In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- The Catholic Current
- Deepening Depopulation
- Birth Rate Ministry
- Baby Bust in Britain
- Child-Free Pride
- Communist China
- Thousands of Arrests
- Preaching Obedience
- Science Gone Mad
- 700 Siblings
- Pro-Life Around the World
- Surrogacy in Ireland
- Pro-Lifers in Peru
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- Abortion Ban Stands
- Free Speech Win
- Anti-Family Attack
- Planned Parenthood Cover-Up
- Good News
- Firefighters Celebrate Life
PRI in the Media
The Catholic Current: Last week, PRI President Steven Mosher joined Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J., on The Catholic Current podcast to discuss his latest book, The Devil and Communist China. They talked about how a closer look at history can help break through modern academia’s pro-communist propaganda. The Devil and Communist China reveals the dark truth about communism, exposing the evils that constitute the heart of Chinese Communist Party ideology.
Don’t have a copy of this page-turner yet? Get your copy today.
Deepening Depopulation
Birth Rate Ministry: On Monday, South Korea unveiled a new ministry to address the country’s alarmingly low birth rate. South Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world at 0.72, which President Yoon Suk Yeol previously called a “national emergency.” The new ministry will tackle the birth rate crisis and the demographic concerns arising from it, including an aging population and shrinking workforce. With dire economic effects looming ahead, the South Korean government has decided to step in and try to influence citizens to have more children with its latest initiative.
“I doubt that government bureaucrats contribute many babies to South Korea’s maternity wards, either directly or indirectly,” says Mr. Mosher. “Enlarging the bureaucracy simply increases the tax burden on those who might be open to having more children. What is needed are generous tax credits for those who have children, up to excluding them from all taxes.”
Baby Bust in Britain: The birth rate in Britain is below replacement level, and it looks like that trend will continue for the foreseeable future along with negative economic consequences. According to one recent poll, British young adults said they are more likely to not have children compared to earlier generations at the same age. While the country’s population is still expected to increase over the next 15 years, the economy is projected to grow at a much slower pace. As a result, fewer people will be paying taxes, which the British government depends on to fund public services. The low birth rate of today could cause the financial dilemma of tomorrow.
Child-Free Pride: Having children is not only something that modern culture considers undesirable, but some people even broadcast their child-free life as a choice to be celebrated. Could this attitude lead to the demise of western cultures? According to David Thunder at the University of Navarra, a society without enough children “dwindles and self-destructs.” Professor Thunder wrote that the world is at “a unique historic moment” in which people are proud of their choice not to have children. Thunder critiqued the epidemic of childlessness, concluding that an insufficient number of children will lead to labor shortages and potential cultural extinction in the West.
“If those of us fortunate enough to live in free and economically advanced societies value our own culture and way of life; if we think that the individual liberties we often take for granted, and the store of knowledge and customs we have built up over many generations, are something worth passing on, then the fact that this particular culture is terminally ill, and heading toward its own demise, should be a cause of concern to us,” notes Thunder.
Communist China
Thousands of Arrests: A new report by the U.S. State Department said that Chinese authorities imprisoned up to over 10,000 people for their religious beliefs in 2023, often due to “vague or insubstantial” charges. The 25th annual Report on International Religion Freedom noted that the exact number is unclear due to the Chinese Communist Party’s lack of transparency. This means that the number is likely much higher than estimated. The report further stated that Chinese citizens who do not comply with the CCP’s rules on religion are “tortured, physically abused, arrested, disappeared, detained, sentenced to prison” and “subjected to forced indoctrination in CCP ideology.”
“This number—10,000—is a gross underestimate of the number of Catholics, Christians and other religions who are suffering under the misrule of the atheistic Chinese Communist Party,” says Mr. Mosher.
Preaching Obedience: High-level Chinese bureaucrats discussed new formulas for the “Sinicization” of religion in Beijing on June 26th. The guidelines presented for achieving that goal are called the “Two Establishes” and “Two Safeguards.” The formulas are simply new ways of demanding that religions promote CCP propaganda, mandating that they establish and safeguard Chinese President Xi Jinping and CCP ideology as the center of all religious activities. Instead of delivering sermons on religious matters, Chinese priests, pastors, and other religious authorities must instead preach obedience to the CCP.
“The CCP is a quasi-religious cult that demands absolute loyalty and obedience from the Chinese people,” says Mr. Mosher. “And its leader, Xi Jinping, like the emperors of old, wants to be regarded by the Chinese people as a ‘god.’”
Science Gone Mad
700 Siblings: Katherine Dawson has a story that sounds similar to other in vitro fertilization (IVF) horror stories that have made their rounds on the internet. Dawson, who was conceived via IVF with a sperm donor, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that she may have up to 700 siblings. After meeting a woman who looked similar to her at a conference for donor-conceived families, Dawson eventually realized that the woman had the same biological father. They discovered that their biological father had donated sperm to various hospitals and clinics under different names for years. Dawson has identified 56 half-siblings so far and estimates that she may have up to 700. An immoral practice to begin with, IVF clearly causes irreversible consequences that undermine family life and prevent people from being raised by their biological parents.
Pro-Life Around the World
Surrogacy in Ireland: Surrogacy is one step away from being legalized in Ireland. A bill permitting surrogacy passed both houses in the Irish Parliament, and it now needs a signature from the President to take effect. The bill will allow Irish citizens to hire women as surrogate mothers from Ireland and other approved countries. The legalization of surrogacy will lead to more people utilizing this unethical practice, which treats a woman and her body as an object that can be purchased for use.
Pro-Lifers in Peru: A Peruvian lawmaker honored a pro-life group based in the U.S. for its activism in the Latin American country. Pro-Life Global, an organization with headquarters in South Carolina, received a prestigious award from a member of the Congress of the Republic of Peru for its work opposing abortion. Pro-Life Global recently trained over 100 young pro-life activists in Peru—one Latin American country among many that are in need of pro-life voices. The tide has shifted toward abortion in these countries due to influence from pro-abortion groups such as Planned Parenthood Global. The work of Pro-Life Global is a reminder that the fight for life stretches beyond U.S. borders and must be passed on to the younger generations.
“We really are in a very perilous situation in Latin America, where if we don’t act now and the pro-life movement doesn’t reach the young people, then 20 years from now the world is going to not have any countries that are for life,” commented Peruvian congresswoman Milagros Jáuregui.
Pro-Life on the Home Front
Abortion Ban Stands: The Iowa Supreme Court upheld a state abortion ban almost one year after being blocked by an Iowa judge. The law prohibits abortion after the detection of fetal cardiac activity, which is typically at 6 weeks of pregnancy. The abortion ban is now set to take effect soon, establishing stricter limits than Iowa’s current allowance of abortion until 20 weeks of pregnancy. “There is no right more sacred than life, and nothing more worthy of our strongest defense than the innocent unborn,” stated Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in a June 28th press release.
Free Speech Win: The Wisconsin Supreme Court handed a free speech victory to a pro-life advocate who was accused of harassment outside of a Planned Parenthood. Brian Aish, a Catholic who peacefully protested outside of a clinic in Blair, was prohibited by court order not to go near a Planned Parenthood employee who laid charges against him. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on June 27th that the court order violated Aish’s free speech rights and must be overturned. The unanimous decision asserted that the First Amendment protected Aish’s dialogue with the employee, which happened on a public sidewalk.
Anti-Family Act: The Massachusetts Legislature is considering an anti-family bill that would make surrogacy and IVF more accessible to same-sex couples while simultaneously replacing language that defines the traditional family in state law. The legislation is an outright attack on marriage and the family since it violates the Catholic Church’s teachings against surrogacy, IVF, and same-sex unions. Known as the Parentage Equality Act, the bill seeks to lift restrictions on surrogacy, which usually involves IVF. Mothers would be permitted to sign a surrogacy agreement after conception and regardless of how the baby was conceived. Katy Faust, the founder and president of Them Before Us, told the National Catholic Register that the result would essentially be “child trafficking.” The bill would also guarantee parenting rights to both members of a same-sex couple. In tandem with doing so, the legislation seeks to change multiple terms (such as “mother” and “father”) in state law that define the traditional family to more gender-neutral terms. The Massachusetts House of Representatives already passed the measure 156-0 on June 12, and it is currently unknown when the Senate will vote on the bill.
Planned Parenthood Cover-Up: An abortion clinic staffer reportedly laughed and tried to conceal an abortion injury on a 911-call at a Planned Parenthood in Richmond, VA. Operation Rescue, a pro-life Christian activist organization, disclosed the discovery of a 911-call from the facility. On the call, a staffer implied that a patient was undergoing an abortion and had suffered a uterine perforation. The staffer not only could be heard laughing in the background, but they also requested that the ambulance pull up to the back door without lights or sirens—a request which the dispatcher refused. The woman having the abortion not only had her child killed, but she also suffered a dangerous complication from the procedure. This incident highlights the terrible reality of the abortions happening behind the closed doors of Planned Parenthood clinics.
Good News
Firefighters Celebrate Life: A group of firefighters celebrated the high school graduation of a girl they saved 18 years ago through Florida’s Safe Haven law. Colleen Katich was dropped off at the station as a baby and adopted. Over the years that followed, her family would send birthday and Christmas cards to the fire station. After graduating from high school this spring, the Florida fire station celebrated the occasion on Facebook with a recent photo of Colleen and her heroes. Colleen is one example of a beautiful life saved thanks to Florida’s Safe Haven for Newborns program, which has reportedly rescued over 450 babies since it began in 2000. More babies will be saved as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just expanded the time period for surrendering infants from seven to 30 days after birth.
Quote of the Week:
“As Pope Francis has said, ‘Let us respect and love human life, especially vulnerable life in a mother’s womb.’ For us, this is a question of the common good and human dignity. Human life is precious and should be protected in our laws to the greatest extent possible.”
~ Iowa’s bishops, source
