In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- Laudate Deum
- Democrats or Marxists
- COVID Controversy
- COVID Cards Update
- The Passport Agenda
- Communist China
- Maternity Ward Closures
- UN Misdeeds
- Ocean Over Humans
- “Siding With Science”
- Science Gone Mad
- Critical Data Missing
- Right to Fight
- Pro-life Around the World
- Russia Restricts Abortion
- Legal Killing in Ireland
- Abuse & Abortion
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- From Abortion to Transition
- Society’s Child Sacrifice
- Taking a Stand
- Freedom at Home and Abroad
- Good News
- Respect Life Novena
PRI in the Media
Laudate Deum: Pope Francis’ latest apostolic exhortation, Laudate Deum, has arrived, and with it comes warnings of a dark future. In 73 laborious paragraphs, he warns that the end is near, both for “our suffering planet” and, by extension, for us. Particular displeasure is voiced against the United States for its emissions, prompting the Pope to call for an international authority to control, and limit, global energy use. But the premise that this piece is based on, the threat of global warming, is based on faulty science. The scientific “consensus” about global warming is the result of billions of dollars in research grants, spent to achieve precisely this outcome. More to the point, the state of human souls should be a more pressing concern than the state of the planet.
Democrats or Marxists: When looking at what a majority of today’s Democrats in power want, their desires line up disturbingly well with those of Marxists. Policies that superficially sound beneficial for America are covers for ways to justify government overreach. At the heart of the Democrat party are leftist, openly socialistic, and Marxist policies which, if not communist, are so close as to be indistinguishable from the real thing. Beyond the policies, are the tools for political control that Democrats have adopted, including the use of terror. American citizens who support the wrong side are becoming targets. This explains, for example, the FBI’s targeting of orthodox Catholics and anyone related to the MAGA movement. Worse than the similarity to Marxists are the areas where Democrats become more radical than Marx himself, especially in their antagonism towards the family and their disdain for the value of human life.
COVID Controversy
COVID Cards Update: In an update last Wednesday, the CDC announced that it has stopped issuing COVID-19 vaccine cards. The organization will also not be keeping records of people’s vaccinations, as there is no national vaccine registry. While state records of vaccinations, including those for COVID-19, are still available, the CDC itself will no longer hold these records on a national level. Between 2020 and May 2023, 980 million of these cards were issued. These cards dictated whether an individual could gain entry to entertainment venues or restaurants, and some employers even required individuals to present their cards to be considered for hire. This change may impact future decisions on COVID-19 vaccine mandates, as it could make individual vaccination records difficult to standardize across the nation.
The Passport Agenda: The World Health Organization plans to go ahead with its global vaccine passport agenda. In September, with full backing from the WHO, the U.N. adopted a declaration aimed at “preventing” future pandemics despite the opposition of a number of member states. This week, the organization began working through controversial amendments to the International Health Regulations, which include the beginning of a Global Digital Health Certification Network. This network would track and trace people globally. These amendments, including this vaccine passport plan, may affect fundamental freedoms. Member states will be able to reject these amendments, which expert observers are already warning them to do.
“A so-called global vaccine passport is just a global passport by another name,” says Mr. Mosher. “Its ostensible purpose is to prevent the spread of disease, but it could easily be used to, say, restrict travel in the name of preventing ‘global warming.’”
Communist China
Maternity Ward Closures: Hospital obstetrics units continue to close in China, but the hospitals will not admit that this is caused by a lack of babies. The Chinese birth rate is in steady decline, which both the government and public are well aware of. But hospitals continue to claim that the closures are due to a lack of nurses, obstetricians, and gynecologists. Maternity wards that once saw up to ten births a day are now lucky if they see one. Online, Chinese citizens point out the truth of the situation. One blogger with the username “Say it quickly” wrote: “The deserted obstetrics departments means that fewer women are getting pregnant … [China’s] newborn population has been declining in recent years, and the situation is not optimistic.”
UN Misdeeds
Ocean Over Humans: The “international world order” is increasingly radical in the pro-environment, anti-human policies it promotes. Today, the “saving the planet” crowd chooses to ditch science in favor of “neo-earth religious mysticism.” For example, environmentalists promoted a plan to grant “rights” to “the Ocean” at the recently concluded 2023 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York. The document presented at UNGA was titled “We are the Ocean and the Ocean is Us.” It encouraged an “ecocentric worldview,” and is intended to serve as the basis for a future “Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights,” to be enacted at the U.N. by 2030. This unempirical presentation could lead to a future where humans are restricted from any kind of “use” of the ocean or any large body of water for that matter.
“As a one-time oceanographer, I want to regulate fishing to prevent overfishing and keep the oceans from becoming the world’s dumping grounds,” says Mr. Mosher. “China, by the way, is by far the worst offender on both counts. But ‘The Ocean’ is not a person, just as ‘The Earth’ is not Gaia. Such moves mark a return to ancient pagan animistic beliefs that rocks, trees and lakes were spirits who needed to be worshiped or propitiated.”
“Siding With Science”: The Director General of the World Health Organization has defended the agency’s abortion guidelines and general pro-abortion stance by claiming it is “siding with science.” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus claimed this at a recent press conference when asked about the credibility of the WHO in light of its praise for China. He, unnecessarily, turned this question to abortion saying, “Countries accused us of siding with countries that support abortion. Yes, we take sides, but the sides are not this group of countries or that group of countries… we side with science. We side with evidence.” His statement is concerning for two reasons. First of all, science shows us that life begins at conception when the sperm meets the egg. Case closed. Second of all, “siding” with China, with full awareness of the heinous abuses including, but not limited to, abortion, cannot be justified.
Science Gone Mad
Critical Data Missing: Oregon has allowed physician-assisted suicide since 1997 and is often regarded as a “stable example of assisted dying legislation.” Due to the state’s reputation, researchers delved into the 25 years of reporting on the practice to study any changes over time. However, the most significant findings were critical data gaps in the annual reports. Their review, published in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, showed that information on clinical complications, including prolonged death or regained consciousness, was often missing. Surprisingly, key information on the factors behind medical decision-making, the effectiveness of the lethal drugs used, and the extent of palliative care support wasn’t even collected.
“Just as abortion data is corrupted so, apparently, is data on euthanasia,” says Mr. Mosher. “And for the same reason: The death peddlers do not want their medical malpractice to become known to forestall lawsuits and to keep the public in the dark about what their gruesome business actually entails.”
The Right to Fight: This past September, a young woman was withheld treatment against her will in Great Britain. 19-year-old Sudiksha Thirumalesh suffered from a degenerative illness and made it clear to her doctors that, though she was dying, she wanted to keep fighting. But the National Health Service doctors said she was “actively dying” and therefore wanted to withhold treatment. They took her to court over it and won. The judge not only agreed with the doctors but went a step further by putting a gag order on Sudiksha. After that, she was not able to discuss her condition publicly, ask people to pray for her by name, or appeal for crowdfunding to join an experimental trial in Canada. Sadly, she passed away before help was available to fight this injustice. May she rest in peace.
Pro-life Around the World
Russia Restricts Abortion: Last week, the Russian Ministry of Health announced new limits on abortion drug distribution and sales. Misoprostol and mifepristone are specifically being limited by subject-quantitative registration. Regarding these two drugs, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko stated that they pose medical and ethical risks for women. Russia as a whole is also experiencing a cultural shift away from abortion, which was common in the 20th century. The restrictions are set to go into effect on September 1st, 2024, and remain in place for six years.
Legal Killing in Ireland: A parliamentary committee is currently examining whether to introduce voluntary assisted dying laws in Ireland. The Oireachtas Committee has heard both sides. One side warned of the future “radical re-orientation” of how Irish society views the “equality of human lives.” While the other claimed the introduction of such laws will not lead to a “slippery slope.” Various professors and doctors have weighed in on the debate so far. Dr Thomas Finegan, assistant professor at Mary Immaculate College, rightly pointed out the inconsistency of limits on euthanasia access once it has been legalized. This is the primary concern when it comes to legalizing immoral practices. Once a practice, such as voluntary assisted dying, gets its foot in the door, it becomes near impossible to stop its expansion.
Abuse & Abortion: The Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers has filed a complaint with the European Commission against the Kingdom of Spain for the abuse of rights. This is expressly prohibited by Article 54 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Foundation believes Spain has abused the abortion law in cases of repeat abortion. Since 1988, 30% of abortions were performed on women who had at least one abortion prior. In 2021, 30,000 repeat abortions were performed, of which 4,000 involved women who had undergone the procedure three or more times already. As the president of Christian Lawyers, Polonia Castellanos, points out, “In many cases, these repeat abortions cover up cases of abuse and prostitution, and abortion centers look the other way out of economic interest.” The organization aims to end this practice and demand greater transparency from abortion centers.
Pro-Life on the Home Front
From Abortion to Transitions: The nation’s most well-known abortion provider is now getting into the business of transgender care. After only a 30-minute consultation with a nurse practitioner, an individual can walk out of Planned Parenthood with a prescription for their preferred hormones. No letter from a therapist or formal diagnosis of gender dysphoria is required. As the social contagion of transgenderism spreads among teenagers, many parents are battling to keep their children from turning to Planned Parenthood for hormones as soon as they turn 18. Planned Parenthood, already responsible for the deaths of millions of unborn babies, is now also known for eroding the guardrails on gender medicine and contributing to the rushed transition of many young adults. All of whom will suffer the consequences of taking unnecessary hormones in the future.
“Another reason to defund Planned Parenthood,” says Mr. Mosher. “The administration of these powerful, steroid-based hormones can permanently sterilize youths and leave others with negative long-term effects.”
Society’s Child Sacrifice: For fifty years, the Catholic Church has recognized October as a month to remember that each and every human life is sacred. Respect Life Month is a response to the world we live in and the evil that still abounds. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann points out the sad reality that through abortion, “a form of human sacrifice has arisen in Western secularized society.” Today’s society is hostile to fertility and fears a world filled with children. During October, we remember the beauty of the system that God designed. A system where a man and woman come together in marriage to become co-creators with God of new human life.
Taking a Stand: A pro-life crisis pregnancy center in New York filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) against two pro-abortion vandals last week. CompassCare, a crisis pregnancy center with locations in Albany, Rochester, and Amherst, has suffered attacks since the leaked Dobbs v. Jackson memo in May 2022. In June of last year, the Amherst facility was firebombed, causing $550,000 in damage. Yet there was almost no response from federal authorities. After the most recent vandalism of the Amherst facility’s sign, CompassCare CEO James Harden decided to take legal action. By drawing on the FACE Act, which has been used to target and punish pro-life activists, Harden is taking a stand against the Department of Justice for selectively dismissing pro-life complaints and legal cases.
Freedom at Home and Abroad: Over the weekend, the bloody, religiously motivated attack by Hamas against the people of Israel shocked the world. Prayers for an end to this terror are necessary, as is a renewed commitment to religious freedom across the globe. This month, Americans are reminded of this by the anniversaries of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and International Religious Freedom Act. These two acts reflect our nation’s commitment to religious freedom here at home and abroad. But the Biden administration would rather sweep this commitment under the rug. Not only that, but the administration and its progressive allies would prefer to undermine religious beliefs which interfere with the imposition of their ideologies. This they’ve attempted to do within the Equality Act and Do No Harm Act. Constant vigilance is necessary to keep religious freedom safe.
Good News
Respect Life Novena: Today, as part of Respect Life Month, the USCCB is starting a nation-wide novena. This novena prays for the protection of human life, from conception to natural death. Each day of the novena features a different prayer intention, as well as a short reflection, suggested actions, and additional information to help participants go deeper. Join in these nine days of prayer to spiritually strengthen the pro-life movement during this critical time.
Quote of the Week
“The gift of life, God’s special gift, is no less beautiful when it is accompanied by illness or weakness, hunger or poverty, mental or physical handicaps, loneliness or old age. Indeed, at these times, human life gains extra splendor as it requires special care, concern and reverence. It is in and through the weakest of human vessels that the Lord continues to reveal the power of his love.”
~ Terence Cardinal Cooke, source
