In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- FBI Investigates Eric Swalwell
- Deepening Depopulation
- Scotland’s Births Hit Record Low
- Singapore Expands Family Support
- South Korea Births Rise
- Communist China
- Christian Leaders Face Criminal Charges
- Chinese Christians Await Trial
- Science Gone Mad
- The Dark Side of Egg Harvesting
- Inside the Surrogacy Marketplace
- Pro-Life Around the World
- France’s New Assisted Suicide Incentive
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- New Jersey Threatens Pro-Life Speech
- California Assisted Suicides Hit Record
- Court Allows Abortion Referrals
- Colorado Abortion Clinics Face Scrutiny
- Good News
- Senator Praises Pregnancy Center
PRI in the Media
FBI Investigates Eric Swalwell: This week, PRI President Steven Mosher was featured on LifeSiteNews, where he discussed the FBI’s investigation into former Congressman Eric Swalwell. Mr. Mosher revisited Swalwell’s past relationship with Chinese intelligence agent Fang Fang and argued that the FBI knew about her activities but failed to investigate Swalwell. He contends that the agency instead protected the congressman from scandal and ultimately buried the matter, calling for the FBI to be cleared of political operatives.
Deepening Depopulation
Scotland’s Births Hit Record Low: Scotland recorded just 45,067 births in 2025, the lowest number since records began in 1855 and the third consecutive year of record-low births. The fertility rate also fell to a historic low of 1.23 children per woman. Deaths have now outnumbered births for 11 straight years, with Scotland’s recent population growth driven entirely by migration.
Singapore Expands Family Support: Singapore will provide families nearly S$70,000 ($52,000) per child from birth through age 17 as the government attempts to reverse its worsening birth rate. The country’s fertility rate fell to a record-low 0.87 children per woman last year. The new measures include a S$10,000 (about $7,860) “baby gift,” education and healthcare grants, reduced childcare costs, and expanded childcare leave.
“The city-state of Singapore, where most people live in high rise apartment buildings, is discovering that it is almost impossible to raise birth rates in a densely populated urban area,” says Mr. Mosher. “Highly urban, highly secularized populations—like the Chinese population of Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc.—average less than one child per couple. Its effort to pay for more births will not do much to increase the birth rate, I predict.”
South Korea Births Rise: South Korea recorded 254,300 births in 2025, up 6.7% from the previous year and the highest total since 2021, signaling a possible shift in the country’s prolonged demographic decline. The fertility rate also rose by 0.05 to 0.80 children per woman, though it remains among the world’s lowest. Mothers also continue to have children later, with the average age at childbirth reaching 33.8.
Communist China
Christian Leaders Face Criminal Charges: Three leaders of Yueyang Panshi Bible Church remain in custody after Chinese authorities transferred their cases from administrative to criminal detention. Pastor Huang Lei, Yang Jianjun, and Hu Hongtao face charges of “illegal use of information networks,” a term used to prosecute independent Christian communities. During a July crackdown, police raided church gatherings and homes, confiscated Bibles and Christian literature, and collected believers’ DNA samples, fingerprints, voiceprints, and video recordings.
Chinese Christians Await Trial: Eight members of China’s unregistered Zion Church remain detained after an October 2025 crackdown, despite its founding pastor Ezra Jin’s release in July. Pastor Wang Cong and seven others face fraud and “illegally operating a business” charges that their families dispute. Authorities allege Wang fraudulently collected about $98,000 in church offerings because Zion is an unregistered Christian Church which refuses to bow to the CCP. Their trial, originally scheduled for mid-August, has been postponed.
Science Gone Mad
The Dark Side of Egg Harvesting: An investigation into Northern Cyprus fertility clinics exposed how the IVF industry commodifies human life, with donors categorized and priced according to ethnicity and physical traits. Blonde, blue-eyed “VIP” donors commanded higher prices, while local student donors received as little as €400 ($466), with payments increasing based on the number of eggs retrieved. The investigation also found British patients whose children were conceived using donors they had not selected.
Inside the Surrogacy Marketplace: Recent cases are exposing the troubling consequences of the growing surrogacy and IVF industries. One Chinese billionaire reportedly fathered more than 100 babies through American surrogates, while other cases have involved embryo mix-ups and contractual disputes over abortion. Companies are also marketing genetic tests to select embryos based on predicted traits like intelligence and height, raising further concerns about the commodification and eugenics this industry is promoting.
Pro-Life Around the World
France’s New Assisted Suicide Incentive: France’s new assisted suicide and euthanasia law requires life insurers to pay beneficiaries when a policyholder dies through assisted suicide or euthanasia, even overriding certain suicide exclusion clauses. This new law could create an “economic incentive to resort to assisted dying” and increase the risk of coercion. The law also does not require patients to be within six or 12 months of death to qualify.
Pro-Life on the Home Front
New Jersey Threatens Pro-Life Speech: New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed S. 2260 into law, further protecting the abortion industry while potentially targeting pro-life advocates. Pro-life leaders warn that terms such as “threat,” “intimidate,” and “coerce” could be broadly interpreted, potentially allowing the law to be used against peaceful sidewalk counseling, prayer, holding signs, or offering women life-affirming alternatives outside abortion clinics.
“The so-called ‘blue states’ are inching ever closer to infanticide,” says Mr. Mosher. “First Massachusetts and now New Jersey have just passed laws allowing essentially unrestricted abortion up to birth. This as their birth rates continue to drop and sensible people are fleeing south to more family- and child-friendly states. PRI will continue to oppose these state-level efforts to legalize abortion on demand.”
California Assisted Suicides Hit Record: California recorded 1,235 assisted suicide deaths in 2025, the highest annual total on record and a nearly 150% increase from 495 in 2020. Since assisted suicide became legal in 2016, 6,758 people have died this way. Among those who died in 2025, 96.1% cited reduced ability to enjoy activities, 94.7% cited loss of autonomy, and 84.1% cited loss of dignity.
Court Allows Abortion Referrals: A federal appeals court ruled that Planned Parenthood can continue referring Indiana minors to out-of-state abortion providers without first requiring them to satisfy Indiana’s parental consent requirements. The ruling permanently blocks a 2017 provision intended to prevent people from helping minors obtain abortions without parental consent. The court claimed that providing abortion information and abortion referrals to minors is protected by the First Amendment.
Colorado Abortion Clinics Face Scrutiny: Pro-life groups are calling for greater oversight of Colorado abortion facilities following the death of 18-year-old Alexis Arguello from complications after an abortion at a Fort Collins Planned Parenthood last year. Operation Rescue reports that they have documented at least 12 additional women who were injured at the same facility since her death. Pro-life advocates are urging lawmakers to require abortion facilities to meet stronger health and safety standards.
Good News
Senator Praises Pregnancy Center: U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton praised Arkansas’ New Beginnings Pregnancy Center for supporting mothers, fathers, and babies, saying the center is “doing the Lord’s work” by helping build strong families. Pregnancy resource centers provide women with life-affirming alternatives to abortion, and provide mothers with maternity clothes, baby formula, adoption referrals, and parenting resources. Since 2022, Arkansas has awarded millions in grants to support pregnancy help organizations to continue their life-saving work.
Quote of the Week
“My dear young friends, I want to invite you to ‘dare to love.’ Do not desire anything less for your life than a love that is strong and beautiful and that is capable of making the whole of your existence a joyful undertaking of giving yourselves as a gift to God and your brothers and sisters, in imitation of the One who vanquished hatred and death forever through love.”
~ Pope Benedict XVI
