In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- The Overpopulation Myth
- The CO2 Lie
- COVID Controversy
- Totalitarian Plans
- Deepening Depopulation
- The Extinction Agenda
- Communist China
- Leaked Stats
- Arrested Again
- A Coerced Confession
- UN Misdeeds
- Failing to Aid
- Science Gone Mad
- Denying the Incarnation
- Pro-life Around the World
- Condemning Surrogacy
- Selective Abortion Abounds
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- Court Takes the Case
- Kamala or Cruella?
- Late Term Issue
- Big Fertility Business
- Good News
- Sweet “Little Pea”
- Talking to Preemies
PRI in the Media
The Overpopulation Myth: PRI President Steven Mosher appeared on the Drew Mariani Show to discuss the myth of overpopulation. PRI, with Mr. Mosher at the helm, has worked to counter this myth since our origin. The “Culture of Death” in society today involves a fear-mongering narrative that the world cannot hold all of the people on Earth if babies continue to be born. This is untrue. The real issue in the United States, and most of the world at large, is not rising but falling birth rates. The U.S. fertility rate has fallen to 1.78. If this does not improve and rise back above replacement (2.1), then the percentage of the elderly will increase. Ultimately, a society without enough youth to support the elderly dies out.
The CO2 Lie: PRI’s research was the spark for this LifeSiteNews article on the connection between the abortion industry and the climate change agenda. Abortion giants, such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes International, have pushed for expanded access to contraceptives and abortion. The organizations’ justification for this is the false belief that the birth of more humans will doom the planet. However, climate alarmism over rising temperatures and water levels is based on faulty models and biased evidence. The world needs more human beings, not fewer.
COVID Controversy
Totalitarian Plans: Tucker Carlson met with evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein to discuss some of the results of the COVID-19 pandemic. When it comes to the vaccine, Weinstein shared the estimate that 17 million people died as a result of vaccine side effects. Yet, the vaccine continues to be pushed for everyone, even the young and healthy. While this threat to health and well-being continues, the World Health Organization (WHO) is working on a treaty that will threaten national sovereignty. The WHO is creating a “pandemic preparedness plan” because of the COVID-19 situation. According to Weinstein, this proposed plan may create a “turnkey totalitarian planet,” granting the WHO power over all involved nations and their citizens in a future pandemic scenario.
Deepening Depopulation
The Extinction Agenda: Mainstream media platforms are circulating a clear anti-human message: “Children are bad for the planet, so we must stop having them.” Growing numbers of the younger generations report that climate change is their reason not to have children. While some see this as a brand new movement against humans, it is actually old news. For years, public education curriculums have devalued human beings by equating them to any other animal. If a human’s value is no greater than a bird or fish, why should the human be given any more privilege on this earth than those animals? The denial that humans were created in God’s image and granted rationality as a clear advantage over animals contributes to a culture that believes humans are disposable.
Communist China
Leaked Stats: In December, an article allegedly leaked full-year population figures for China in 2023. It revealed that the birth rate had fallen even further, despite government incentives to have children. Of course, the CCP censors swept in and deleted the article, but the unofficial news is already out there. According to the article, published in Mother and Infant Daily, 7.88 million babies were born in China in 2023, which is 1.68 million fewer than in 2022. When additionally considering the 11 million Chinese citizens that passed away in 2023, China’s population has fallen by a total of 3.12 million. These figures will not be officially confirmed until January 17th.
Arrested Again: Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou was arrested only two days after the new year by security forces. The 61-year-old bishop is not recognized by the Chinese government and as a result, is routinely jailed. This prevents him from serving his community, with the arrests lining up with major feast days and liturgical celebrations. Since he is not recognized by the CCP, Bishop Shao shares his diocese with a priest from the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, Father Ma Xianshi. Bishop Shao had reached out to Fr. Ma on December 31st to arrange a meeting to discuss questionable decisions made in the diocese. It is likely that this letter, which has since been made public, provoked retaliation from the CCP’s “official” church. Bishop Shao may now be facing a year in jail.
A Coerced Confession: Jimmy Lai’s legal team has filed an urgent appeal with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Alice Jill Edwards. They suspect that a key witness in Lai’s trial, Andy Li, was tortured into giving a false confession. Andy Li was arrested in 2020 for trying to escape to Taiwan with a group of eleven others. He spent a year in a CCP-run detention center, where witnesses reported the consistent sound of screams coming from his cell. After that, until now, he has been held in a secure psychiatric facility which raises another red flag regarding his condition and his ability to participate in this trial. Li’s admission of guilt, that he “conspired with Mr. Lai to collude with foreign entities in order to endanger national security,” was most likely coerced. This tortured man, who has his own trial coming up after Lai, likely didwhat the CCP demanded of him for his own self-preservation.
UN Misdeeds
Failing to Aid: International abortion giants have made it clear that they would rather forego U.S. funding than stop offering abortions. Even though this disrupts the other health services they offer in impoverished countries. These organizations blame what they see as “bigoted or misogynistic” U.S. policies, such as the Mexico City Policy, instead of taking responsibility for their choice. But why does USAID continue to fund abortion giants when the Mexico City Policy may be in or out depending on the ruling political party? Why not fund organizations that can consistently offer health services, not abortion, whether or not the policy is in place? As the Center for Family and Human Rights points out, the goal of USAID is to “provide essential aid to people in need, in a way that aligns with U.S. law and policy.” The answer is to partner with organizations that are willing to, and prioritize, compliance with U.S. funding requirements, including prolife stipulations.
Science Gone Mad
Denying the Incarnation: Trans ideology has spread like wildfire, along with the chemical and surgical modifications to the body that go with it. 20% of Generation Z identifies as LGBT+ and 5% of adults 18 to 30 identify as “transgender” or “non-binary.” Billions of dollars have been funneled from big foundations to promote this ideology, which means these percentages will only grow. It doesn’t end with transgenderism though. A larger movement towards “transhumanism” is on the horizon. Convincing young adults that they are in the wrong body is a step in the direction of pushing for full “disembodiment.” A world where everyone lives in “cyberspace” via virtual reality. This fake transcendence is a pale, and twisted, imitation of what God promises humanity through the Incarnation. Humans were created to one day be reunited with God in Heaven. No amount of physical or virtual changes to our bodies on Earth can achieve what we are meant to be in Heaven.
“Both of these trans cults are based on a rejection of God’s gift of life in this world and the next,” says Mr. Mosher. “The Transsexuals now are the product of a ‘techno-medical complex’ that is promoting ‘synthetic sex identities’ (SSI), grooming children and adolescents to change their sexual identity. The Transhumanists go even farther, believing that it will soon be possible for them to achieve immortality by transferring their consciousness to a machine.”
Pro-life Around the World
Condemning Surrogacy: This past Monday, Pope Francis condemned surrogacy as a “deplorable” practice and called for a universal ban. In his Audience with the Diplomatic Corps, the Holy Father specifically called for an end to the practice in the quest for peace. The world cannot work towards peace when the trafficking of infants, starting in the womb, continues to violate the dignity of both the women and children involved. The Catholic Church is staunchly against the practice of surrogacy. The immoral practice dehumanizes both women and children, as well as robs children of their right to a family with their biological father and mother. It disassembles the natural way of building a family, where a married mother and father lovingly conceive and welcome children into their lives.
Selective Abortion Abounds: An Australian journalist was shocked to find out from her sonographer that sex-selective abortion is still an issue in her country. At her own 20-week ultrasound appointment, the anonymous writer asked the sonographer why she was so relieved over not being asked the sex of the baby. She then learned that sex-selective abortion still occurs today in Australia, despite its illegality. Though the journalist admitted to being pro-choice, she was floored by the news that many abortions are performed for sex-selective reasons. Research has confirmed that sex-selective abortion occurs in Australia. On a larger scale, global models estimate that 22 million baby girls will be “missing” by 2100. At PRI, we have conducted research in India on the millions of girls aborted for being female.
“Many people have raised concerns over sex discrimination,” says Mr. Mosher. “But sex-selective abortion is the worst form of discrimination imaginable. It is not simply denying someone a job or a just salary. It’s denying them life itself. It is discrimination that kills.”
Pro-Life on the Home Front
Court Takes the Case: The Supreme Court has decided to take on a case from Idaho on whether emergency rooms are required to perform abortions. The Court will decide on whether federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) specifically, trumps the state’s abortion ban. The state correctly argues that “nothing in EMTALA mentions abortion, much less requires hospitals to perform them.” Hopefully, the truth holds up against pressure from the Biden administration to make abortion available in Idaho’s ERs. This case in Idaho happened soon after last week’s 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Texas which ruled that emergency room doctors can not be forced to perform abortions by EMTALA.
Kamala or Cruella?: Kamala Harris is going on the road this month to promote abortion around the United States. However, this isn’t her only goal. According to Biden’s principal deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, Harris aims to “highlight the chaos and cruelty created by Trump all across the country when it comes to women’s health care.” Never mind the fact that abortion isn’t healthcare. Harris allegedly believes it is cruel to allow unborn lives to live and will spread that opinion across the nation. Harris’s priorities in 2024 are furthering the Culture of Death and running a smear campaign against Donald Trump, who is generally accepted as the most pro-life president in U.S. history.
“I think we are going to have to rename Kamala,” says Mr. Mosher. “If her opinion is that pro-life laws are ‘cruel,’ then we should call her Cruella. What could be more cruel than denying a child the right to life?”
Late Term Issue: A ballot initiative to enshrine abortion as a “fundamental right” in the state constitution is up for consideration this year in New Hampshire. The proposed amendment would protect abortion up to 24 weeks and loosen restrictions on abortions after 24 weeks. Since abortion is currently legal in New Hampshire through 24 weeks, some may assume that this constitutional change doesn’t change anything. That is incorrect. If passed, the government would be unable in the future to “prohibit, restrict, delay, or penalize” abortions before 24 weeks. The amendment would also allow any third-trimester abortions that are approved by a medical professional for reasons including, “anything the doctor can come up with.” That is a direct step towards abortion-on-demand.
Big Fertility Business: Michigan Representative Samantha Steckloff is trying to bring commercial surrogacy to the Great Lakes state. The U.S. is not regarded as a hub for “Big Fertility” which first boomed in Asia, then in Ukraine. So there are few regulations in the States on commercial surrogacy. Among Steckloff’s package of bills, there are no financial protections for surrogates. A surrogate who is paid $60,000 for her pregnancy is getting paid below minimum wage when one looks at the hourly breakdown. In some cases, the surrogate’s medical bills aren’t paid by the commissioner, instead it comes from the surrogate’s paycheck. This commodification of women’s bodies and the babies they bear is enough to make one queasy. This is a natural reaction to wrongdoing. The renting of wombs, to grow humans who are bought and paid for, should be illegal, not turned into a business.
Good News
Sweet “Little Pea”: A baby born at the Affiliated Renhe Hospital of China Three Gorges University in Yichang made a record as the smallest baby to be successfully treated in the city. The baby, nicknamed “Little Pea,” was born at 24 weeks and three days, weighing only 550 grams. Since she was three months early, Little Pea’s legs were as thin as an adult’s pinky finger, and her skin “as fragile as an insect’s wings,” according to China Daily. She spent four months in the NICU but made it home for Christmas. By the time she was discharged, Little Pea had gained five times her body weight and grown eighteen centimeters.
Talking to Preemies: Researchers and scientists at Stanford have published a new study that links talking to babies in the NICU with better outcomes. During the study, premature babies’ rate of weight gain was observed alongside their exposure to speech. Going into this project, the researchers didn’t know what to expect. They were “pleasantly surprised” to see the large impact that exposure to speech and calories consumed had. Thanks to these results, doctors at the Stanford Children’s NICU are encouraging parents to read to their preemies. Books are left on bedsides for exactly this purpose. This move has the added benefits of helping the parents bond with their babies, allowing them to participate in their parental role at a time when there is little else they can do.
Quote of the Week
“The path to peace calls for respect for life, for every human life, starting with the life of the unborn child in the mother’s womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking.”
~ Pope Francis, source
