In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- On Good Distinctions
- Deepening Depopulation
- Ten Great Reasons
- Japan Pushes Dating Apps
- The Next 200 Years
- Dwindling Children
- Communist China
- Hong Kong Crackdown
- UN Misdeeds
- WHO Partners with CRR
- New Censorship Rules
- Pro-Life Around the World
- Mexico’s Future
- Contraception Over Children
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- Abortion Pill Case Dismissed
- Teacher Goes Too Far
- Good News
- Zero Abortions in 2023
PRI in the Media
On Good Distinctions: This week, PRI President Steven Mosher appeared on Good Distinctions with Will Wright to discuss his latest book, The Devil and Communist China. This new book lays bare the sheer evil of the hateful political system that has enslaved one-seventh of the world’s population and wishes to enslave the rest. It highlights the complete opposition of Communism’s darkness with the light and truth of Christianity. By delving into the history of the Chinese Communist Party, you will understand the foundation upon which current Chinese leader Xi Jinping built his totalitarian rule.
Don’t have a copy yet? For a donation of $35 or more, we’ll send it to you ASAP!
Deepening Depopulation
Ten Great Reasons: PRI’s updated Ten Great Reasons to Have Another Child is here! With birth rates declining globally, the need for large, strong, and more faith-filled families has never been more crucial. As societies face the challenges of aging populations and shrinking workforces, expanding your family can help ensure a vibrant and resilient future. Now is the time to embrace the joys and blessings of having another child, fostering love, strength, and faith within your home.
Not sure if you should have another baby? These 10 compelling reasons will show you why growing your family is a great choice not only for you but for the world.
Japan Pushes Dating Apps: Japanese officials have been encouraging young adults to use dating apps, hoping that these individuals will marry and start families. The Tokyo Metropolitan Group has been spearheading this movement. It has been running a dating app test program called “Tokyo Futari Story,” which matches individuals together using artificial intelligence. To do this matchmaking, the test program requires identification and tax forms to verify income and runs a diagnostic test to determine an individual’s values. This test will assist in the launch of a government-backed dating app as early as this year. It is speculated that the “Tokyo Futari Story” is backed by the dating app giant Tapple, which has signed at least six partnership agreements with local governments across Japan, including Ureshino, Hokkaido, and Himeji.
The Next 200 Years: An Italian publication has announced a dire prediction: the last Italian will be born in 2225. Il Messaggero went on to say that this child would die approximately 82 years later, childless, and Italy would officially die out. This may sound far-fetched, but it’s not. The fertility rate in Italy, as with most of the developed world, has fallen far below replacement. As The American Spectator points out, Italy has entered the “realm of extinction,” along with Japan, China, Russia, Germany, and more. In today’s “urban era,” children have become accessories, “morphed into luxury goods, little mini-mes, who cost a lot more than they contribute to the family fortunes.” For this reason, couples have been dissuaded from having more than one or two children, if they have any at all. Countries without large families cannot survive long-term.
Dwindling Children: For the first time, there are fewer than a million children in Finland. On top of this distressing demographic milestone, the number of births in 2023 was the lowest since the country started recording population data in 1776. Similar to the U.S., Finland’s population continues to grow because of immigration. However, even with this influx, the structure of the population is shifting rapidly. Soon the elderly will outnumber the working-age people.
Communist China
Hong Kong Crackdown: Hong Kong’s government has used the new “National Security Law” to cancel the passports of six pro-democracy activists. These activists—former Hong Kong lawmaker Nathan Law, unionist Christopher Mung Siu-tat, and activists Finn Lau, Simon Cheng, Johnny Fok Ka-chi, and Tony Choi Ming-da—had already fled to the UK when this show of force took place. The Beijing-controlled government went so far as to put additional measures in place, including banning anyone from providing funds or economic resources to the six activists, leasing properties to them, or forming a joint venture with them. Failure to heed these restrictions would result in a penalty of up to seven years in prison.
UN Misdeeds
WHO Partners with the CRR: The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially partnered with a radical, pro-abortion organization. The WHO’s board voted in favor of bestowing “official relations” on the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR). The CRR is an international abortion law firm and lobbying group that believes access to abortion and transgender surgeries is a fundamental human right. This new collaboration allows the CRR to work on a three-year “plan for collaboration” with WHO on their “agreed objectives.” The CRR wages legal warfare around the world to overturn pro-life protections for the unborn. The organization has weakened or repealed pro-life protections in 65 countries and currently represents 50 people suing to overturn pro-life protections. Now, the CRR will use the WHO to advance its radical agenda even further.
New Censorship Rules: The World Health Organization has officially adopted changes to the International Health Regulations (IHR), including a “censorship of critics” amendment. While movement on the Pandemic Agreement was postponed for now, changes to the IHR were accepted. The changes “closely reflect Biden’s policies during the COVID-19 pandemic,” but they include “addressing misinformation and disinformation” among the essential “core capacities.” According to the Center for Family and Human Rights, “the amendments give the WHO the authority to coordinate and guide how countries develop such a censorship regime.”
In light of these developments, sign and share our petition to help us defund the WHO!
Pro-Life Around the World
Mexico’s Future: Last week, we shared the news that Claudia Sheinbaum was elected as the first female president of Mexico.
“Claudia Sheinbaum was expected to be elected president of Mexico by a wide margin because the other candidates were not good,” said Carlos Polo, Director of PRI’s Office in Iberoamerica.
“Sheinbaum belongs to MORENA, the ruling party of López Obrador, and obtained a ratio of two votes to one over the nearest rival. What was not expected was a similar triumph in the Houses of Representatives of the vast majority of states. This is very dangerous as they approve the budget and various appointments. So, Sheinbaum will have a blank check to make amends. Even the proposal for a new Constitution is not discarded, as we have seen in other countries that have turned to the radical left.”
“With these results,” Polo continued, “the Pro-Life movement will need more organization, professionalization, and political training for its activists. The almost absolute power that MORENA won in the last election will consolidate the death agenda in Mexico. But it will also be the opportunity to raise awareness and understand that citizen participation is the right way. The Office for Ibero-America of the Population Research Institute has already planned several training sessions on political tools for this year.”
Contraception Over Children: A top government doctor has admitted that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “free” contraception plan is aimed at keeping women in the workforce, instead of building families. During a Finance Committee meeting on May 30th, Dr. Wendy Norman admitted that this contraception plan will keep women working and “ultimately cost the government less than if those same women became mothers instead.” This short-sighted plan would create a short-term economic benefit. However, the economy will likely suffer from a lack of workers as a long-term consequence. As of 2021, Canada’s fertility rate was 1.4—far below replacement. With a push for the wider spread of contraception and discouragement of family life, this rate will fall even further. Canada’s policies are directly contributing to its slow depopulation.
Pro-Life on the Home Front
Abortion Pill Case Dismissed: Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled against a challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulatory approval process of the abortion drug mifepristone. The case provided an opportunity for the Supreme Court to force the FDA to reinstate past safety rules for distributing mifepristone. Instead, the high court gave a unanimous decision that challengers to the FDA lacked standing to sue the government. In her response to this ruling, Erin Hawley, counsel for the civil rights firm Alliance Defending Freedom who argued the case against the FDA, stated, “We are disappointed that the Supreme Court did not reach the merits of the FDA’s lawless removal of common sense safety standards for abortion drugs.”
“While we’re disappointed with the court’s decision, we will continue to advocate for women and work to restore commonsense safeguards for abortion drugs—like an initial office visit to screen for ectopic pregnancies,” continued Rawley. “And we are grateful that three states stand ready to hold the FDA accountable for jeopardizing the health and safety of women and girls across this country.”
For more information on the abortion pill, read our fact sheet.
Teacher Goes Too Far: A public school teacher in New Hampshire was recently fired for using sick leave to take a student to get an abortion without her parent’s knowledge. The New Hampshire Department of Education released a heavily redacted investigative report on the incident. According to the redacted report, the teacher had been counseling the student for weeks on her “options.” The teacher then looked up an abortion clinic and called out sick in order to escort the girl to the clinic. The teacher was rightly fired for this overstep. The incident has raised concerns over whether parents can trust the public education system and the people that interact with their children at school. New Hampshire Representative Erica Layon responded to this incident with the following:
“I am horrified to hear that a teacher in our New Hampshire schools felt the right way to help a pregnant student who felt unsupported in her pregnancy was to research abortion facilities and call out sick to take a student to an abortion rather than to help her speak with her parents and find support from her family.”
“By taking the rightful place of that student’s parents,” Layon continued, “this teacher denied her family the opportunity to step up and support her. Undermining families should not be taken lightly, and assuming the worst of parents is a dangerous precedent.”
Good News
Zero Abortions in 2023: According to the Arkansas Department of Health’s (ADH) yearly report on induced abortions, the state had zero abortions in 2023. Before the Dobbs decision, Arkansas was reporting an average of 3,200 abortions per year. But after the overturn of Roe v. Wade, Arkansas law prohibited abortion in all cases except to save the life of the mother. While there are most likely unreported chemical abortions and residents who traveled out-of-state for abortions, this is still a pro-life victory. Pro-life laws like Arkansas’s are helping thousands of women and unborn babies. Pro-life groups in Arkansas will continue to fight for mothers and their babies, even as pro-abortion groups work to add the “Arkansas Abortion Amendment” to the ballot in November.
Quote of the Week
“We do know the reality is that people do choose abortion, but we work for a world where people won’t choose abortion, where people don’t think it’s their only choice.”
~ Catherine Phillips, director of Respect Life in the Diocese of Little Rock, source
