In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- Marching in Ave Maria
- Victory in Latin America
- Trump’s Second Round
- Deepening Depopulation
- The Time for Twins
- Communist China
- Hospitalized for Dissent
- UN Misdeeds
- Reform the UN
- Science Gone Mad
- The New Abortion Pill
- In Vitro Gametes
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- No Abortion, Domestic or Abroad
- Pro-Life Sentiment on the Rise
- Stockpiling Deadly Drugs
- Cementing Abortion in DE
- Cherishing Childhood
- Good News
- Pro-Life Journalism Wins
PRI in the Media
Marching in Ave Maria: On January 18th, PRI President Steven Mosher was the keynote speaker at the Ave Maria March for Life. Over 1,300 individuals took part in this Fourth Annual Ave Maria March for Life, including Bishop Frank J. Dewane. The March was a joint effort of the Parish Respect Life Ministry, Ave Maria University, and the Knights of Columbus.
Media representatives from Florida Catholic were present to report on the event.
Victory in Latin America: This week, LifeSiteNews reported on PRI’s recent triumph in Latin America. On January 23rd, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, an international court based in San José, Costa Rica, rejected the abortion lobby’s attempt to establish a “right to abortion” in Latin America. As Carlos Polo, Director of PRI Latin America, wrote: “This ruling creates a legal precedent that will help PRI and other pro-life groups to defend innocent unborn life from conception in the 25 member countries, including in the region at large.”
Trump’s Second Round: Carlos Polo, Director of PRI Latin America, appeared on EWTN to discuss Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the United States. As a political analyst, Polo speculated on the challenges Trump will face and what the public can expect from him when it comes to pro-life and pro-family policy. (This interview is available in Spanish only, and was also featured on ACI Prensa, the Peruvian branch of Catholic News Agency.)
Deepening Depopulation
The Time for Twins: While birth rates are falling around the world, the number of twins and triplets being born continues to rise. The chance of multiples being born is higher than ever, with projections suggesting a continued rise in twinning rates. The main factors behind this trend are older maternal age and the increased use of fertility treatments. In 2023, data from England and Wales showed a higher likelihood of multiple births in women aged 35-39. Research predicts that the rise in multiple births will continue globally, particularly in low-income countries, due to increasing maternal age.
Communist China
Hospitalized for Dissent: At 17, Zhang Junjie protested the Chinese Communist Party’s policies, and he was hospitalized as a result. Zhang was diagnosed with “schizophrenia,” a common tactic used in China to detain dissenters. He was forcibly treated with antipsychotic drugs and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), without consent, during his hospitalizations. Zhang was hospitalized and abused this way three times before he fled to New Zealand. His case is one of 59 documented instances of individuals hospitalized for protesting or challenging the government. Yet, existing laws and documentation of these abuses have done nothing to slow the CCP’s abuses of Chinese citizens who talk back.
UN Misdeeds
Reform the UN: Elise Stefanik is set to become President Trump’s ambassador to the UN following her Senate confirmation hearing. In alignment with Trump’s “America first, peace through strength” policy, Stefanik promised to evaluate each UN agency to assess its benefit to the United States. Senators on the Committee on Foreign Relations, including Chairman James Risch, have voiced concerns about the UN’s failure to meet its original goals of promoting global peace and stability. Despite these criticisms, the U.S. remains the largest contributor to the UN, funding 22% of its regular budget and 25% of its peacekeeping efforts. Stefanik pledged to ensure that “we are good stewards of taxpayer dollars” and fund “programs that have a basis in the rule of law.”
Science Gone Mad
The New Abortion Pill: A new scientific study has proven that the main ingredient in “emergency contraception” can be used as a replacement for the abortion drug, mifepristone. Ulipristal acetate, the main ingredient in the prescription-only emergency contraceptive “Ella,” was tested in conjunction with misoprostol to determine whether it could induce abortion. Sixty-six pregnant women participated in this study, undergoing chemical abortions using the ulipristal acetate and misoprostol combination. In addition to ending the lives of their babies, many of the women experienced chills, diarrhea, and nausea.
In Vitro Gametes: The United Kingdom may be on the verge of successfully developing lab-grown gametes. Scientists, backed by a Silicon Valley investment, are making significant strides in developing in-vitro gametes (IVGs), which are lab-grown eggs or sperm created from reprogrammed skin or stem cells. According to The Guardian, the ability to create IVGs would enable individuals to have a baby by themselves or with multiple other people in a “multiplex” parenting arrangement. This procedure may also enable older couples or same-sex couples to create biological children in a lab. The creation of IVGs would be a grotesque perversion of human reproduction, treating children as lab-engineered products and obliterating the natural bonds of parenthood. This unethical manipulation of life reduces human dignity to a mere scientific experiment, paving the way for a dystopian future where the creation of life itself is commodified and distorted beyond recognition.
Pro-Life on the Home Front
No Abortion, Domestic or Abroad: President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders, reinstating both the Hyde Amendment and the Mexico City Policy. The Hyde Amendment bans the use of federal funds for elective abortions domestically. While the Mexico City Policy, first put in place in the 1980s, prevents the federal government from funding groups that finance abortion procedures in foreign countries. Both of these executive orders were major wins for the pro-life movement.
“As someone who worked with the Reagan Administration to cut off funding to abortion programs overseas, which became known as the Mexico City Policy, I am delighted to see that that policy is now back in place,” says Mr. Mosher. “In fact, that policy, along with a prohibition on funding coercive population control programs, is now bigger and bolder than ever. Much like the President himself.”
Pro-Life Sentiment on the Rise: The Knights of Columbus released their annual poll on sanctity-of-life issues last Thursday, conducted with Marist College. The poll revealed strong public support for pro-life laws. Among the 1,387 adults surveyed, the majority opposed taxpayer funding for abortion both domestically and internationally. Additionally, 62% of respondents believed medical professionals should not be legally required to perform abortions, and 63% supported requiring an in-person medical exam for chemical abortions. A significant 83% supported pro-life pregnancy help centers. While attitudes towards abortion have remained relatively stable, there have been some gains in public support for pro-life policy, alongside a growing opposition to public funding for abortion.
“Most of the American people do not want their tax dollars being used to fund abortion at home or abroad,” says Mr. Mosher. “The only thing that I found surprising was that only 83 percent of those polled supported pregnancy help centers. I can only imagine that the other 17 percent have no idea what they are.”
Stockpiling Deadly Drugs: The governor of New Jersey has made targeting the unborn a priority in his state by announcing his plan to stockpile abortion drugs. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has already signed legislation making abortion legal in New Jersey through all nine months of pregnancy. Now, he is working to ensure that women can continue to end the lives of their unborn children, even if federal restrictions on abortion drugs are implemented under President Donald Trump. The Democratic governor announced during a recent address that New Jersey would be creating a “strategic reserve” of the pills.
Cementing Abortion in DE: Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend and House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown have introduced legislation to enshrine abortion in Delaware’s constitution. Senate Bill 5 would create a so-called “right” to abortion by adding the right to make personal decisions about pregnancy, childbirth, contraception, abortion, miscarriage, and infertility, to the constitution. Delaware was the first state to codify Roe v. Wade and, with this move, will further cement its reputation as an abortion destination.
Cherishing Childhood: “We cherish children because of Christmas.” In this op-ed, independent writer Stephen C. Fischer shares the idea that with the coming of Christ as an infant, came also a respect for young and unborn life. Our understanding of the preciousness of human life from conception through gestation, from birth through childhood, is indeed a gift of Christianity. Though the respect for life has been eroded by secularism in modern America, “We must once again trust in the Child of Christmas. We must once again realize that in procreation is prosperity and rejoice in children.”
Good News
Pro-Life Journalism Wins: After nearly a decade of legal battles, pro-life journalists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt have reached a resolution in their case against the California Attorney General’s office. The criminal charges related to their undercover investigation into Planned Parenthood’s fetal body part trafficking have been dropped, with no prison time or fines for the journalists. Their evidence was critical in exposing Planned Parenthood’s dealings. Their videos revealed Planned Parenthood executives negotiating with companies like StemExpress over the prices of organs and tissues harvested from unborn children killed through abortion. Some of these children may have been born alive before their organs were taken. This resolution was a victory for investigative reporting and the public’s right to know about Planned Parenthood’s practices.
Quote of the Week
“We need a culture that celebrates life at all stages, one that recognizes and truly believes that the benchmark of national success is not our GDP number or our stock market, but whether people feel that they can raise thriving and healthy families in our country.”
~ Vice President J. D. Vance, source
