In This Issue:
- Deepening Depopulation
- Fewer Future Filipinos
- Suing for Sterilization
- Communist China
- Delivery Drivers Turned Spies
- UN Misdeeds
- The Right to Surrogacy
- Science Gone Mad
- Death by Donation
- Pro-Life Around the World
- No Right to Die
- Pro-Aborts Sue South Korea
- No Abortion at G7
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- Melinda Backs Biden
- Court Backs Catholics
- Blocking the Pentagon
- The Facts Remain
- Good News
- A Visit from Triplets
Deepening Depopulation
Fewer Future Filipinos: The Philippines is seeing a slowdown in its population growth. An official on the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) in the Philippines shared that in 2022 the growth rate was 1.5%. This was lower than previous years. Officials are attributing this to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased emigration of Filipinos. Since the officials do not have “an ideal growth rate” in mind, they are not planning to increase family-friendly policies to promote population growth. Instead, officials shared that it is better to focus on “your [the government’s] capacity to provide for the needs of your population and their capacity to develop as a nation.”
Suing for Sterilization: Five Japanese women are currently fighting for the “right” to voluntarily undergo sterilization surgery for contraceptive purposes. In this highly contested Tokyo District Court case, these women are arguing against the current Maternal Health Law in Japan. This law maintains that sterilization is illegal for women, except for “life-threatening situations or substantial physical health deterioration due to multiple childbirths.” On top of the right to mutilate their bodies for contraceptive purposes, these women also want ¥1 million (~ 6,299.90 USD) in damages per person. One of the women, Kazane Kajiya, shared that this money is not to cover surgery costs but rather payback from the government for limiting her choices.
Communist China
Delivery Drivers Turned Spies: The Chinese Communist Party wants to use take-out delivery drivers as its eyes and ears throughout Chinese cities. The CCP has called on the nation’s 12 million delivery drivers to show more obedience and loyalty to the party, as well as serve as unofficial spies. In exchange, the CCP promises to make the drivers’ lives more comfortable at local rest stations. It wants neighborhood and residential committees and local businesses to chip in with “air-conditioned rest stations and canteens where they can get food and drink, recharge their phones and even get access to healthcare and medications.” On social media, Chinese citizens are already pointing out that these workers will contribute to the control and surveillance of Xi Jinping’s nationwide neighborhood surveillance and “stability maintenance.” One user stated, “Delivery workers may be low-level personnel, but if they are given the function of detecting and snooping on users, they will immediately become detectives.”
UN Misdeeds
The Right to Surrogacy: The United Nations Population Fund is trying to invent a “right” to surrogacy. In a new policy paper, the UNFPA suggested that gestational surrogacy—including commercial surrogacy—should be considered a part of “comprehensive family planning” and potentially as a human right. The paper defined this “comprehensive family planning” as an approach including “a variety of contraceptive methods, fertility treatments, adoption, fostering and surrogacy.” Surrogacy is an immoral practice that is also highly controversial. The practice of surrogacy raises concerns about the exploitation of women, especially poor women in developing countries who are hired as surrogates by individuals and couples from wealthy countries.
Science Gone Mad
Death by Donation: As physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia become normalized around the world, a new trend related to organ donation has also emerged: death by organ donation. Canada and a few Western European countries have already accepted “donation after death,” where organs are retrieved from euthanized patients immediately after they have passed. But now, doctors are considering “death by donation.” This process involves “ending people’s lives with their informed consent by taking them to the operating room and, under general anesthesia, opening their chest and abdomen surgically while they are still alive to remove vital organs for transplantation into other people.” This new process would bypass the generally accepted “dead donor rule,” which forbids the removal of organs from an individual until they are officially declared dead.
Pro-Life Around the World
No Right to Die: On June 13th, the European Court of Human Rights upheld Hungary’s right to continue prohibiting assisted suicide. This move affirmed the laws of 46 countries of the Council of Europe that protect human life. In this case, Karsai v. Hungary, Alliance Defending Freedom International represented Hungary. ADF argued that “Hungary’s prohibition of assisted suicide should be upheld because Hungary is a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights, which upholds the right to life.” ADF continued “that while states have an obligation to protect the right to life, there is no right to die.”
ADF attorney Jean-Paul Van De Walle stated, “Instead of abandoning our most vulnerable citizens, society should do all it can to provide the best standards of care.”
Pro-Aborts Sue South Korea: A Canadian-based abortion activist group attempted to sue the South Korean government for blocking access to its website. The group, Women on Web, is an abortion business on a mission to “push abortion wherever and however it can, even across international borders, most recently via the abortion pill.” In 2019, the Korea Communications Standards Commission blocked access to the site because it violated the country’s Pharmaceutical Affairs Act by providing abortion drugs to women in the country from foreign pharmacists. Women on Web objected to their site being blocked, on the grounds that their abortion pills were “WHO-approved.” However, the appeals court’s ruling upheld an earlier court’s decision to allow the government to block the site on the basis that other means of obtaining abortions are available to South Korean Women.
No Abortion at G7: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni withstood progressive pressure at last week’s Group of Seven Summit. Meloni rejected President Biden’s push to include a promise for the nations to promote abortion on demand as part of “sexual and reproductive health.” “I believe it is profoundly wrong, in difficult times like these, to campaign using a precious forum like the G7,” objected Meloni last Thursday. It is because of Meloni’s strength that the world’s largest economies cannot use their clout to promote abortion and an LGBT agenda at this time. With continued effort on her part, these anti-family ideologies may not be included in the “final G7 communiqué.”
Pro-Life on the Home Front
Melinda Backs Biden: Melinda French Gates, ex-wife of Bill Gates, has announced that she will be voting for Biden in the upcoming election because of Trump’s stance on abortion. Melinda appeared on CBS Morning and stated, in response to whether she would endorse a particular candidate, “I cannot vote for a man who rolls back women’s reproductive rights and says the heinous things that he says about women. So, I absolutely am not voting for Trump, and I will vote for Biden.” Like her ex-husband, Melinda is a major supporter of abortion, as exemplified by her recent donation of $1 billion to pro-abortion organizations.
Court Backs Catholics: In a recent case in Louisiana, a federal court ruled to protect Catholic ministries, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), from being compelled to support employee abortions contrary to their religious beliefs. The dispute arose from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s interpretation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which the court found was being misused to mandate abortion accommodations nationwide. Despite the law’s intent to protect pregnant mothers and their unborn children, the EEOC “twisted” the law to require employers to facilitate abortion-related practices. The court’s decision temporarily halts this mandate, emphasizing that the PWFA does not mandate abortion accommodations as interpreted by the EEOC. The ruling is both crucial in safeguarding religious freedom and saving the lives of the unborn.
Blocking the Pentagon: The House of Representatives has passed legislation that will prevent the Pentagon from using taxpayer money to finance abortions. Proposed by Rep. Beth Van Dyne (R-Texas), the National Defense Authorization Act contained a crucial amendment “designed as a retort to Biden’s administration using taxpayer funds to reimburse abortion-related costs.” The amendment received support from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), as well as major pro-life organizations. It passed in the House with a 214-207 vote.
The Facts Remain: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a response to the Supreme Court’s decision on the FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. In its decision, the court found that the pro-life healthcare professionals who initiated the lawsuit did not meet the legal standing requirements to challenge the FDA’s actions, which have led to the broad accessibility of the abortion pill mifepristone. To this, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, stated:
“The Court’s ruling late last week on procedural grounds does not change the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA] repeatedly and unlawfully cut corners to put chemical abortion pills on the market and then to reduce the safety protocols around them – putting the health of women and girls at risk.”
Bishop Burbidge continued, “From my heart, I thank all of the faithful who joined Archbishop Broglio and myself in prayer regarding this important case. We will continue to pray, to advocate for the health and safety of women and the preborn, and to lovingly serve mothers in need so that they may feel prepared to welcome their children.”
Good News
A Visit from Triplets: At 18 years old, a set of preemie triplets visited the hospital where they were born and met the NICU nursing team who kept them alive. Gabriella, Isabella, and David Zelenchuk were all born prematurely at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2006. At birth, Gabriella weighed only 3lbs 2oz, Isabella 2lbs 4oz, and David 4lbs, requiring a stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Now 18 years later, the three have graduated high school and paid a visit to the hospital. “[The staff] remembered where we were in the hospital,” Gabriella shared. “They remembered our parents holding us and coming every day to see us… We also got to see [nappies] NICU babies wear.” The triplets may go on to help premature infants themselves, as all three are currently planning to enter the medical field.
In response to this good news, the spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, stated, “This wonderful story reminds us that many babies who are born prematurely go on to live healthy and fulfilling lives, and are often able to give back to the institutions that supported them as preemies. Hopefully, the triplets’ studies will enable them to help the lives of others as they were helped as children by the NICU team.”
Quote of the Week
“When the inalienable right of marriage and of procreation is taken away, so is human dignity.”
~ Pope Saint Paul VI, Populorum Progressio
