In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- CCP Forced Birth
- Deepening Depopulation
- Few Babies in Finland
- Caring for the Elderly
- Male Infertility Market
- Communist China
- “Drinking Tea”
- A New Bishop
- UN Misdeeds
- Special Status
- Science Gone Mad
- Military Covers IVF
- Pro-Life Around the World
- Failure to Report
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- Arguments Announced
- Biden Lacks Support
- Good News
- Baby Saves Mom’s Life
PRI in the Media
CCP Forced Birth: PRI President Steven Mosher appeared on the Capitol Report to discuss the demographic future of China. The official population data from China’s National Statistics Bureau confirmed that 9.02 million babies were born last year, marking the seventh year in a row that these numbers have fallen. This also marks the lowest level since the CCP seized control of China in 1949. Government efforts to push the three-child policy, updated in 2021, and increase childbearing seem to have made very little difference. To Mr. Mosher this is unsurprising, as he has shared in the past, “I can’t think of any combination of bribes or incentives that could induce young women to marry and have those children.” If the birth rate does not improve, Mr. Mosher fears a future order from the CCP requiring women to marry and produce several children. While he admits that it’s an outrageous concept, Mr. Mosher points out that it is no more outrageous than the one-child policy, which the CCP used to insert contraception devices and perform abortions on women without consent.
Deepening Depopulation
Few Babies in Finland: Finland used to be a model of how a modern, industrialized nation could still be pro-family. From 2000 to 2010, Finland’s fertility rate was on the rise, from 1.7 to 1.9. There was even hope that the country would reach replacement (2.1) again. But since 2010, the fertility has collapsed to 1.27, putting Finland on par with Italy and Poland. Unfortunately, the situation cannot be fixed with economic solutions or better policies, because the catalyst isn’t in these areas. The problem is found in the culture and values. The same attitude that is driving down fertility rates around the world is now affecting Finland. It’s the idea that “starting a family means sacrificing independence.” Many adults of childbearing age aren’t convinced that having children is worth the perceived costs.
Caring for the Elderly: According to a recent survey, more Americans are in support of government assistance for elder care. Between 2012 and 2022, the percentage of Americans who think the government should pay for this care increased from 37% to 51%. While the percentage of Americans who believe families should provide care for their elderly fell from 61% to 48%. The researchers who conducted this study believe that the attitude shift stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this shift could have even deeper roots. Elderly adults who had few, or zero, children are realizing that their familial options for care are limited. A similar problem occurs for working-age adults who have few, or zero, siblings. The pressure of caring for their elderly parents is looming over them with little to no support from family. If family isn’t an option, and you don’t have considerable retirement savings, there seems to be no alternative but the government.
Male Infertility Market: A majority of the time, fertility care is marketed towards women. But that is beginning to change. Growing concerns over male fertility, especially in light of falling sperm counts, are fueling the demand for at-home fertility services geared toward men. Tech startups, like Legacy, are now providing at-home semen analysis and sperm freezing. Though this new segment currently only makes up $4 billion in the $30 billion U.S. fertility industry, it is predicted to increase. While addressing the issues that may affect the U.S. fertility rate is a worthy goal, it is often accompanied by immoral actions to procure gametes or achieve pregnancy. However, moral alternatives are available and are what we need to fund in the U.S. to assist married couples in starting and growing their families.
Communist China
“Drinking Tea”: China’s state security police has released a list of ten offenses that fall under the country’s vague Counter-espionage Law. Any one of these “10 Cups of Tea” could get a citizen hauled in for questioning, or “drinking tea” as it is nicknamed. According to the CCP, these offenses could allegedly endanger national security. They range from spying or the theft of “state secrets” to owning a miniature camera or video recorder, which are considered to be possible “specialist spying equipment.” Not only could partaking in one of these offenses result in arrest, but failure to implement these counter-espionage measures would have the same result. When it seems as though Chinese citizens couldn’t lose more freedom, the CCP outdoes itself.
“The Chinese Communist Party continues to lead the way in creating the world’s first truly totalitarian society,” says Mr. Mosher. “A digital dictatorship where, with the aid of AI, surveillance cameras, and a huge internal police force, everyone is being watched by Big Brother all the time.”
A New Bishop: Pope Francis has achieved two goals in China this past week. He successfully erected a new diocese, and a bishop he appointed last April was finally consecrated. The Diocese of Weifang was the first to be established since Mao Zedong took power. Anthony Sun Wenjun was consecrated as the bishop of the Diocese of Weifang on Monday. The consecration liturgy was well-attended, with 44 priests and 330 religious and lay faithful present. Bishop John Fang Xingyao of Linyi, honorary president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, presided over the ordination. This signals the approval of the Chinese Communist Party.
UN Misdeeds
Special Status: The European Union has asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to enter into “official relations” with the global abortion law firm Center for Reproductive Rights. A decision to include this legal arm of the global abortion industry within the international health body was expected this past Tuesday. However, quick action from pro-life groups, alerting delegations of the firm’s controversial advocacy for abortion and LGBT/trans issues, postponed the decision. Africa and other traditional bodies oppose this inclusion, as it would result in the spread of abortion and LGBT/transgender ideology. If the Center for Reproductive Rights is officially given a special role in the WHO, it will assist in the creation and spread of WHO sexual and reproductive health and rights standards and guidelines, including these issues.
Science Gone Mad
Military Covers IVF: The Defense Department is expected to release a new policy regarding the availability of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) for service members this month. Until now, IVF has been covered by the military for legally married, heterosexual couples using their own sperm and eggs. As a result of a lawsuit filed by the National Organization for Women, service members in any relationship status will now have IVF covered. This includes unmarried couples, regardless of sexuality, and single service members. Donor sperm and eggs will also be covered, though at this time surrogacy will not be.
Pro-life Around the World
Failure to Report: The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has issued a guidance to its members stating that they should not report illegal late-term abortions to the police, even if the baby’s life is at risk. The guidance claims that even if a baby is born alive, confidentiality comes first before the “safety of the fetus.” The author of this guidance was Dr. Jonathan Lord, the director of MSI Reproductive Choices and co-chair of the British Society of Abortion Care Providers (BSACP). Dr. Lord has been accused of professional misconduct in the past, including cases of misleading women in crisis pregnancies and giving them inaccurate information about the abortion pill reversal. Now his guidance will lead medical professionals to misconduct of their own, allowing innocent lives to die after birth. It will be nothing less than infanticide.
“The British Association of Ob-Gyns just told its members they should violate the law,” says Mr. Mosher. “Rather than report an illegal, late-term abortion, they were told they should help to cover it up. The abortionists among their number would rather let babies born alive after an attempted abortion die than provide medical care.”
Pro-Life on the Home Front
Arguments Announced: The Supreme Court has announced that it will be hearing arguments for the long-awaited abortion pill case on March 26, 2024. The justices will hear an appeal from the Biden administration and Danco, the company that produces the brand name version of mifepristone, to expand access to the drugs in the United States. Current restrictions ban abortion drugs from being mailed and shortens the window that the drugs are legal during pregnancy from 10 weeks to 7 weeks. These restrictions were put in place to protect vulnerable women and prevent the misuse of dangerous abortifacients. Unfortunately, the current administration is determined to be the most pro-abortion administration in history, and big name pro-abortion organizations are all too willing to back it up. Their latest attacks involve discrediting pro-life leaders and doctors by accusing the movement of relying on “unreliable witnesses” and “junk science.”
“Americans–and hopefully the Supreme Court justices themselves–should remember that the deadly abortion pills are made in China,” says Mr. Mosher. “Everyone needs to understand that the Chinese Communist Party is engaged in unrestricted warfare against the United States. Just as it allows fentanyl and its precursors to be manufactured in China and sent to the U.S., so it allows another deadly drug, mifepristone, to be manufactured and sent as well. Aside from the deadly nature of the drug, there is the issue of quality control, which is a problem with many Chinese products. All of these considerations, in addition to the regulatory issues, should cause us to reject this poison.”
For more information on the abortion pill, read our fact sheet.
Biden Lacks Support: The Biden administration’s strategy for reelection involves placing abortion at the forefront. Biden and Harris characterize the pro-life movement as extremist while claiming that abortion is part of a “health care crisis” and an issue of “personal freedom.” But a clear majority of the American people do not agree with the Democratic Party’s position of refusing to set any limits on abortion, even up until birth (or immediately after), all paid for by U.S. taxpayers. Regarding this Rep. Chris Smith stated, “[T]he most recent Marist poll couldn’t be clearer that by a margin of two-to-one, people want restrictions on abortion. There’s a great deal of support for legislation to ensure that taxpayers do not fund abortion. And yet, Joe Biden, the abortion president, has integrated abortion into every single policy that he’s able to do by executive order. And he’s trying to legislat[e] abortion until the moment of birth … the children would have no protection whatsoever.”
“Congressman Smith, the Vice Chairman of the Pro-Life Caucus, is absolutely correct,” says Mr. Mosher. “We are dealing with the most radically pro-abortion administration in American history. Bizarrely enough, this insane push for abortion is occurring under a ‘Catholic’ president. PRI has worked with Congressman Smith for many years to cut funding to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Marie Stopes International, and the UN Population Fund. We will continue to do so, both at home and abroad, until this scourge is ended.”
Good News
Baby Saves Mom’s Life: Being pregnant saved a first-time mother’s life when she had an emergency health event occur. Amanda Banic began having severe chest pains at 35 week pregnant. It was ultimately discovered that Amanda had a torn aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body, which is also called an aortic dissection. She was immediately taken in for back-to-back surgeries, a cesarean section to deliver her baby girl followed by cardiac surgery to repair the damage in her heart. According to Amanda’s doctor, baby girl Baylor was the key to why Amanda survived such a dangerous condition.
“Because of the way I dissected, she kind of was in there, essentially holding everything together,” Amanda said. “Had she not been in there putting the pressure on all the right places, my outcome may have been very different, so she’s kind of a little miracle, in more ways than one.”
Quote of the Week
“Despite what [the Biden] administration claims, taking the life of an innocent child is never a ‘choice,’” Burbidge added. “Women who are facing unexpected or difficult pregnancies deserve assistance that affirms and supports life – not destroy it.”
~ Bishop Burbidge
