,” says Mr. Mosher. “Congratulations to Congressman Christopher Smith for leading the fight against the Biden administration’s effort to twist yet another health program–PEPFAR–into a vehicle for killing babies. Chris, who is a long-time friend, is a faithful pro-life Catholic who has done much to promote the sanctity of life in Congress.”
Quote of the Week
“Everyone must be helped to become aware of the intrinsic evil of the crime of abortion. In attacking human life in its very first stages, it is also an aggression against society itself. Politicians and legislators, therefore, as servants of the common good, are duty bound to defend the fundamental right to life, the fruit of God’s love.”
~ Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, source
