Commentary

Chad is one of the most extreme examples of energy poverty, with just 10% of the population connected to electricity, a rural electrification rate below 2%, and a global per capita electricity consumption rate that’s just 18% of the global average. This hinders economic development. So does its rapid population growth. Chad has one of … Read More »

Pronatalism, the political ideology that seeks to induce women to have more children, is on the rise, stoking misplaced alarm over declining birthrates and aging demographics. The decline is clearly real in many parts of the world (though not all, and global population is still growing). In the US, new CDC data confirms that after two decades of decline, birth rates … Read More »

To the Editor: Population trends play an important role in shaping our world, but Michael Geruso and Dean Spears’s fretting over “depopulation” is misplaced, given that the world’s population is projected to grow by at least two billion people this century. In many places around the world rapid population growth persists, posing problems for governance … Read More »

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) recently reintroduced a bill—the so-called Protect Children’s Innocence Act of 2025, which the House Judiciary Committee has already approved—that would criminalize gender-affirming care for minors. The bill’s wording conflates this care—which includes interventions like hormone therapy, puberty blockers, gender-affirming surgeries, voice therapy and mental health support with an experienced provider—with female genital … Read More »

Until recently, Vietnam was one of the last holdouts trying to limit population growth by national fiat, but amid falling birthrates it just announced it is ending its one-or-two child policy. Such policies are sometimes termed “anti-natatlist,” and they are in sharp decline. Meanwhile, many other countries including the US are adopting “pro-natalist” policies to … Read More »

This article was originally published on GirlTalkHQ.com under the headline “American Femicide Should Be A Wake-Up Call For Everyone: This Is Our Problem” and republished with permission. A spate of 11 femicides so far this year is making global headlines and prompting calls for “cultural rebellion.”  Yet femicide is far worse in the US, claiming thousands of lives a … Read More »

A spate of 11 femicides so far this year is making global headlines and prompting calls for “cultural rebellion.”  Yet femicide is far worse in the US, claiming thousands of lives a year, and comparatively normalized. It’s where the cultural pushback is needed most. Last month, the UN’s annual two-week Conference on the Status of Women wrapped … Read More »

Buried in the Donald Trump administration’s recent avalanche of executive orders in the United States was a starkly revealing provision: A Department of Transportation order requiring projects to prioritize federal highway and transit funding to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average. Those with declining birth and marriage rates could face funding cuts. … Read More »

President Trump voiced the culmination of recent attacks on USAID last Friday, writing “CLOSE IT DOWN!” in a Truth Social post, citing unsubstantiated claims of corruption and fraud. If there was ever any doubt that the agenda was to shutter the agency, that’s dispelled. In the days prior, Trump said his administration identified $50 million … Read More »

It may be coincidence, but it’s fitting that World Contraception Day and World Environmental Health Day fall on the same date, September 26. There is a deep and often overlooked connection between family planning and environmental sustainability. Family planning is a cornerstone of reproductive health, but it’s also the foundation for much more. The ability … Read More »