Population Research Institute
The Population Research Institute (PRI) is a non-profit organization based in Front Royal, Virginia. PRI describes itself as "a non-profit research and educational organization dedicated to objectively presenting the truth about population-related issues." PRI argues that human overpopulation is not occurring and opposes abortion. PRI is a 501(c)(3) organization. The organization is based in Virginia, but has field teams and contacts in over 30 countries across the globe who monitor family planning campaigns.[1]
Origins
The Population Research Institute was founded in 1989 by Paul Marx, a Catholic priest and Benedictine monk.[2] PRI became an independent institute in 1996. The Institute is currently headed by Steven W. Mosher, an anthropologist who studied in China during the beginning of the one-child policy in the late 1970s and the early 1980s.[3]
China
The institute condemns China's one-child policy.[4] Mosher states that "[t]he Chinese Party-State has asserted for over three decades that the one-child policy is ‘entirely voluntary.’ But this assertion of ‘voluntarism’ is no more true now than it was when I saw women who were five, seven, and even nine months pregnant held down on the operating table and aborted. Women continue to be arrested, aborted, and sterilized against their will at this very moment.”
PRI asserts a causal link between the one-child policy and China's imbalanced sex-ratio and aging population.[5]
Programs
Overpopulation
PRI created the website Overpopulation is a Myth in 2010.[6][7] The project was started as a part of PRI to reduce funding to family planning programs and to instead re-allocate the funds to developing countries for more pressing health concerns: water access, malaria treatment, and other necessities.[citation needed]
Heartbeat Legislation
PRI advocates legislation banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.[8] PRI has compared abortion to infanticide and to euthanasia of the elderly.[9]
Defunding Population Programs
According to the Los Angeles Times, PRI successfully lobbied the George W. Bush administration to withhold $34 to $40 million per year for seven years from the United Nations Population Fund, the largest international donor to family planning programs.[10] A core goal of the institute is to, "[e]xpose the relentless promotion of abortion, abortifacient contraception, and chemical and surgical sterilization in misleadingly labeled 'population stabilization,' 'family planning,' and 'reproductive health' programs.[11]"
The Population Research Institute has received funding from The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc.[12]
Fundraising
PRI obtains the vast majority of its funding from charitable contributions, gifts, and grants, with a total revenue of 1.2 million dollars in FY 2011. Of this, 73.3% was spent on program expenses, 5.7% on administration, and 20.9% on fundraising.[13]
Criticism
PRI's stance on overpopulation is a minority position and the arguments for "Overpopulation is a Myth" have been described as deceptive.[14][15][16]
Ten Million Club Foundation [17] further adds to criticism,[18] accusing PRI of having a religious hidden agenda (against family planning and contraception) that motivates its (allegedly) deceiving claims, stating that those are not backed up by any original research. PRI hasn't as yet published a single peer review paper in any scientific journal.
Politics
PRI advocates legislation banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected[19] and encourages voting for "those with Pro-Life guiding principles".[20] PRI has criticized Barack Obama on abortion and family planning related issues.[21] PRI praised the choices of Paul Ryan and Sarah Palin as vice presidential candidates in 2012 and 2008, respectively, for their views on abortion.[22][23]
Vaccination
PRI regards the HPV vaccine Gardasil as unnecessary, ineffective, and potentially dangerous, citing the anti-vaccination advocacy group National Vaccine Information Center among others.[24][25][26][27]
References
- ↑ Who We Are
- ↑ Our Founder: Fr. Paul Marx, O.S.B.
- ↑ Our President
- ↑ Project: Stop Population Control in China
- ↑ China Ratchets Up One-Child Policy, Part II
- ↑ Overpopulation is a Myth
- ↑ Debunk the Overpopulation Myth
- ↑ Heartbeat Movement Picks Up Steam
- ↑ Infanticide on Demand?
- ↑ Weiss, Kenneth R. (July 22, 2012). "Fertility rates fall, but global population explosion goes on". Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ Our Mission
- ↑ "Population Research Institute". Media Transparency.
- ↑ "IAP Statement on Population and Consumption". InterAcademy Panel: The Global Network of Science Academies (IAP).
- ↑ A Response to Critics of Family Planning Programs. http://www.guttmacher.org/ (1 March 2009). Retrieved on 11 July 2013.
- ↑ Global Environment Outlook - Environment for the future we want. http://www.unep.org/ (May 2012). Retrieved on 11 July 2013.
- ↑ Ten Million Club Foundation. http://www.overpopulationawareness.org/. Retrieved on 11 July 2013.
- ↑ Overpopulation Awareness - videos. http://www.overpopulationawareness.org/ (August 2010). Retrieved on 11 July 2013.
- ↑ Heartbeat Movement Picks Up Steam
- ↑ It's Time to Vote for Life!
- ↑ Question: What Can we Expect From a Second Obama Administration on the Life Issues?
- ↑ Who is Congressman (and now Vice Presidential Candidate) Paul Ryan and what does he mean for a Romney Administration?
- ↑ McCain VP Pick Good for Pro-Lifers
- ↑ What You Should Know about Gardasil (HPV Vaccine)
- ↑ Merck Researcher Admits: Gardasil Guards Against Almost Nothing
- ↑ Teenage Girl Becomes Infertile after Gardasil Vaccination
- ↑ Notes on the HPV Vaccine
External links
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