Review Trump Administration Releases Rules To Protect Employer Conscience Rights

BY JONATHAN ABBAMONTE

he Trump administration has released three new regulations Tto help protect the conscience rights of families and employers when purchasing health insurance. Each rule is aimed at undoing Obama-era regulations that were put in place in pursuit of implementing the Afford- able Care Act (ACA). The first two regulations seek to provide employers with religious and moral exemptions to the Obama-era “HHS Contraceptive Mandate.” If implemented, the new rules would prevent the government from forcing The White House in Washington DC / Getty Images religious employers to pay for abor- tifacient methods of contraception bill. Under the ACA, the government New Conscience Rights in their employer-sponsored health is required to collect a “separate pay- For Religious Employers plans. ment” for coverage of elective abortion In addition, another rule released but under the Obama administration, A pair of final rules released No- by HHS would undo a federal reg- health plan issuers were permitted to vember 7, just after the midterm ulation that currently allows health collect both payments on the same bill. elections, would provide a religious insurance companies to collect premi- Here is a summary of the exemption from the “HHS Contra- ums for abortion coverage and health new rules released by the Trump ceptive Mandate.” The rules were care coverage together on the same administration: (continued on page 5)

1 Trump's New Rules Protect Consciences 8 ‘I Didn’t Know Any of This!’ 2 Heartbeat Laws Gaining Strength 9 Latin American Families Shrinking 3 Letters to PRI 10 Your Pro-Life Resolution 4 Bring Benedict Option to Life 11 PRI in the News

INSIDE 6 Kenya Stops Abortion 12 From the Countries

January / February 2019 1 JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019 VOL. 29, NO. 1 Can the Supremes Review Hear the Heartbeat? The Population Research Institute Review is by Steven W. Mosher published bimonthly by:

Population Research still remember the joy I felt when I first 69 percent of Institute Iheard the heartbeat of each of my nine 109 East Main St. children. Americans... Front Royal VA 22630 Six weeks into the pregnancy my wife (540)-662-5240 and I would go in for our first ultrasound. support the legal [email protected] My wife would lie down on the examina- protection of the www.pop.org tion table, and we would both wait anx- iously while the technician moved the unborn child wand around my wife’s lower abdomen from the moment Fr. Paul Marx, OSB, PhD searching for a sign of life. (1920-2010) Then we would hear it. a heartbeat is Founder A sound like a galloping pony racing to- detected. Steven W. Mosher ward the finish line at 120 tiny hoofbeats President a minute. We would smile—even tear up a Joel Bockrath little—at the sound of this calming rhythm. PRI’s own heartbeat petition has well Executive Vice President The heartbeat was living proof that our over 30,000 signatures, and the number baby was alive and well and growing. continues to grow. Jonathan Abbamonte Everyone instinctively understands that No fewer than 10 states, as well as Research Analyst the heartbeat is the ultimate sign of life. the U.S. House of Representatives, have Karen Shannon Banning abortions after this point would seen heartbeat legislation introduced that Development Manager be a huge step toward our ultimate goal, would require would-be abortionists to Carlos Polo which is to protect all unborn children listen for a baby’s heartbeat, and would Director, PRI Latin from the moment of conception. prohibit an abortion if the heartbeat can American Office So-called “heartbeat legislation,” laws be detected. Carlos Beltramo that would protect unborn life from the The states of Arkansas, Iowa, and Director, PRI European moment that a heartbeat can be detect- North Dakota have actually seen heart- Office ed, has the support of nearly seven in 10 beat legislation signed into law, only to Americans. have these measures struck down by fed- Last year, a Barna poll found that 69 eral judges on the grounds that they were percent of Americans, including 61 per- “unconstitutional.” Design by cent of Independents and 55 percent of Why? Because the liberal-dominated Perceptions Studio Democrats, support the legal protection Supreme Court in both Roe v. Wade and Amherst, New Hampshire of the unborn child from the moment a Planned Parenthood v. Casey declared that heartbeat is detected. an unborn child has no right to life prior Over the past five years, the heartbeat to “viability.” movement has gotten ever stronger, win- But what is “viability”? Babies born pre- ning support from people like Vice Pres- maturely at 20 weeks are now surviving, ident Mike Pence. The vice president has and the expectation is that medical ad- said he “loves” the heartbeat bill and has vances may allow even younger premies to raised the issue with President Trump. live outside the womb. “Viability” is not a

2 medical term, but a legal one, arbitrari- ly used to deprive the unborn of the right to life. In MKB Management Corp. v. Letters Stenehjem, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals actually pointed this out. The “viability standard has proven un- Dear Steve, satisfactory because it gives too little consideration to the ‘substantial state Thank you for being a guest on Life Matters, the right-to-life television interest in potential life throughout program for the state of Massachusetts. pregnancy,’” wrote the Eighth Circuit. Thanks for everything that you and PRI do. I am very appreciative The court went on to argue that the of your efforts, which witness to the value of life around the world, states should be left to decide at what and have helped to convince the U.S. government to cut funding point to protect the life of the unborn. to many abortion- and population control-promoting groups. It even left open the possibility that Your Friend for Life, states could legitimately choose “the Brendan O'Connell point at which an unborn child pos- Executive Producer & President, Life Matters TV and Media, Inc. sesses a detectable heartbeat.” Despite this, the Supreme Court to Hello, Steve, date has left lower court injunctions Thank you for your fine article about the bad deal and China's against heartbeat legislation in place. Catholics. Some pro-life groups have been less Your writing and speaking are irreplaceable in the defense of than enthusiastic about continuing the Church in China. Thank you for standing with the faithful. this effort, fearing the legal challenges The Vatican needs to ponder "You can trust the Communists...to that would follow. They would prefer be Communists.". to gradually chip away at Roe v. Wade rather than reverse it completely. Dan I strongly disagree. With Justice The article referenced is reprinted on page 11. Brett Kavanaugh replacing the ev- er-wobbly Anthony Kennedy, it is time Dear Steve, to revisit the abortion issue in a major way. It was great to see you at the National Right to Life Convention. We have a solid pro-life majority on I heard nothing but wonderful remarks about your session on the Supreme Court for the very first China. Thank you SO much for coming. Take care, Steven. You are time since Roe v. Wade was wrong- one of the true heroes. ly decided nearly a half century ago. For their lives, Let us challenge them to uphold the Jacki Ragan, Director, State Organizational constitutionality of a law that protects Development and NRL Conventions, Inc. unborn Americans from the moment that a heartbeat can be detected. Dear Steven W. Mosher, The babies have waited long Thank you for your letter which arrived today 12th June and the enough. And so have we. information folder which arrived a few days ago. PRI is doing great work. I fully agree with your efforts on behalf of the family which is under such attack all over the world and also here in Australia. Keep up your good work. Kind regards, Bill Larkin

January / February 2019 3 How to live the Benedict Option and aid the spiritual lives of those around you.

Dear PRI friend, seems beyond One of the most talked-about and widely your reach... admired books in a very long time is Rod ƒƒ How love is most Dreher’s The Benedict Option, and doubtless fully expressed you’re familiar with it. Perhaps you’ve read … tips on where it, but almost certainly you’ve read the rave to have gatherings of reviews it’s received in major Catholic media. traditional Catholic friends, from small Well, PRI’s gift to you is a book that belongs to large …which Catholics are often most right beside The Benedict Option. It’s Building eager to participate in Benedict Option the Benedict Option. gatherings (hint: you’ll frequently meet Published by Ignatius Press, Building the them at social hours following Mass) ... Benedict Option gives you practical suggestions the most serious enemy of the Benedict on how to grow spiritually with fellow Option... traditional Catholics, despite the madness that The author of Building the Benedict Option is is engulfing parts of the Church. It will help you, Leah Libresco, an atheist convert to the Church as one columnist put it, to “try, each day, to be a whose work has appeared in First Things, The bit more like Christ.” Weekly Standard, and other publications. Her Here are just a few of the tips, ideas, and earlier book is Arriving at Amen: Seven Catholic suggestions you’ll find in this wonderful book: Prayers That Even I Can Offer. ƒƒ Suggestions on effective ways to deepen If you’ve read Rod Dreher’s The friendships with like-minded Catholics... Benedict Option, or if you’ve read some of the how to maintain deep prayer practices voluminous praise his book has received in the when your prayer pattern no longer fits Catholic press, then you should read Building your changing life ... the Benedict Option. ƒƒ Six words that should be burned into our With great thanks for your baby-saving gift memories about acts of love ... practical of $50 or more, a copy of Building the Benedict advice—based on the author’s own Option will be on its way the very day I hear experiences—on how to build a Benedict from you! Option project among friends in which people offer themselves for each other ... advice from G. K. Chesterton on how to proceed with a Benedict Option project that

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4 Conscience regulations, continued jointly released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Treasury. Back in 2011, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), imposed the “HHS Contraceptive Mandate” on Americans. The man- date required all non-grandfathered Doctor with Medical Healthcare Icon Interface / Getty Images health care plans to provide, without deductible or co-pay, all women’s con- ters of the Poor and pro-life organi- Separate Payments for traceptive methods approved by the zations such as the March for Life Abortion Coverage Food and Drug Administration (FDA). from being forced against their faith On November 9, the Trump ad- The Obama administration faced or moral beliefs to facilitate access ministration also released a new, over 100 lawsuits over the contra- to contraception in their employ- never-before-seen proposed rule ceptive mandate from religious and er-sponsored health care plans. that would prevent health insurance pro-life organizations and business- The finalized rules would also companies from billing enrollees for es, alleging the mandate substantially seek to provide employees a pathway abortion and health care premiums burdened their right to religious lib- to exemption from being required in the same invoice. erty. Employers that failed to comply to pay into an employer-sponsored The Hyde Amendment has long with the government’s onerous man- health insurance policy that includes prohibited federal funds from being date were subject to crushing fines. It coverage for contraception. However, used to subsidize health insurance was estimated that the Little Sisters employees would be able to obtain a plans that provide coverage for elec- of the Poor would have been forced health insurance plan without con- tive abortion. However, the Afford- to pay approximately $2.5 million in traception only if both the insurance able Care Act changed that, allowing fines per year for non-compliance. company and the employer agree to cost-sharing reduction payments Cases on the contraceptive man- provide such a policy. and premium tax credits authorized date twice reached the Supreme Court The rules released by the Trump under the ACA to be used on health in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. administration last week initially care plans that include coverage for and Zubik v. Burwell. In both instanc- went into effect as temporary inter- elective abortion. es, the Supreme Court affirmed the im final rules on October 6, 2017. Federal funds authorized by the rights of religious employers. However, the regulations were im- ACA are still prohibited from being The finalized rules released by mediately challenged in three sepa- used to pay for the portion of the health the Trump administration last week rate lawsuits which have resulted in plan that pays for elective abortions. would protect employers from being federal court injunctions blocking However, the arrangement has been forced to facilitate access to aborti- the administration’s temporary rules described by pro-lifers as little more facient methods of contraception in from taking effect. than an accounting gimmick. Federal their company health insurance plans The Trump administration is cur- dollars are still allowed to be used to if doing so would violate their religious rently pursuing appeals, and if the subsidize all the other non-abortion beliefs or moral convictions. injunctions are lifted, the final rules services offered by the very same health The rules would exempt religious approved by the administration will care plans that offer abortion coverage. organizations such as the Little Sis- go into effect.

1 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Sec. 1303(b)(2)(B)(i) (as codified at 42 U.S.C. §18023(b)(2)(B)(i)).

January / February 2019 5 Kenyan Authorities Ban Marie Stopes from Providing Its Abortion Services

BY JONATHAN ABBAMONTE

enyan authorities have ordered ya, Chief Executive Officer of the millions of abortions and post-abor- KMarie Stopes Kenya to stop of- KMPDB stated according to the tion care procedures every year in fering abortion services in the Af- Standard Digital.2 the developing world. rican country. Abortion is illegal in The KMPDB is a regulatory board The order from Kenyan Medical Kenya except to save the life of the authorized by the Kenyan Govern- Practitioners and Dentists Board mother or in cases where the “health ment to regulate the practice of med- comes following public outcry over of the mother is in danger.”1 icine and dentistry in Kenya. The allegations that Marie Stopes Kenya In November 2018, the Kenyan KMPDB also sets licensing require- was running radio advertisements Medical Practitioners and Dentists ments for medical practitioners. for abortion services at their clin- Board (KMPDB) issued a statement The order issued by the KMPDB ics. Earlier this year, the Kenya Film banning Marie Stopes Kenya from also directed Marie Stopes to submit Classification Board (KFCB)—an- performing abortion at any of its to the board, within 60 days, a pro- other regulatory board authorized clinics. posal for how the organization plans by the Kenyan Government—had “Marie Stopes Kenya is hereby to bring itself into compliance with issued a separate order, banning directed to immediately cease and the order. Marie Stopes from airing radio ads desist offering any form of abortion Marie Stopes Kenya is a subsid- which were deemed to be promoting services in all its facilities within the iary of Marie Stopes International, abortion. Republic of Kenya,” Daniel Yumb- an international NGO that performs A public statement issued by the Kenya Film Classification Board on September 11th banned Marie Stopes from running certain radio ads. The KFCB found that the ads had “a message that clearly promotes abortion … contrary to Article 26 (4) of the Constitution.” The KFCB also stated that Marie Stopes “targets teenage girls” with their abortion ads, offering abortion as “alterna- tives to unwanted or unplanned pregnancies.”3 The Kenya Film Classification Board is a state corporation respon- sible for rating and regulating TV, radio, and film content. The KFCB sets age restrictions on media con- tent and enforces regulations on TV and radio content. Kenyan govern- ment regulations require that TV and radio content aired between 5 am and 10 p.m. “must be suitable for family listening and viewing.”4 All Young African woman holding her baby, Kenya, East Africa / Getty Images programs and ads for TV and radio

6 POPULATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE REVIEW are required to receive a classifica- tion rating from the KFCB prior to Marie Stopes Kenya is a subsidiary airing. According to the KFCB, Marie of Marie Stopes International, an Stopes never submitted their ads for approval. international NGO that performs “The board demands that the said millions of abortions and post- adverts be pulled down immediately and should not be aired until they abortion care procedures every have been submitted to the board to determine age suitability,” Dr. Ezekiel year in the developing world. Mutua, the CEO of KFCB, said back in September when the advertise- prison or a 100,000 Kenyan Shilling national’s 2017 financial statements ment ban was first issued, according fine, according to the Daily Nation.8 and annual report, the organization 5 to KBC Channel 1 news. The order issued by the Kenyan performed over 4.1 million abortion The KFCB also called on Marie Medical Practitioners and Dentists and post-abortion care procedures Stopes to issue a public apology Board last week reinforced the order last year alone. for airing the ads without prior previously issued by the KFCB ear- By comparison, the Internation- approval, according to the Business lier this year. The Kenyan Medical al Planned Parenthood Federation 6 Daily. Practitioners and Dentists Board (IPPF) reported performing approx- Marie Stopes Continues statement, in addition to banning imately 1.2 million abortion and Abortion Radio Ads Marie Stopes from performing abor- post-abortion care procedures in tion services, also ordered the orga- 2017. Compounding its offense, Marie nization to comply with KMPDB’s Marie Stopes is no stranger to con- Stopes Kenya allegedly continued to advertising rules by “pull[ing] down troversy in Kenya. Last year, the or- run abortion ads for weeks after the the misleading information on its ganization drew ire and outrage after KFCB banned the ads from the pub- website,” according to the Standard it was discovered that Marie Stopes lic airwaves.7 Marie Stopes claimed Digital. staff visiting a school in Kitui Coun- that it had not received a formal Now with orders from two differ- ty had provided adolescent girls in notice from KFCB and would, in the ent government regulatory boards, with birth control pills and Norplant meantime, “continue to air weekly Marie Stopes Kenya is fully prohib- contraceptive implants without their 15-minute discussion programs” ited from offering abortion services parents’ knowledge.9 Norplant is a and teaser advertisements for their or ads in Kenya. contraceptive implant inserted under clinics on popular radio stations, ac- Marie Stopes International is one the skin and remains in the woman’s cording to Reuters. of the leading purveyors of abortion body for up to five years. If found to have violated orders and contraception worldwide and from the KFCB, Marie Stopes exec- is currently active in 37 countries. Chris Locascio helped provide utives could face up to five years in According to Marie Stopes Inter- research for this article.

1 http://www.kenyalaw.org/lex/actview.xql?actid=Const2010#part_II 2 https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001303049/why-marie-stopes-has-been-asked-to-stop-abortion-services?fbclid=IwAR3nE4ITuD5c6eNiD- fmz3EuzHEWEKDoFazlpGS1TvIkgXBZ1FICOdmeTOQ8 3 http://kfcb.co.ke/kfcb-banns-unclassified-content-on-free-to-air-tv-and-radio/ 4 http://kfcb.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Programe-_code.pdf 5 http://www.kbc.co.ke/kfcb-bans-pwani-oil-marie-stopes-adverts/ 6 ttps://www.businessdailyafrica.com/news/Pwani-Oil--Marie-Stopes-ads-over-sexual--abortion-content/539546-4754968-2k51tiz/index.html 7 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kenya-abortion-ban/charity-denies-promoting-teen-abortions-after-kenya-bans-radio-ad-idUSKCN1LX243 8 https://www.nation.co.ke/business/Marie-Stopes-defies-ban-on-advert-linked-to-abortion/996-4784930-12p1t47/index.html 9 https://nairobinews.nation.co.ke/news/fury-pro-abortion-activists-administer-birth-control-pills-school-girls/

January / February 2019 7 HUMANAE VITAE COALITION "I've Never Heard Any of That Before!"

by Dr. Christopher Manion

fter speaking in Toronto at a PRI researchers must go digging for in spreading the word about HV: “I’ve Humanae Vitae conference the facts all by ourselves—and those always felt that way, but I didn't know Asponsored by the marvelous Cardinal facts are often hard to find. how to say it.” After all, the work of Archbishop Thomas Collins, several In our age of increased specializa- Sanctifying Grace is mystical and participants came up to me with a tion, peripheral vision often suffers. A intimate, isn’t it? Often it cannot be common response. longtime colleague of mine, now serv- expressed out loud at all. When one "I've never heard any of that be- ing as the in-house expert on India for hears this profound experience artic- fore," they told me. one of Washington's most prominent ulated as truth, as Saints Paul VI and The history of Western govern- think tanks, was visibly stunned when John Paul II so beautifully express it, ments, including our own, massively I told him how government employ- the soul leaps with joy, trembling in funding population control in Third ees in several Indian states were los- amazement as the secret it has pon- World countries was news to them. ing their jobs because their families dered in its heart now comes alive in They had never heard of forced abor- had just welcomed a third child. words that can be shared. tion in China, forced sterilization of “I work on Indian issues all the And that’s what we do at PRI. We men and women in dozens of coun- time, and I've never run across that at are called to share the truths of life tries, nor the sterilization clinics on all,” he said. Not on his frequent trips and love and to defend them. We the Mexican side of the U.S. border to meet with the country's leaders, must also fight to defend the rights funded by major players who sat on not in his participation in Washington of those around the world who are the board of Planned Parenthood foreign policy conferences—nowhere. victims of falsehood and evil and USA. As we at PRI work to spread the force—yes, force, because that’s what The conference was held on the word about Humane Vitae, we often population “control” and all its ugly campus of the University of Toronto. encounter the same experience. Af- spawn are all about: power and force, The audience included many highly ter all, the truths offered by St. Paul imposed by tyrannical governments educated people—medical students, VI in this marvelous document are for their own sordid ends. foreign exchange students from sev- thrilling, liberating, even exhilarating They are imposed just as Saint eral countries, and teachers in various when people hear them for the first Paul VI predicted they would be if fields. But many had no idea of the time. the truths of God’s law and the nat- depth and intensity of the population Even Catholics who have never ural law regarding marriage, sex, and control movement worldwide. They heard of HV know in an inchoate way the family were defied, defiled and had simply not been exposed to this that the Church forbids the use of the ignored. dimension of their subjects, even pill, but that's about all. That stern At PRI we often remind ourselves: though many had acquired consider- prohibition sort of hangs out there in there are countless millions who able expertise. a vacuum, without any foundation, ra- “have never heard that before.” Yet, At the Population Research Insti- tionale or context. But once the light their hearts are hungry for it. That tute, we hear stories like this all the of truth illuminates their understand- longing, and the love that the truth time. After all, elite institutions are ing of the beauty of a family united in arouses in the hungry heart, keeps us not going to tell us about their sup- procreative love, their appreciation going, as do your prayers and your en- port of gruesome programs designed and gratitude fairly overflows. couragement reminding us every day to eliminate billions of unwanted And that brings on another grate- of how important it is that we share black and yellow and brown people; ful observation which we often hear that truth with the world.

8 POPULATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE REVIEW Despite Family-Centered Culture, Latin American Households Are Shrinking

by Carlos Polo

ith regard to the issue of the family, and in particular the Wlarge family, the whole Latin Amer- ican region shares some common features. On the one hand you have the heroic virtues practiced by faithful Catholics in many marriages and on the other the indifference of, or even the hostility of, an increasingly selfish society that feels "offended" when a couple makes the decision to accept all the children that God wants to send them. These attacks, sometimes subtle, sometimes overt, are difficult to explain. Latin Americans, despite their Large family at an animal park / Getty Images deep love for the family, is suffering from the same demographic decline two children: the “model” family. “the right thing,” then the basis of a that is affecting the rest of the West: As population control propaganda large family falls apart. birth rates are falling. became every more common, over The issue of financial aid is anoth- Over the past two decades, Latin time “the best way” to have a fami- er way in which the government gets American households have shrunk by ly became “the only” way to have a involved. almost one full member per house- family. The Mexican government is an hold: In 1997 there was an average Throughout Latin America, very example. The bureaucrats say it of 4.4 members per household, but strong, foreign-funded lobbies press literally: "Oportunidades (Oppor- by 2016 the average had fallen to 3.6 for the agenda of gender ideology tunities, the government's aid pro- members. Households with children to be included in the educational gram) will no longer benefit families have gone from being almost half of curriculum. with many children but will support total households in 1997 to being Gender ideology promotes sexual those with few children.” They be- only one third of total households at relationships by distorting the mean- lieve and teach that a family with present. ing of the word “responsibility.” For fewer children is more likely to Many families in the continent gender ideologues, to be “responsi- progress. are limited in this regard because ble” is to always use a contraceptive. But in Guatemala, Sophia Agu- poverty is widespread. But the focus Using a contraceptive is not being irre, a sociologist at the Catholic in school and in society is entirely on generous with life. University of Washington, discov- material needs. At school they be- If sexual relations require no ered something very different: “(…) gan to teach us that the best way to commitment and if the state is con- it is not the number of children achieve prosperity was to have only stantly promoting contraception as themselves, but the characteristics

January / February 2019 9 of the home that makes the number a sign of sure failure, especially of children be problematic.” economic and social. For too many But governments do not under- Florencia and Juan are Ar- stand this. gentinians and have 12 children. people, Justo and Giuliana have seven Florencia confessed with sorrow: the most children. They confirmed to me “When I told the priests that I was many social micro-aggressions pregnant, they told me ... ‘you important against large families. They say, should learn the natural methods.’” “People always think that the man In Mexico, Alfonso and Guada- thing is not is ‘guilty’ for the fact that they have lupe have the similar impression: so many children and, therefore, is “When we attend courses of natu- to give, but to the one that receives the most rejec- ral methods taught by the Church accumulate. tion or sarcastic and disrespectful the message is always to have few comments.” children. “ Marcos and Mili, parents of six Is the Humanae Vitae teaching children, have a theory: “There is being delivered to suggest to gen- there is more sacrifice but that they a conceited attitude on the part erous families that it is better not to feel “happier.” of society, little self-sacrificing. have “many” children? Do our priests Unfortunately, in some ecclesial And that is a cultural feature. For really understand the greatness of a environments, the potential of large too many people, the most im- large family? Clearly, there is much families is not adequately assessed. portant thing is not to give, but to to teach about this in seminars. One must be careful of the misun- accumulate.” But large families, in general, derstanding of what Humanae Vitae Young people in Latin America rescue values of humanity and val- is and what natural methods actual- aspire to emerge but they look for it ues for raising children that is very ly are. The openness to life should with a mentality in which the large difficult to develop in single-child not be reduced to simply “not using family has no place: They see it as families. Parents often express that contraceptives.”

Keep Your 2019 Pro-Life Resolution By Joining PRI's Circle for Life! BY KAREN SHANNON

any of you faithfully write a check to PRI each checkbooks! And, no high interest fees each month! No Mmonth. You also know that it can be easy to for- postage stamps! You keep your resolution! get, particularly if you travel, or have visitors. And best of all, your monthly support remains con- That’s why I’m encouraging you to prayerfully con- stant for all the mothers and babies that we help in sider joining our Circle for Life. China, Peru, Kenya, and the Caribbean—all around the All of you share our commitment to support the world! mothers we help, the babies we save, and the important Wouldn’t you like to join our Circle for Life? It’s research we do. simple! Just go to http://www.pop.org/donate and fol- Many of you do this loyally by check. Did you know low the simple steps. Or, if you prefer, call the Circle’s you can automate this? You may use your checking coordinator, Kevin Norton, at our toll-free number, account debit card. Save money on those expensive 888-774-1531.

10 POPULATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE REVIEW PRI in the News

JJ Mosher: America Needs hurting Chinese believers, accord- Party leaders like Mao Zedong and Another Baby Boom Now ing to PRI President Steven Mosher, Xi Jinping,” he said. "The problem quoted in LifeSiteNews.2 was that these were statues of angels, NY POST – In a recent column pub- Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, of saints, and of the Blessed Mother lished in the New York Post, PRI Pres- in China’s Shanxi province, and Our herself. The bottom line is that the ident Steven Mosher made the case Lady of Bliss, or Our Lady of the Communists hate any other religion for a new American baby boom.1 Mountain, in the Guizhou province’s than their own quasi-religious cult of “Although the great engine of Anlong county were destroyed weeks Communism.” American capitalism is now hum- after the Vatican signed a private ming on all cylinders, Americans agreement with China’s Communist JJ remain strangely reluctant to have UN Group Pressures For government. Both shrines were pop- children,” he wrote. Worldwide Abortion ular with members of both China’s “That birthrates plummeted underground Catholic Church and LIVE ACTION NEWS – PRI re- during the Great Recession, which the government-controlled Chinese searcher Jonathan Abbamonte was ran from 2008 to 2016, is no surprise. Catholic Patriotic Association, ac- quoted in Live Action News about a Who would want to bring children cording to the article. newly adopted document by the Hu- into a jobless, stagnant economy? “ ...The new Sino-Vatican Agree- man Rights Committee of the United But the return of prosperity after the ment is working out precisely the Nations that puts pressure on pro-life 2016 election should have produced way that the Chinese Communist countries around the world to change a quick uptick in births. That, after 3 Party officials who approved it in- their laws. all, was the consistent pattern we had tended it to,” Mosher reported to the According to the article, the doc- seen in the past. news service. “It distracted interna- ument, General Comment No. 36, “Despite generous tax cuts and tional attention from the ongoing replaces comments adopted by the rising middle-class incomes, howev- persecution of the Church in China committee 30 years ago on Article 6 er, our birth rate remains mired at the by appearing to give the imprimatur of the International Covenant on Civil lowest level ever recorded in Ameri- of the Vatican to the Catholic Patri- and Political Rights (ICCPR). Specifi- can history.” otic Association. cally, the recent document states that Mosher proposes that the gov- “All the while Catholics through- protecting the rights of all human be- ernment can support childbearing by out China were being put under a ings means that states “must” legalize forgiving student loans and reducing new set of onerous regulations that abortion. the tax burden on young couples. restrict all activity to a few ‘authorized The reason General Comment places of worship,’" he continued. No. 36 is of importance, he said, JJ China Shrine Destruction The reason given for the destruc- is that its adoption “will inevita- Follows Pact with Vatican tion of the shrine was that it had too bly provide pro-abortion activists in the U.N. system with sufficient LIFESITENEWS – The recent de- many statues. Mosher said this excuse grounds to place considerable pres- struction of two Catholic shrines is “laughable.” sure on pro-life countries to legalize demonstrates that the recent pact “The landscape of China is littered abortion.“ signed by China and the Holy See is with statues, mostly of Communist

1 https://nypost.com/2018/10/27/why-america-desperately-needs-another-baby-boom/?fbclid=IwAR20XRmaUtoEVazo_wybfGefCu-xbG447jc- 96cVNW163heARyjPyhrEHDUE 2 https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/destruction-of-chinas-shrines-shows-that-vatican-pact-serves-only-communist?utm_ source=LifeSiteNews.com&utm_campaign=d354c77693-Daily%2520Headlines%2520-%2520U.S._COPY_379&utm_medi- um=email&utm_term=0_12387f0e3e-d354c77693-401373841&fbclid=IwAR0LtP0LKN6pkWN4emY-ZAD4cy2mRm9ZlyQWe4 tm75ANAiwaevqqV-2vBno 3 https://www.liveaction.org/news/un-human-rights-countries-abortion/

January / February 2019 11 From the Countries

PERU nese population-control advisers, MYANMAR Fujimori’s Forgotten you are going to see draconian mea- Cardinal Asks Help to Sterilizations sures,” said Mosher. Stop Trafficking The Peruvian government imme- Alberto Fujimori, the former Peru- diately set targets and quotas for how Asked what the Synod of Bishops vian dictator, was recently ordered many women had to be sterilized on youth could do for young wom- back to prison after a court over- en, Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, IRELAND turned his pardon, reported the the largest city in Myanmar, said the 1 National Catholic Register. Im- Lawmakers Reject biggest concern on his home turf is prisoned for human-rights abuses Burial Law for Babies protecting them from human traf- and corruption since 2007, he was 5 A committee of the Irish legislature ficking, according to Crux. pardoned last year by then-presi- rejected an amendment that would “During synod I was reflecting dent of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczyns- have required humane burials for on our own situation, the situation ki, the article stated.1 babies killed by abortion, in the latest of young people here in Europe, and Fujimori’s well-known crimes in- ruling under Ireland’s new abortion in Asia, it’s quite different, but espe- clude embezzling millions of dollars 3 regime, according to LifesiteNews. cially in Myanmar, where women, from the government and operating A joint health committee was with the help of some religious con- death squads, but what many people considering an amendment to the gregations and the Church, we are outside of Peru do not know is that country’s so-called Regulation of Ter- focusing on saving young women and Fujimori also oversaw a program of mination of Pregnancy bill, which will girls from human trafficking,” Bo told forced sterilizations, as reported in establish the country’s new abortion journalists. the New Republic.2 laws after the May repeal of its Eighth Women, he said, are being traf- The program began in 1993 and Amendment that protected preborn ficked “from Myanmar to Thailand, ended in 2000. The worst years were babies’ right to life. and especially from Myanmar to Chi- 1996 and 1997, when some 200,000 Pro-life legislators sought to re- na. Because of the one-child policy in women were forcibly sterilized. quire that aborted babies be buried or China, many girls and women have PRI President Steve Mosher told cremated rather than being treated as been trafficked desperately into Chi- the newspaper he first began to hear medical waste, according to the Irish na,” the article reported. reports of what was happening in the 4 publication The Journal. They argued Combining the policy with the mid-1990s. that current law is missing guidance cultural preference for boys, most of “We got reports that indigenous for medical personnel as to the han- the children aborted have been girls, Peruvian women — descendants of dling of dead fetuses, LifeSiteNews leading to dramatic gender imbal- the Incas — were being sterilized 4 reported. ances in the world’s most populous and that Chinese ‘technical advisers’ Health Minister Simon Harris re- country. Out of China’s population of had been brought into the country. jected the proposal as “extraordinarily 1.4 billion, there are nearly 34 million Any objective observer would know distasteful.” more males than females. right away that if you bring in Chi-

1 http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/fujimori-re-imprisonment-and-perus-forgotten-forced-sterilization-program 2 https://newrepublic.com/article/151599/dont-talk-perus-forced-sterilizations 3 https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/irish-committee-kills-distasteful-amendment-requiring-humane-burials-for-ab?utm_source=Life- SiteNews.com&utm_campaign=bbb6834940-Daily%2520Headlines%2520-%2520U.S._COPY_377&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ 12387f0e3e-bbb6834940-401373841&fbclid=IwAR0gWOuCtBcipSaLB7cRMoXrKnqr0sbZsy8b5IeRXan_U-QsLCM5pAYxUjo 4 https://www.thejournal.ie/abortion-legislation-amendment-burial-voted-down-4328059-Nov2018/ 5 https://cruxnow.com/synod-of-bishops-on-youth/2018/10/23/myanmar-prelate-says-china-one-child-policy-leads-to-trafficking/

12 POPULATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE REVIEW