Wishing you a Wonderful Memorial day weekend!
In This Issue:
- PRI in the Media
- Exclusive on CFN
- Pro-Life Movement in Peru
- Deepening Depopulation
- Facing Fertility Issues
- Hope for S. Europe
- Communist China
- Vatican Bows to China
- Science Gone Mad
- A New IVF Bill
- Pro-Life Around the World
- Legalizing Sex-Selective Death
- Pro-Life on the Home Front
- Abortion via App
- Weak Critiques in FL
- Opposing the WHO & CRR
- Christian Nurse Wins
- Good News
- Big Family Bonus
PRI in the Media
Exclusive on CFN: This week, PRI President Steven Mosher completed a detailed interview with Matt Gaspers on Catholic Family News. The conversation ranged from the spread of Communism into China from Soviet Russia to Mao Zedong’s rise to power and long reign of terror to the CCP’s “Catholic Patriotic Association” and the plight of Chinese Catholics. Mr. Mosher shared his experience as the first American social scientist to visit Communist China and the brutalities he witnessed while there, which ultimately led to his conversion to Christ and His Church. This interview was especially timely in light of the recent confirmation that the Vatican hopes to renew the Sino-Vatican “agreement,” as well as the recent news of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to China last week to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
This week, Mr. Mosher was also interviewed by The New American senior editor Rebecca Terrell on The Devil and Communist China. Watch here.
Don’t have The Devil and Communist China yet? Request your copy today with a donation of $35 or more.
Pro-Life Movement in Peru: PRI’s Ibero-American Director Carlos Polo appeared on Praying for America with Fr. Frank Pavone to discuss Peru’s “Day of the Unborn.” This day, set aside to remember the unborn and recognize their personhood, is a sign of the thriving pro-life movement in Peru. Mr. Polo, and his team at PRI Ibero-America, work to continue cultivating this movement in Peru and across South and Central America. Their work contributed to the approval of pro-life law in Peru on March 13th, which guaranteed “the protection of the pregnancy, the pregnant mother, the unborn child, and their family environment.”
Deepening Depopulation
Facing Fertility Issues: Three decades ago, when women now entering their forties first became fertile, many countries around the world were hopeful that they would have as many children as the generation prior. For example, South Korea expected the fertility rate of 1.7 to hold, but instead, it collapsed to 0.72. A similar decline happened in most countries, with a few Nordic exceptions where generous maternity leave and childcare policies were put in place. Today, it’s debatable whether government intervention will be able to make a difference around the world when the rejection of marriage and family has already reached all industrialized countries. As an example again, South Korea has no evidence that their government interventions are succeeding, as “no study has been published in a reputable journal showing a single additional birth resulting from the billions of dollars spent.”
Hope for S. Europe: Southern Europe has not been spared the issue of falling fertility rates. Italy’s president is working on boosting Italian fertility, Spain’s fertility rate has reached record lows, and even Malta’s Parliament has referred to the low birth rate as an “existential challenge.” In light of this, the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) has released a new report on the future of fertility in southern Europe. IFS admitted that there is no singular blueprint to reverse falling fertility that will work for all countries. However, one of its concluding points stated, “The best path forward for governments interested in pronatal policy is a harmonized multinational data collection effort entirely focused on assessing factors shaping fertility and marriage.”
Communist China
Vatican Bows to China: The Vatican recently hosted a Chinese bishop with connections to the CCP at a conference in Rome. Shanghai Bishop Joseph Shen Bin, the controversial bishop appointed without Vatican approval, appeared alongside Cardinal Pietro Parolin at the Pontifical Urbaniana University. It was the first time that a mainland bishop has been allowed by Beijing to participate in a public Vatican event as the keynote speaker. At the conference, leaders in the Vatican affirmed that the Catholic Church poses no threat to Beijing’s sovereignty and claimed that Western missionaries had made “errors” in past centuries in their missions in China. As for Shen’s speech, he pushed that the Catholic Church “must have a Chinese point of view, respect Chinese culture and develop alongside Chinese society.”
“Shen Bin is not only the Bishop of Shanghai, he is the head of the CCP-run Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association,” says Mr. Mosher. “As such, he is spearheading the drive to force all underground bishops and priests to join this group. Pope Francis may apologize for the missionary zeal of the past centuries–although I thought missionaries were supposed to display ‘zeal’–but there is no mention of the present-day ‘zeal’ of the Chinese Communist Party to convert the Chinese faithful into faithful followers of the Party line and its leaders. While the Catholic Church poses no threat to Beijing’s sovereignty, the officially atheistic CCP poses a huge threat to the souls of the Chinese faithful.”
Science Gone Mad
A New IVF Bill: Two Senate Republicans have introduced legislation that would protect access to in vitro fertilization. The “IVF Protection Act” would withdraw eligibility for federal Medicaid funding from any state that bans IVF. Senators Ted Cruz and Katie Britt may believe they are protecting life with these actions, but they are shielding an immoral process that destroys the smallest of lives. On its surface, IVF may seem pro-life but, as The Daily Signal points out, “Those lives [created via IVF] are in peril from the moment they come into existence until they are safely transferred to their mother’s womb and given a chance at successful implantation.” Tragically, only about 2.3% of IVF embryos result in a live birth, with only ~7% of embryos implanted at all. That leaves over 90% of embryos thrown away, experimented on, or frozen indefinitely.
Pro-Life Around the World
Legalizing Sex-Selective Death: Pro-abortion amendments to a Criminal Justice Bill would make sex-selective abortions legal in England and Wales. One of the amendments, proposed by Diana Johnson MP, would make it legal for a woman to perform her own abortion at any point up to birth, including on sex-selective grounds. With the vote on the amendments coming up, a campaign group dedicated to ending sex-selective abortion, Stop Gendercide, drew attention to this amendment. Stop Gendercide also shared evidence that there are women in the UK who are pressured to have abortions based on the sex of their unborn baby. Sex-selective abortions have been occurring and continue to occur in the UK and around the world.
Pro-Life on the Home Front
Abortion via App: Planned Parenthood now offers the abortion pills through its app in four states. The abortion giant is pushing abortion access through all available avenues. Planned Parenthood’s “Direct” app also offers “birth control, UTI treatments, and the emergency contraception Ella delivered to their door without seeing a doctor.” Women in Hawaii, Maryland, Washington, and now Illinois can receive the deadly combination of mifepristone and misoprostol without an in-person visit. Women are self-managing their abortions, without ever seeing a doctor, which could lead to the misuse of the abortion drugs and serious complications. The abortion pills kill the unborn child and, in many recent cases, have caused harm, physical and mental, or death to the mother as well.
Weak Critiques in FL: Pro-life Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill allocating $466,200 toward the creation of a pregnancy and parenting resources website. Despite this being concrete assistance for mothers and their children, critics are still not satisfied. While the state’s health agencies will maintain the site, they will not be the ones developing it. Instead, the health department will find a company to launch the project by July 2025. Critics claim that this is “clearly going to be an avenue for pregnancy crisis centers and trying to continue their indoctrination of women to not have a choice in their pregnancies.” However, this biased critique is not an accurate picture of what these clinics offer women. Crisis pregnancy clinics in Florida, like Community Pregnancy Clinics, offer medical, financial, and material assistance to mothers facing unplanned pregnancies. Giving women options besides abortion does not constitute “indoctrination.”
“Once again we see Florida leading the way in helping to create a culture of life that is supportive of pregnant moms and young parents,” says Mr. Mosher. “With a pro-life legislature and a pro-life governor, the state is making great strides towards the protection of human life. Make sure everyone you know is registered to vote. Voting matters.”
Opposing the WHO & CRR: Members of the U.S. Congress have threatened to cut funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) if the organization enters into official relations with the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR). The CRR is a controversial abortion and sexual rights law firm. The CRR’s primary goal is to decriminalize abortion around the world, trampling the sovereign rights of countries to make their own laws on abortion as agreed in international law. The proposal to enter these official relations with the CRR was proposed by WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus in January. Due to backlash from traditional countries, the final decision on the matter was postponed to June. Members of Congress are doing their part to oppose this move. A letter from these members, led by Congressman Andy Biggs, stated, “As members of Congress, we will look upon a decision to give special status to the Center for Reproductive Rights as evidence that the WHO is unreformable and as a further argument to withhold all funding to the organization.”
Christian Nurse Wins: A major pharmacy chain has caved and settled a case with a Christian nurse who sued over the loss of religious accommodations regarding “pregnancy prevention services.” Starting in 2015, Nurse Robyn Strader had been granted religious accommodations regarding contraception. She’d been allowed to send patients requesting contraceptive services to another practitioner either at the same location or nearby. But in January 2023, she filed a lawsuit after being fired following a policy change in 2021, arguing that the company had retaliated against her for her religious beliefs. On Monday, First Liberty Institute, her legal representation, announced on Monday that CVS agreed to settle, though the terms are not public.
“We are thrilled that Robyn was able to reach a resolution with CVS,” Stephanie Taub, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, said in the press release. “We are hopeful that companies across the country will recognize the religious liberty of their employees and work to protect those rights.”
Good News
Big Family Bonus: This week, Aleteia shared how growing up in a big family comes with ongoing benefits, especially when you’re all grown! Having adult siblings can provide you with advisors in your life, who are invested in your well-being. They become your own kind of “nifty network” of people with all different life skills. They are your mutual support for caring for your parents as they age. Even as you age, you keep each other young at heart, as you enjoy the holidays and many birthdays. If you grew up in a large family, you know this well. If you have grown a large family with your spouse, then you are providing a beautiful future for your children!
“Some years ago, PRI published a pamphlet called ‘Ten Great Reasons to Have Another Child,’” says Mr. Mosher. “We distributed it widely, and it is still available on our website at the above link. If you, your children, or someone else you know, are hesitant to have another child, this is the pamphlet for you. Real life in a large family is more exciting–and rewarding–than any video game ever invented.”
Quote of the Week
“There is no joy like the joy of welcoming another child into your life. You will marvel anew at how perfectly formed your little one is, and over how quickly you will fall head over heels in love with him. You will be enchanted with every tiny aspect of her appearance. The color of her hair, the shape of her nose, and the winsomeness of her smile will occasion endless happy debates about from which side of the family (yours, of course) she got that adorable trait.”
~ PRI President Steven Mosher, Ten Great Reasons to Have Another Child
