PRI FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: What is population control?

A: Population control is any top-down policy that controls people’s reproduction as a means to achieving some other policy goal. Some of these policy goals may sound good (“to improve the economy”) and some may be intrinsically wrong (“to reduce a minority population”) but treating people’s reproductive lives as mere tools to help achieve policy goals is always wrong and misguided. The end never justifies the means.  

Q: Does population control always violate human rights?

Yes. Population control is often violent, violating a woman’s bodily dignity. Population control is coercive, violating a person’s will. Population control is unscrupulously manipulative, violating a person’s right to informed consent and a couple’s right to freely decide upon their desired family size.

Q: Are there specific violations you can cite?

A: Yes, we have documented over 180 violations in over 50 countries.  

Q: What does PRI do about these misconceptions and abuses?

A: PRI documents and exposes abusive population control programs through investigative research. PRI also fights to ensure that current laws against coercion and force are followed in international aid organizations. We educate people around the world about the nature of coercive programs and the misconceptions behind these programs. We emphasize the world’s most undervalued resource—humans.  

Q: When did population control begin?

A: Many point to Thomas Malthus as the intellectual godfather of the population control movement. In 1798, Malthus wrote An Essay on the Principles of Population, stating:
“Must it not then be acknowledged by an attentive examiner of the histories of mankind, that in every age and in every state in which man has existed, or does now exist: That the increase of population is necessarily limited by the means of subsistence. That population does invariably increase when the means of subsistence increase. And that the superior power of population it repressed, and the actual population kept equal to the means of subsistence, by misery and vice.”
Eugenics entered the mainstream worldview of the social elite in the late 1800s with the advent of Francis Galton and genetic sciences. At the time, population controllers defined which populations needed to be controlled by their presumed intelligence and their sexual practices, targeting the “unfit” and “perverse” for sterilization. Compulsory eugenic laws were passed in Europe and the United States throughout the 1900s. With the end of World War II and the horror of the Holocaust, eugenics lost much of its popular credibility, although several American states kept their compulsory sterilization laws on the books. When the world population was growing rapidly, Paul Ehrlich published a book in 1968 through the Sierra Club titled The Population Bomb. Ehrlich predicted massive famines from overpopulation in the next decade, writing “There are only two kinds of solutions to the population problem. One is a “birth rate solution,” in which we find ways to lower the birth rate. The other is a “death rate solution” in which ways to raise the death rate—war, famine, pestilence—find us.” He then concluded, “The problem could have been avoided by population control.” The Population Bomb sold over four million copies, and the academic establishment adopted the view that low fertility was a prerequisite for development and modernization. Vast amounts of money began pouring into population control programs. Those couples or persons who desired to have a large family were viewed as threats to societal progress. As the hysteria mounted, money from both public and private sources poured into the programs. So, too, did coercion: India suffered under a mass-sterilization program from 1975–1977 during which 9 million persons were forcibly sterilized. China instituted its one-child policy in 1979. Peru forcibly sterilized hundreds of thousands of impoverished women in the mid 1990s.  

Q: What is the one-child policy?

A: The one-child policy refers to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) policy of strictly limiting the reproduction of its citizens. The policy began in 1979 and ran until 2016. It was, both in terms of the sheer numbers of people involved and in terms of the audacity of its goals, the largest social experiment the world has ever seen.  

Q: How was it enforced?

A: During the one-child policy, Chinese women needed a valid, government-issued birth permit. Women who conceive a child without a permit were coerced into abortions. Such couples additionally ran the risk of losing their jobs, their house, or even their freedom, since they were often incarcerated in family planning jails. Even if an “illegal” child was born, he or she was not allowed to register with the government as legal citizens. Such “black” children, as they were called, grew up as illegal aliens within their own country, denied access to public schools and medical care. After women had their permitted child, or in some cases two children, they were sterilized.  

Q: Is the one-child policy still enforced?

A: No, though the Chinese government still retains control over reproduction in the country. In 2016, the Chinese government permitted Chinese citizens who met certain criteria to have second children. In 2022, this changed again to a three-child policy for persons who met the criteria. Now, in a desperate bid to stop their falling population, some Chinese provinces are abandoning criteria, such as the requirement to be married, in order to boost births. However, minority groups, such as the Uyghurs, are still abused through forced sterilizations and abortions to this day. They have no reproductive freedom under the CCP.  

Q: What’s happening with the world population?

A: It used to grow slowly—then it didn’t. For most of human history, the world population was well below one billion. With the advent of modern medicine, mortality started falling drastically. The world population hit 2 billion persons in 1927. It increased to 3 billion persons in 1959, almost at the same exact time world life expectancy reached 50 years of age. So driving the so-called “population explosion” has actually been a real explosion in health and longevity. As late as the 19th century, four out of every 10 children died before reaching age five. Today under-five mortality has fallen to 1 out of 27 or 3.7%. Two hundred years ago, human life expectancy was under 30 years. Today it is 73 years and climbing. In the last decade alone, this age has increased by four years. As people live longer, naturally there are more of us around at any given time. The world hit 4 billion by the year 1974, even though the average world fertility rate fell by from about 5.0 to 3.9 children over the same period. Skipping forward a few decades, the world’s population recently hit 8 billion. But, according to the UN’s “low variant projection”—historically the most accurate—the population of the world will not reach 9 billion, peaking just short in 2053 or so and then beginning to decline. Already though, fertility is falling and populations are aging. Academics expected that fertility and mortality would eventually balance out, and the world population would return to a stable or very slow-growing population. But approximately 80 countries, representing three-quarters of the world’s population, suffer from below-replacement fertility—defined as less than 2.1 children per woman. Many of these countries—especially in Europe and Asia—are now experiencing a population decline so steep that it is probably irreversible. Since 1960 the world fertility rate has fallen over 50%. It is predicted to continue this fall and hit 2.1 by 2050. By 2100, the global fertility rate is predicted to be only 1.9 children.  

Q: Is the world’s population aging—and what will this mean?

A: The world population is aging quickly. In 2018, individuals over the age of 65 outnumbered children under 5, for the first time in history. The population divide has been growing for decades, as working age and elderly increase, while young adults and children decrease. As of 2020, there were 727 million individuals over 65 years old around the world. This number is projected to double between now and 2050. In thirty years, the current percentage of those over 65 will increase from 9% to 16%. With this, the global median age is moving steadily toward 50. By 2100, the global median age will be almost double what it was in 1950. These changes present new challenges for societies as they must adapt their social pension systems and health care services.

Q: Why are fertility rates falling?

A: Falling fertility rates in developed nations can be attributed to many causes. Developed nations often see an automatic decline in fertility, despite having more resources to care for children. Both men and women are delaying marriage and childbearing until later in life. This is leading to an epidemic of childlessness. Many women end up missing their fertility window and are unable to find a suitable partner and have children in the necessary timeframe. In many instances, this is an unplanned outcome as many people want to have children but lose out on the opportunity. Even for people who do end up marrying and having children, the delay can lead to fewer total children for many couples. The decrease in young mothers is a leading cause of the drop in the overall fertility rate.  According to the data, the number of women forgoing children in their youthful years has rapidly increased, while the number of women having children later in life has not. The normalization of birth control and recreational sex has contributed to the fall of fertility. Fertility may also be falling due to endocrine disruptors, which interfere with the body’s hormones. In the past 40 years, sperm counts have decreased by over half. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to this decrease, due to couples postponing pregnancy during the “crisis.”  The mRNA vaccines have negatively impacted fertility as well.  

Q: Does the COVID-19 vaccination affect fertility?

A: Yes. The rollout of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccinations saw an immediate uptick in menstrual irregularities. The unique spike protein circulates in the body causing damage, especially to fragile reproductive systems. For women, miscarriages and stillbirths have increased, while fertility decreased. For men, the vaccinations were connected with decreased sperm counts, which had not completely rebounded even 150 days after the shot.

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