In This Issue:
- Deepening Depopulation
- Depopulation Fears Go Mainstream
- Fertility Crisis Hits Military
- Japan’s Population Plunge Deepens
- Fertility Falls in Jamaica
- Socialists Target the Family
- Communist China
- China’s Crackdown on Churches
- UN Misdeeds
- UN Reform Shields Abortion
- Science Gone Mad
- Gene-Edited Babies Return
- Pro-Life Around the World
- Taxpayer-Funded Abortions in Ireland
- 90,000 Abortions Ignored Yearly
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- School Funds Secret Abortions
- Planned Parenthood Closures Surge
- Abortion Pills Replace Clinics
- Good News
- Planned Parenthood Leaves Louisiana
Deepening Depopulation
Depopulation Fears Go Mainstream: A leading Stanford economist, Charles Jones, recently published an academic paper called “The End of Economic Growth? Unintended Consequences of a Declining Population,” in which he concludes, “In standard models, [declining populations have] profound implications: rather than continued exponential growth, living standards stagnate for a population that vanishes.” This sharp drop below replacement is more than just a demographic milestone—it marks the tipping point between a thriving, growing society and one destined for economic stagnation and eventual extinction.
“Followers of PRI’s work know that I reached the same conclusion decades ago,” says Mr. Mosher. “I wrote in the Wall Street Journal way back in 1997 that ‘Humanity’s long-term problem is not going to be too many children, but too few: too few children to fill the schools and universities, too few young people entering the work force, too few couples buying homes and second cars. In short, too few consumers and producers to drive the economy forward. The imploding markets of Europe and the economic sluggishness of Japan will spread soon enough to the U.S. and the rest of the world. Why spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year on contraception and sterilization that will only bring that day closer?’”
Fertility Crisis Hits Military: South Korea’s military has shrunk by 20% in just six years, driven by a 30% drop in enlistment-age men since 2019—a decline rooted in the nation’s record-low fertility rate of 0.75. South Korea’s population, which peaked at 51.8 million in 2020, is projected to fall to 36.2 million by 2072, according to government estimates. Once boasting 690,000 troops in the early 2000s, the armed forces have declined steadily—an erosion that accelerated in the late 2010s—and now number about 450,000. The defence ministry reports that the country’s military is short 50,000 troops needed to maintain readiness, including about 21,000 non-commissioned officers.
Japan’s Population Plunge Deepens: Japan suffered its steepest population decline on record in 2024, with nearly 1.6 million deaths and just 686,061 births, resulting in over 900,000 more deaths than births. The population has fallen for 16 consecutive years, now standing at 124.3 million, with nearly 30% aged 65 or older, and the working-age share has been reduced to 60%. Foreign residents reached a record high of 3.6 million in 2025, yet experts warn that even dramatic fertility improvements would take decades to reverse Japan’s demographic collapse.
“Japan’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in 2023 was only 1.20 children per woman,” says Mr. Mosher. “And it has been below replacement rate fertility of 2.1 for a half century. At this rate, Japan’s population will shrink by 80% over the next three generations. In actual numbers, this means that today’s 125 million Japanese will leave only 25 million descendants by the end of the century.”
Fertility Falls in Jamaica: Jamaica’s fertility rate has dropped to just 1.3, among the lowest in the world, according to the UNFPA’s 2025 State of World Population report. The report points to economic pressures as the biggest obstacle to starting families, with 39% of people surveyed saying financial constraints prevent them from having children. In its report, UNFPA dismisses policies that encourage childbearing and instead promotes expanded healthcare, childcare, education, gender equality, and economic security—sidestepping the need to actively support family growth as essential to reversing population decline.
Socialists Target the Family: At the 2025 Socialism Conference, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) hosted a panel denouncing the nuclear family as “repressive, racist, and hetero-sexist,” calling for its abolition and replacement with collective child-rearing under state control. Panelists likened marriage to prostitution, promoted surrogacy to sever biological bonds between parents and children, and pushed for normalizing sex work. These ideas echo Marxist hostility toward the family as a “bourgeois” institution that stands in the way of state power.
“One thing is certain: Like Karl Marx, all these family abolitionist types came from dysfunctional families, or created their own.” says Mr. Mosher, “And then they projected their own unhappiness with their families on the family writ large. The family is the first and most fundamental unit of social organization, the primary space for fostering communal bonds, mutual support, and moral development. It is God-given and irreplaceable.”
Communist China
China’s Crackdown on Churches: Founded in 2005 by Pastor Ma Chao, Guangfu Christian Church in Guangzhou once welcomed over a thousand believers, but years of government harassment have reduced its congregation to fewer than 20. Since 2015, officials have raided worship services, sealed worship venues, forced evictions, and repeatedly detained Pastor Ma without charges. Surveillance cameras monitor the church, while attending families face threats of eviction from government officials, and some members are coerced into pledging to stop attending services. Despite the oppression, Pastor Ma remains steadfast, declaring his trust in God’s protection. Once again, the CCP persecutes Christianity and suppresses religious freedom.
UN Misdeeds
UN Reform Shields Abortion: UN Secretary-General António Guterres has launched the “UN80” reform plan to address the UN’s bureaucracy with over 40,000 resolutions and soaring administrative costs, all while admitting the system is “collapsing under its own weight.” But Guterres confirmed the overhaul will not touch the UN’s “normative agenda,” which promotes abortion and gender ideology despite never being approved by the General Assembly. The U.S. has strongly opposed these efforts, denouncing the 2030 Agenda for redefining human rights to promote gender ideology, rejecting such language in UNICEF’s strategic plan, and cutting funding to UNFPA over similar concerns. Conservative leaders warn the UN has drifted far from its original mandate, pushing “new rights” that contradict the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially the right to life in Article 3.
Science Gone Mad
Gene-Edited Babies Return: In 2018, Chinese scientist He Jiankui shocked the world by creating the first gene-edited babies, a reckless act that landed him in prison. Today, private biotech companies and wealthy entrepreneurs are reviving the push to alter human embryos. A new firm, “Manhattan Project,” plans to begin with experiments on mice, then primates, then human cells, before ultimately working with embryos, claiming the goal is to prevent genetic diseases. Some supporters present the effort as a way to counter falling birth rates, but critics warn it’s a step toward “high-tech, market-based eugenics.” Even some scientists who favor embryo research insist the risks are enormous: mistakes would be inherited for generations, turning children into experimental products.
Pro-Life Around the World
Taxpayer-Funded Abortions in Ireland: According to Ireland’s Prolife Campaign, Irish abortionists are reimbursed with taxpayer money averaging $23,878 per doctor annually, totaling over $506,000 of taxpayer money sent to abortionists a year. The disclosure comes as Ireland recorded a record 10,852 abortions in 2024—a 62.8% increase since legalization in 2019—despite political promises that abortions would remain “rare.” Pro Life Campaign’s Eilís Mulroy said her organization is engaging politicians to find common ground on reducing abortion rates and promoting alternatives for women. She stressed that abortion is not healthcare, and that taxpayer funds should be redirected to genuinely support women and families.
90,000 Abortions Ignored Yearly: Recently, The Daily Declaration released a commentary exposing the staggering double standard in public outrage, contrasting massive marches for causes abroad with the deafening silence over the 90,000 unborn babies killed in Australia each year. In Australia, mothers who abort late-term babies can receive more than $4,300 in government payments, with some cases costing taxpayers up to $23,000. Meanwhile, the American pro-abortion lobby EMILY’s List has deeply infiltrated Australian politics, helping elect over 300 pro-abortion women to state and federal parliaments, ensuring abortion remains legal, accessible, and publicly funded. As the commentary warns, the real march for humanity must begin with defending the lives of Australia’s most vulnerable—its unborn children.
Pro-Life on the Home Front
School Funds Secret Abortions: Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia is under investigation following shocking allegations that Centreville High School staff arranged and paid for abortions for two minors in 2021 without informing their parents. According to reports, one student underwent the procedure at just 17. The other, five months pregnant and pleading to keep her baby, allegedly fled the clinic after social worker Carolina Díaz told her she “had no choice.” Díaz is accused of scheduling the abortion, swearing the student to secrecy, and covering costs with taxpayer dollars. Virginia law requires parental consent for minors’ abortions, yet FCPS is accused of violating both state law and its own parental involvement policies. Pro-life leaders have condemned the allegations as state-funded child exploitation and a blatant assault on parental rights.
“I witnessed forced abortions in China,” says Mr. Mosher. “And I returned to the U.S. thinking it could never happen here. But it does. Many young, frightened girls are coerced into abortions by boyfriends, school counselors, and other authority figures who tell them, as social worker Carolina Diaz told her young victim, ‘You have no choice.’”
Planned Parenthood Closures Surge: President Trump’s new law cutting Medicaid funding for abortion providers is already saving lives—forcing 41 Planned Parenthood locations to close, with up to 200 more potentially shuttering. The abortion giant, which sued to retain taxpayer funding, has slashed cancer screenings and prenatal care while ramping up gender transitions and abortions—ending a record 402,230 unborn lives in 2022–2023 alone. Many of the shuttered clinics are in pro-abortion states like California and New York, proving that even “abortion tourism” cannot keep the clinics afloat without taxpayer funding.
Abortion Pills Replace Clinics: As Planned Parenthood shutters clinics nationwide, it is rapidly expanding its “Virtual Health Centers” (VHCs), which provide abortion pills, birth control, and gender hormone drugs via phone or online appointments—often without in-person exams. Since launching telehealth in 2020, all affiliates now offer virtual services, with 43 VHCs operating in 34 states, 23 of which dispense abortion pills. In 2024, Planned Parenthood claimed 70% of its abortions were by pill, and 1 in 4 abortions nationwide occurred via telehealth. The shift marks a fundamental change in Planned Parenthood’s business model, prioritizing quick, remote distribution of abortion drugs over in-person care, and leaving women with little oversight or follow-up.
For more information on the Planned Parenthood closures, check out our recent article here.
Good News
Planned Parenthood Leaves Louisiana: Planned Parenthood will close its last two Louisiana locations—Baton Rouge and New Orleans—on September 30, marking a major victory for the unborn. 40 Days for Life CEO Shawn Carney credited decades of prayer and activism, noting Planned Parenthood “survives financially on abortions” and taxpayer funding. While abortion is already banned in Louisiana, the facilities had assisted women in accessing out-of-state abortions. Governor Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill celebrated the closures, affirming Louisiana’s commitment to protecting life.
Quote of the Week
“Let’s defend human life at all times!”
~ Pope Leo XIV
