In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- Hong Kong Church Under Siege
- China’s Global Threat
- Deepening Depopulation
- Canada’s Fertility Hits Record Low
- More Americans Fear Falling Birthrates
- UK Scraps Two-Child Benefit Cap
- South Korea’s Future is Vanishing
- UN Misdeeds
- RFK Rejects UN Abortion Agenda
- Science Gone Mad
- Skin Cells to Embryos
- Pro-Life Around the World
- Denmark Apologizes for Forced Contraception
- NSW Targets Sex-Selection Abortions
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- Audit Reveals AIDS Fund Failure
- Archbishop Rebukes Cardinal Cupich
- Abortions Paused in Wisconsin
- Good News
- Houston’s Largest Abortion Mill Closed
PRI in the Media
Hong Kong Church Under Siege: This week, PRI President Steven Mosher was featured in the National Catholic Register, warning against false claims of religious freedom in Hong Kong. Responding to Cardinal Stephen Chow’s assertion that Beijing seeks to keep religious liberty “intact,” Mr. Mosher called the claim “laughable.” He recalled how the Chinese Communist Party once pledged to honor Hong Kong’s autonomy for half a century, only to tear up that agreement a decade ago. Mr. Mosher cautioned that “the walls are closing in on the Church in Hong Kong,” just as they already have in mainland China under CCP control.
China’s Global Threat: Mr. Mosher, appearing on In the Spotlight, warned of the mounting dangers posed by Communist China, drawing from his book The Devil and Communist China. He explained that immigrants from China entering the U.S. are pre-screened by the CCP as “politically reliable,” enabling Beijing to extend its surveillance abroad. China now controls 119 ports worldwide—including strong economic influence on both sides of the Panama Canal—giving it potential leverage over U.S. naval movements in case of a conflict. Mr. Mosher also recalled China’s brutal one-child policy, which claimed 400 million unborn lives. He urged America to cut off support for China’s rise and confront the regime with the same resolve that brought down the Soviet Union.
Deepening Depopulation
Canada’s Fertility Hits Record Low: Canada has officially entered the ranks of “ultra-low fertility” nations. The country’s total fertility rate dropped to just 1.25 children per woman in 2024, hitting a record low for the country. Statistics Canada reports that this is part of a decades-long collapse. The average age of first-time mothers has climbed to 31.8 years, up from 26.7 in 1976. Canada now joins countries like Japan, Italy, and Switzerland in demographic freefall. Experts warn that economic barriers and delayed childbearing are driving the decline.
More Americans Fear Falling Birthrates: A growing share of Americans now see falling fertility as a national crisis. According to a new survey from Pew Research Center, 53% say fewer children being born will negatively impact the U.S.—up six points since last year. Men (59%) and Republicans (63%) are especially likely to voice concern, though agreement is rising across all groups. Still, 56% oppose any federal role in boosting births, with women especially resistant. Among those who support action, 82% favor tax credits for parents, while majorities also back paid family leave and free childcare.
UK Scraps Two-Child Benefit Cap: The UK government has announced the end of its “two-child benefit cap,” a policy long linked to rising abortion numbers. Since its introduction in 2017, abortions among women with two or more children rose nearly 26%, compared to just 10% among those with fewer children. A BPAS survey found 57% of mothers on tax credits or universal credit said the cap factored into their abortion decision. The pro-life community is welcoming the change and calling it a “significant step” toward ensuring mothers receive the support needed to choose life.
“Simply sending a slightly larger check to the mothers of three or more children will not boost the British birth rate, except among immigrants who are already almost totally dependent upon the government’s dole,” says Mr. Mosher. “What Britain should do is shelter young couples who are willing to have children from the country’s already onerous taxes. This would let them keep the money they have earned instead of sending it to the government, allowing them to spend it on raising their own children.”
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South Korea’s Future is Vanishing: South Korea’s fertility rate inched up to 0.74 in 2024, but remains the lowest in the world. At this level, every 100 Koreans would produce only 36 children, signaling demographic collapse by the 2040s. By 2030, one in four Koreans will be over 65, straining pensions, health care, and military readiness as troop numbers shrink. Despite $270 billion in incentives—ranging from cash bonuses to childcare subsidies—births continue to fall. Experts warn that without bold cultural renewal, the “Miracle on the Han River” could give way to lasting stagnation.
UN Misdeeds
RFK Rejects UN Abortion Agenda: This week at the United Nations, U.S. Health Chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr. firmly rejected language promoting gender ideology and an international “right” to abortion. Calling gender ideology “destructive,” Kennedy blasted the World Health Organization (WHO) for losing credibility by prioritizing abortion and transgender policies over genuine health crises. Pointing to America’s record-high burden of chronic disease, he announced that the U.S. would block the controversial declaration on non-communicable diseases, signaling a major break with the U.N.’s radical agenda.
Science Gone Mad
Skin Cells to Embryos: U.S. scientists have, for the first time, created human embryos using DNA from skin cells fertilized with sperm—a step that could one day allow same-sex couples or older adults to have genetically related children. The process is fraught with errors and dangers. Success rates are extremely low (around 9%), and the manipulated eggs often discarded the wrong chromosomes, ending up with duplicates of some and none of others, an error known to cause disease. Researchers admit the method is ‘far from polished,’ highlighting not only its medical risks but also the profound ethical violations of treating human life as a laboratory experiment.
Pro-Life Around the World
Denmark Apologizes for Forced Contraception: Denmark has formally apologized for decades of secretly inserting intrauterine devices (IUDs) into Greenlandic women and girls—some as young as 12—without their knowledge or consent. Between the late 1960s and early 1990s, over 4,000 were subjected to the program, part of a population-control push to suppress Inuit birth rates. Victims later faced infertility, trauma, and lifelong health complications. Denmark has now pledged compensation, but it is far from alone. From India and Peru to Japan, Sweden, and even the United States, governments worldwide have pursued coercive sterilizations under the guise of “public health” and “overpopulation” fears.
“What Denmark did to Inuit women—secret IUD insertions—was unconscionable,” says Mr. Mosher. “But we shouldn’t pretend that such acts belong to some dark past. There are still campaigns being carried around around the world under the banner of ‘reproductive health’ that continue to target women and girls. In practice, they disproportionately target marginalised, indigenous, poor, or disabled women, those with the least power to resist. They must be stopped.”
NSW Targets Sex-Selection Abortions: In New South Wales, Libertarian MP John Ruddick has introduced legislation to outlaw sex-selective abortion, condemning it as “gender-based murder.” Backed by pro-life advocate Dr. Joanna Howe, the bill draws on Edith Cowan University’s 2025 study of 2.1 million births, which found skewed male-to-female ratios among children of Indian, Chinese, and Vietnamese mothers in Australia—evidence of cultural son preference. The proposal would amend the 2019 Abortion Law Reform Act to prohibit sex-selection abortions and strip liability protections from practitioners. Howe is leading a “Save Our Girls” tour, culminating in an October 22 rally at Parliament.
Pro-Life on the Home Front
Audit Reveals AIDS Fund Failure: A State Department audit has exposed shocking waste in America’s $110 billion global AIDS program. Since 2003, just 40% of funds have gone to life-saving medical supplies, while more than $30 billion has been diverted to executive pay and ideological projects. Two top contractors—RTI International and Chemonics—funneled taxpayer dollars into million-dollar salaries, with RTI’s CEO taking $1.2 million in 2023 and four other executives making over $800,000 each. Instead of saving lives, these groups pushed “decolonizing development,” transgender support, and “cisnormativity” reports. President Trump’s new America First Global Health Strategy warns that foreign aid has become a taxpayer-funded vehicle for fraud and leftist agendas.
“A program that was supposed to fight AIDS predictably became a slush fund for all kinds of leftist projects,” says Mr. Mosher. “DEI ‘directors’ were getting six-figure salaries. Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives were siphoning off millions. CEO salaries were running to a million dollars or more. Sixty percent of the $110 billion went for overhead and incidentals. And even much of the remaining 40 percent was actually spent on population control programs, not AIDS reduction programs, as our investigation into CRS showed.”
Archbishop Rebukes Cardinal Cupich: Retired Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City has strongly condemned Cardinal Blase Cupich for honoring pro-abortion Sen. Richard Durbin with a lifetime achievement award. Calling it a “source of scandal” and an act of “pastoral neglect,” Naumann said that dialogue with Catholic politicians does not require giving them awards while they advance abortion. He stressed that abortion remains “the primary human rights issue of our time,” attacking the most vulnerable and undermining family life. Naumann joins at least eight U.S. bishops who have publicly urged Cardinal Cupich to rescind the honor ahead of the Nov. 3 event.
“The growing backlash over U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois radical abortion advocacy has paid off,” says Mr. Mosher. “Chicago Cardinal Cupich has announced that Durbin will decline the award. This is obviously a face-saving maneuver on both their parts: Durbin maintains a dignified silence, while Cupich avoids having to reverse himself by claiming that Durbin refused the award. The only ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ that Senator Durbin deserves is one for betraying the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of life.”
Abortions Paused in Wisconsin: Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced it will pause abortion appointments beginning Oct. 1, citing President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which cut off Medicaid payments to abortion providers for one year. The move follows the state Supreme Court’s repeal of Wisconsin’s near-total abortion ban, but now Planned Parenthood is scrambling to keep its abortion business afloat. In a statement, PPWI admitted it is “pursuing every available option” through the courts and political lobbying to resume killing unborn children. For now, the pause marks a major victory in the ongoing fight to protect mothers and babies.
Good News
Houston’s Largest Abortion Mill Closed: Planned Parenthood’s 78,000-square-foot “Prevention Park” in Houston—once the largest abortion facility in the Western Hemisphere—has permanently closed, along with another Houston site. The closures follow President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which stripped $500 million in taxpayer funding from the abortion giant. Planned Parenthood now warns that two-thirds of its centers may close. In 2022–2023, it performed 402,230 abortions, a 23% rise since 2013, and at least 41 facilities have shuttered this year.
Quote of the Week
“A society that enables mothers to stay home with their children gets more of them. While a society that pushes all women into the workforce gets fewer.”
~ PRI President Steven Mosher
