The problem of sex-selective abortion is not limited to China and
India, but is increasing in communities within Western countries, a new
report by the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute says. “I think for a long time we’ve been denying that sex-selective
abortion happens in the United States,” said Anna Higgins, J.D.,
associate scholar with the Charlotte Lozier Institute. However, she told CNA, “it does happen here.” Countries like China, with its miserable human rights record, are
notorious for sex-selective abortions because of the country’s long-time
forced one-child family policy, now a two-child policy. Human rights
activists have termed the situation “gendercide” because so many
families choose only to have a boy to carry on the family name. The practice has led to demographic disaster, with 33 million more
men than women in the country, according to human rights activists. Yet sex-selective abortion happens not just in China and India, but
within Western countries as well, Higgins argues. In certain immigrant
communities in the U.S. – including some Indian-American,
Korean-American, and Chinese-American communities – the ratio of baby
boys to baby girls can actually be much higher than China’s. “Although not every country prohibits sex-selective abortion
specifically, there is obviously a global awareness that prenatal
sex-selection is unethical based on the sheer number of countries that
prohibit preimplantation sex-selection techniques,” Higgins said of the
numbers. “The United States is, in fact, lagging behind the rest of the world on this front.” Higgins, along with the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, is
pushing for the House to pass the Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act which
would prohibit sex-selective abortions, along with the solicitation of
funds for these abortions or any “coercion” of woman to obtain an
abortion on basis of sex, which happens in some communities, Higgins
said.
The release of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s note, Mater Populi Fidelis , on November 4, 2025, seems to have sparked some immediate and widespread confusion, driven largely by sensationalist headlines from secular sources. In response to requests, particularly surrounding a potential Fifth Marian Dogma of Spiritual Maternity , the DDF addressed the usage of titles like Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix. Unfortunately, this has led to a large contingent online and in the media claiming that the Church has "tossed out" centuries of doctrine, with some outside the Church even proclaiming a "victory" over Catholic teaching (This may be the saddest part of it all, that we as Christians, are "competing" with each other). It is essential to understand that this doctrinal note is fundamentally about titles and clarity, not doctrine and change according to the Vatican News. The true teachings regarding Mary's unique role in salvation remain inviolabl...