In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- Today’s Events
- Deepening Depopulation
- Economy Up, Population Down
- Communist China
- Net Population Loss
- UN Misdeeds
- Forced to Perform Abortions
- U.S. to Leave the WHO
- Cut Off the UNFPA
- Pro-Life Around the World
- Taking Down PEPFAR
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- Late-Term Abortion in VA?
- Born Alive Protections Blocked
- No Federal Mandate for IVF
- Good News
- Abortion Site Shut Down
Today is the March for Life!
“The annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., is the longest – and the largest – continuing political demonstration in the history of the United States. Every year hundreds of thousands of pro-lifers gather in the nation’s capitol to send a message to lawmakers that the most important human rights issue of our time is the protection of the unborn. We will not rest until the personhood of the unborn is recognized from conception.”
~ PRI President Steven Mosher
The March for Life Education and Defense Fund has announced that Vice President JD Vance will make his first public appearance after his inauguration at the March for Life rally on January 24, 2025.
In 2020, President Trump became the first president to address the March for Life in person. Tomorrow, he will be touring the devastation in North Carolina and California, but he has recorded a video to be played at the March for Life.
Livestream the March for Life here.
PRI in the Media
Today’s Events: Today is the 52nd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., but that isn’t the only pro-life event taking place. This year is the 30th annual National Memorial for the Pre-Born and Their Mothers and Fathers, which includes a prayer service at 8:30 a.m. followed by a meet-and-greet at 10:30 a.m. PRI is a proud co-sponsor of this event. Tickets are not required, and large groups can be easily accommodated. Read more about the service here.
Deepening Depopulation
Economic Up, Population Down: Vietnam’s birth rate sank to a record low in 2024, with the total fertility rate falling to 1.91 children per woman. This was the third consecutive year that the figure remained below replacement. Western nations and China continue to invest in Vietnam and its booming economy. But the country’s demographic decline will soon affect its economic success. As the International Monetary Fund warned in 2017, Vietnam is at risk of “growing old before it grows rich.”
Communist China
Net Population Loss: Births in China increased in 2024, but the overall population still declined for the third year in a row. A total of 9.54 million babies were born, up from 9.02 million in 2023, with the birth rate rising to 6.77 per thousand people. However, 10.93 million people died, leading to a net population loss. The total population stood at 1.408 billion, 1.39 million fewer than in 2023. Like other countries facing depopulation, China has tried encouraging families to have more children by offering more subsidies and benefits. However, since these methods did not yield significant results, the CCP has resorted to shaming women into having more children, in some cases going door-to-door to harass women in-person.
UN Misdeeds
Forced to Perform Abortions: A group of UN human rights “experts” has called for governments around the world to restrict conscientious objection to abortion by hospitals, doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel. In a new report, the UN working group on discrimination against women and girls claimed that governments have an international obligation to force all hospitals to provide abortions. The report then went on to describe institutional conscientious objection as “impermissible” and a “human rights violation.” The feminists and academics who make up this group believe that institutions should not be allowed conscience rights and that the conscience rights of individuals need to be “narrowly defined.”
U.S. to Leave the WHO: President Donald Trump fulfilled his campaign promise to protect U.S. sovereignty by ordering the country’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). The executive order cites the WHO’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, failure to reform, and perceived political influence from member states like China as reasons for the exit. The withdrawal will take effect a year after the notification.
“The WHO and its Pandemic Treaty are about to lose over a billion dollars in U.S. funding,” says Mr. Mosher. “That’s real money, and a big chunk of its budget. And PRI helped make it happen. Our Facebook petition, our social media campaign, and our contacts in D.C. all had an impact… Thank you for taking a stand with us.”
Cut Off the UNFPA: As the Trump administration proposes significant cuts to the federal budget, progressives are desperate for the U.S. to continue funding the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). However, the UNFPA’s history of supporting population control policies, including coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization, makes cutting its funding a priority. The U.S. has historically limited support for UNFPA under the 1985 Kemp-Kasten Amendment, which prohibits funding for organizations involved in such practices. While Democratic administrations have restored funding, including under Biden in 2021, the new Trump administration should cut off the UNFPA and end its continued population control, through its ongoing push of contraception and abortion around the world.
“I met with Congressman Jack Kemp and Senator Bob Kasten back in 1985 to share with them evidence of the UNFPA’s involvement in forced abortions and sterilizations in China,” says Mr. Mosher. “The result was the Kemp-Kasten Amendment which led to the first cut-off of funding to the UNFPA. Information that PRI has provided about the rogue agency’s continued violations of human rights has been instrumental in keeping that funding cut in place, and will again this time around. In a world of dying countries, we no longer need a population control agency run by the UN. We never did.”
Pro-Life Around the World
Taking Down PEPFAR: Last week, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, stated that the global AIDS-fighting program started by President George W. Bush is in “jeopardy,” due to the Biden administration’s misuse of the funds for abortions. Congressional Republicans had previously raised alarms when the program’s authorization expired in 2023, noting funds may have gone to groups that support or provide abortions. Risch cited a report from the CDC revealing that U.S. funds from the $5 billion program were used to pay health workers who performed at least 21 abortions in Mozambique. This violates the Helms Amendment, which prohibits U.S. funds from being used for abortion-related services. Risch called the situation “disgusting” and called for an investigation into the misuse of PEPFAR funds, urging accountability for those who violated U.S. laws protecting life.
“PRI’s in-depth investigation of Catholic Relief Services last year, carried out in conjunction with the Lepanto Institute, showed that global AIDS-fighting funds have been misused,” says Mr. Mosher. “The fund has been used by USAID as just another ‘piggy bank’ to rob for their relentless promotion of abortion, sterilization, and contraception among girls as young as 10. This is not about preventing AIDS. It is about population control.”
Pro-Life on the Home Front
Late-Term Abortion in VA?: This week, the Virginia Senate approved a resolution to add a right to abortion to the state constitution. The vote passed by narrow, party-line margins in both chambers—51 to 48 in the House and 21 to 19 in the Senate. The proposed amendment would guarantee a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” allowing abortion in the first two trimesters for any reason and in the third trimester for vague mental health reasons. To place the amendment on the ballot in 2026, the legislature must pass it again after the next statewide election. Pro-life advocates, led by figures like Del. Mark Earley, are focusing on educating voters about the potential dangers of the amendment, aiming to secure pro-life support in the 2025 election, when all House of Delegates seats will be up for election.
“Pro-life state representatives need to step up and offer amendments to put the abortion radicals on record as opposing even the most reasonable limitations on the killing of the unborn,” says Mr. Mosher. “Unless they step up now, the governor appears to be our only firewall.”
Born Alive Protections Blocked: This week, every Senate Democrat voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. If it had passed, this act would have required that babies born alive after a botched abortion receive the same protection and medical care as other newborns. The bill, introduced by Sens. James Lankford and Jim Banks, was supported by Republicans but failed to pass, with a motion for cloture falling 52-47. Senate Majority Leader John Thune noted that Democrats’ opposition likely stems from fears that acknowledging the humanity of a baby born alive could challenge the argument against recognizing the humanity of unborn children.
No Federal Mandate for IVF: In a letter released this week, Catholic Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, warned against a federal mandate for in vitro fertilization (IVF). Burbidge criticized recent support for IVF, a procedure that creates embryos outside the womb and attempts to implant them for pregnancy. The Catholic Church opposes IVF due to the immorality of the destruction or freezing of surplus embryos and the separation of procreation from conception. Burbidge expressed concern that promoting IVF as an entitlement, either through direct funding or insurance mandates, would be a misguided solution to the issue of falling fertility rates. He stated that supporting IVF ignores the moral issues involved, including the loss of many embryos and the exploitation of surrogacy.
For more information on the process, risks, and consequences of IVF, read our fact sheet.
Good News
Abortion Site Shut Down: The Trump-Vance administration took immediate action to close a federal website launched by the Biden administration that promoted abortion-on-demand at taxpayer expense. The website, ReproductiveRights.gov, went offline shortly after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president. The site had falsely claimed that abortion, including the abortion pill mifepristone, was safe and essential for women’s health. Mifepristone, however, was associated with a high number of emergency room visits, undermining the website’s claims. This pro-life action occurring so early in Trump’s second term is a positive sign for the future of the pro-life movement over the next four years.
Quote of the Week
“The values and freedoms we cherish as Americans rest on our fundamental commitment to the sanctity of human life. The first of the ‘unalienable rights’ affirmed by our Declaration of Independence is the right to life itself, a right the Declaration states has been endowed by our Creator on all human beings – whether young or old, weak or strong, healthy or handicapped.”
~ Ronald Reagan, source
