Voters deserve to know where 2020 Democratic candidates stand on the issue of population control. Defacto party leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., says it’s appropriate to question the morality of human reproduction. She said, due to climate change, “There’s scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult. And it does lead, I think, young people to have a legitimate question, you know, is it okay to still have children?”
Her remarks have already inspired the “BirthStrike” movement in the United Kingdom, where some women are vowing to swear off having children to ensure that future offspring don’t contribute to carbon emissions.
This isn’t a new line of thinking from the Left. Before the outspoken congresswoman from the Bronx, many in the liberal movement have questioned the merits of human reproduction, arguing that population growth should be controlled. They almost always cite how human births hurt the environment. Feminist icon and Planned Parenthood pioneer Margaret Sanger pushed for population control of African-Americans. Billionaire Warren Buffett started donating to population control efforts in the early 1990s. Just six years ago far-left Princeton University professor Peter Singer declared that a woman’s right to reproduction may need to be abandoned in order to reduce population growth and, in turn, help the environment.
In recent months, we’ve watched the Democratic Party move exceedingly to the left especially when it comes to devaluing the dignity of human life. In states such as New York, Virginia, Vermont, and now Illinois, liberal politicians seem to be racing toward extremely aggressive abortion policies, many of which would allow mothers to end their child’s life even after giving birth. This drastic shift in the political spectrum makes it entirely appropriate for voters to wonder where the 2020 candidates currently stand on a woman’s right to reproduce and a government regulation of a population.
Recently, presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., artfully dodged this exact question on “The View,” calling reproduction a “personal decision for couples to make.” While failing to condemn Ocasio-Cortez’s comments, he quickly pivoted to passionately defending her prized Green New Deal, stating: “You cannot go too far on the issue of climate change. The future of the planet is at stake!”
Another presidential hopeful, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., refused to comment earlier this year when questioned about her position on population control.
FEC records indicate that Warren, along with Hollywood favorite Beto O’Rourke and Sanders, have received money from the Wallace Global Fund, an organization that has given more than $7 million to pro-population control groups. According to the Center for Responsive Government, 29 House and eight Senate Democrats received money from the Population Connection Action Fund, the political arm of Population Connection. Their group’s mission statement declares that because “overpopulation threatens the quality of life for people everywhere … [they advocate] progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth’s resources.” Furthermore, Population Connection President John Seager has said: “Global warming is too big a problem to be solved by energy experts alone. It’s about people. It’s about how many of us there are and how we choose to live our modern lives. … If every child is planned, we’ll go a long way toward solving global warming and making a less-crowded and healthier world.”
Population control is a dangerous slippery slope where an emphasis is placed on the environment and globalism, not on human beings and families. Most obvious are the social implications, and the infringement on a woman’s freedom to reproduce, but there are also economic problems, which we’ve seen in China due to the one-child policy. Simply put, China’s workforce is aging, and they aren’t producing enough babies to fill the void.
The U.S. currently sits at a 30-year low for birth rate and has plummeted even further away from the ever-important replacement rate. Similarly, European countries have been battling a declining birth rate for decades. In one such case, Hungary is so desperate to turn things around that its prime minister has implemented a policy for mothers of four or more children to be completely free from paying income taxes. Hungary and its leaders understand that healthy societies replace themselves and that growing families are vital. If Hungary desires to be a competitive country, it needs to encourage birth rates and incentivize families to grow, not shrink.
Elections are about worldviews and articulating to voters what you intend the future to look like. Punishing large families or discouraging births is not only a terrible electoral strategy, but also a chilling indicator that the Left values climate over human life itself.
Individual Democrats need to explain where they stand on the issue of population control. Voters deserve to know.
Mary Vought (@MaryVought) is a Republican strategist and president of Vought Strategies.
