According to the study, the Pope’s repeated emphasis on family values during 13 pastoral visits to Latin America correlated with a noticeable uptick in fertility rates across the 16 nations he visited. Researchers estimate that his words and presence contributed to between 220,000 and 251,000 additional births.

These findings suggest that John Paul II’s influence extended far beyond the political and ecclesial realms. His charisma and moral clarity, particularly on matters of marriage, life, and the dignity of the family, appear to have resonated deeply—not only with practicing Catholics, but also with the educated, the wealthy, and even with non-Catholics. In fact, the most measurable fertility increases occurred in households less likely to be part of the Church’s regular flock. For Professor Lakshmi Iyer, who led the research, that’s the striking part: “People were really listening,” she notes. “And they were responding.”

In a region where cultural values already held family in high regard, the Pope’s affirmations may have acted as a kind of moral accelerant—reinforcing existing beliefs at a time when global fertility trends were plummeting. From 1960 to 2010, Latin America saw its fertility rate fall from 5.9 children per woman to just 2.2. Yet in the two to five years following each of John Paul II’s visits, this trajectory slowed, as if briefly interrupted by a surge of renewed conviction.

His impact was not monolithic. The study found a fascinating duality in how different messages were received. When the Pope spoke strongly in support of marriage and against abortion and contraception, birthrates rose. When he warned against premarital sex and cohabitation, they dipped. The conclusion? People weren’t just inspired—they were listening selectively, responding both to affirmation and to correction.

This nuanced responsiveness highlights a deeper truth about demography: it is not fate, but culture-driven choice. “Fertility isn’t like the weather,” Iyer observes. “It’s shaped by individual decisions, which in turn are influenced by leaders, values, and identity. And the Pope, in this case, became a powerful agent of cultural memory.”

The Notre Dame paper, provocatively titled “Religion and Demography: Papal Influence on Fertility”, stands out in a field that often attributes demographic shifts to economics or access to education. It posits that spiritual authority, especially when embodied by someone as globally influential as John Paul II, can subtly alter the arc of a generation.

In that sense, this research places the late Pope alongside other religious figures who have shaped national birthrates. One notable example is the Georgian Patriarch Ilia II, who promised to personally baptize every third child of Church-married couples—a symbolic gesture that helped push Georgia’s birthrate above replacement level. But where Ilia II’s influence was deliberate and ceremonial, John Paul II’s effect was indirect, woven into homilies and hugs, declarations and dialogues.

The countries that felt the strongest demographic ripple included El Salvador, where the effect was most pronounced, followed by others like Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. Across the continent, the Polish Pope often referred to Latin America as “the Continent of Hope.” That phrase, once seen as theological optimism, now bears a quiet demographic footprint.

While past studies have debated the measurable impact of papal influence—some pointing to minor declines in contraceptive use after papal visits, others finding no fertility change at all—this is among the first to connect the dots so robustly between religious messaging and actual birth outcomes on such a scale.

The late Pope never set out to boost fertility rates. But in the end, his voice, full of spiritual gravitas and cultural sensitivity, became part of the continent’s lived rhythm. His message, it seems, did not just land on ears. It took root in homes, in hearts—and, quite literally, in cradles.

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ALL’s report also includes a list of the top twenty Planned Parenthood affiliate CEO earnings: at the top is the CEO of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, whose 24 facilities earned $155 million in 2022-2023 and whose CEO was compensated with $875,942. This is an impressive jump in compensation at Planned Parenthood, a formally non-profit organization, but whose Directors earn, on average, more than three times the median salary of similar non-profit organizations in terms of both “revenue” and “income.”

Katie Brown, National Director of the American Life League, has denounced the scandalous situation at Planned Parenthood, calling it a «vicious cycle,” through which hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are disbursed to Planned Parenthood oligarchs and, in turn, kills nearly half a million unborn Americans each year.» Hence the call for the Federal Government to cut off all direct or indirect funding to Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses in the country.

The compiling of data on the compensation of Planned Parenthood’s various CEOs was prompted and subsequently published after a New York Times “pilot” investigation revealed how several state-run subsidiaries of the abortion giant had serious financial problems and high staff turnover rates, in addition to providing substandard patient care. The lead researcher of ALL’s report, Katherine Van Dyke, noted in a March 20, 2025 statement that the CEOs’ rising profits contradict the argument about the abortion company’s financial decline. According to Van Dyke, it has now been proven that «taxpayer money is the true fuel for Planned Parenthood’s profits, and the financial data in its own reports does not match the organization’s claims about its financial problems.»

Following the publication of the NY Times article, former Planned Parenthood Executive and longtime pro-life activist Abby Johnson told FOX News Digital that, as during her decades at Planned Parenthood, the multinational’s use of «expired medications, high staff turnover, horrific working conditions, unqualified staff, huge amounts of money going unused for patient care, and disgusting clinic conditions» continues, despite millions of dollars in taxpayer money. Several Planned Parenthood affiliates (including those in New York, Missouri, and Illinois) have announced the closure of facilities in recent months.

The time has come for Republican leaders and the Trump Administration to truly assess these figures emerging from the American Life League document and eliminate Government reimbursements and any form of public funding for Planned Parenthood, a multinational corporation dedicated to the genocide of innocent children in the womb and the dissemination of other highly harmful practices, such as so-called «gender transition.»

A few weeks ago, in the wake of the U.S. Federal Administration’s increasingly determined fight against drug cartels, the American Life League itself asked President Donald Trump to designate a cartel that distributes abortifacient drugs in the United States as a terrorist group. In a letter to the President, Katie Brown, after thanking Trump for his executive order asking Congress to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, called for tough measures against those who send dangerous abortifacient drugs through the U.S. postal system, explaining that «secret drug trafficking networks are intentionally and covertly distributing these drugs in States where legislators have enacted pro-life laws. They are criminally exploiting the U.S. postal system to subvert the law.»

The main network for distributing abortion pills is Las Libres, which, according to a Website, is based in Mexico and offers free abortion pills to women who cannot afford them, are at least four weeks pregnant, and live in Puerto Rico and the following States: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.

Brown also notes in her letter that these abortion pill exchanges «senselessly expose women to unnecessary risks and, worse, take the lives of millions of unborn American citizens.»

Translation of the Italian original by ZENIT’s Editorial Director and, into English, by Virginia M. Forrester

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(ZENIT News – Center for Family and Human Rights / New York, 03.26.2025).- Catholics for Choice openly attacked the Vatican at a UN Women’s Conference, calling the Holy See a “threat to religious freedom and women’s rights” and asking for its removal from the UN. Such a hostile act against a UN observer state could cost Catholics for Choice its UN consultative status.

Catholics for Choice (CFC) delivered the remarks during the General Discussion at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a meeting attended by UN diplomats, parliamentarians, and civil society representatives.

CFC argued that achieving women’s “reproductive rights” and eliminating “coercive laws” is “impossible with the Holy See as a permanent observer at the United Nations.”

“The UN should not be granting this high-level diplomatic status to a religious body that is interfering in the progress of already-established goals, and it certainly should not be granted solely to the Vatican,” the CFC representative said.

CFC’s public attack against a UN Mission may have violated UN rules and could lead to the group losing their UN consultative status. The UN Resolution guiding the relationship between member states and civil society groups says that NGOs can have their ECOSOC consultative status “suspended for three years or withdrawn” if they engage in “unsubstantiated or politically motivated acts against States Members of the United Nations incompatible with those purposes and principles [of the Charter of the United Nations].”

At a CSW parallel event, “The Long Shadow of the Church at Beijing: Feminists Reflect”, Frances Kissling, a former CFC president, said that the Vatican “has about as much right in the UN as Disneyland.”

Kissling went on to say that “[w]hen dealing with the Institutional Church, many Catholics and certainly non-Catholics believe they have to be nice […] you don’t take them on in the same way you take on…you know…the same right-wing group” and that “if you are fighting something that is bigger than you, you have to be prepared to be willing to not be so respectful.”

Founded soon after Roe v. Wade in 1973, CFC is a feminist dissident NGO that rejects Catholic teaching on core issues, including abortion, contraception, the Church hierarchy, and human sexuality.

Historically, CFC has been primarily funded by “secular and anti-religious sources,” including major foundations, like the Sunnen Foundation, “a pioneer in the contraceptive industry”, and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, whose founding Billionaire self-identified as agnostic.

At a CSW parallel event, Steph Hanson-Quintana, Vice President of Organizing and Engagement at CFC, said that the goal of CFC is to “mobilize, gather people of faith who support reproductive freedom”. At the same event, another CFC representative said that “the Bible does not prohibit abortion” and that the Holy Scripture seems to indicate that “the fetus is not a person.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops condemned CFC multiple times across the years. In 1993 it argued that “[b]ecause of its opposition to the human rights of some of the most defenseless members of the human race, and because its purposes and activities deliberately contradict essential teachings of the Catholic faith…Catholics for Choice merits no recognition or support as a Catholic organization.” Similarly, in a 2016 statement, The Conference declared that “the use of the name ‘Catholic’ as a platform to promote the taking of innocent human life is offensive not only to Catholics, but to all who expect honesty and forthrightness in public discourse.”

When CFC moved to have the Holy See kicked out of the General Assembly more than 20 years ago, several thousand groups from around the world, signed a statement in support of the Holy See at the UN. These included the largest Protestant and Muslim groups in the world. A resolution was passed in the US Congress endorsing the Holy See at the UN.

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Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, highlighted the urgency of this initiative, emphasizing that every human life must be valued and protected. In his introduction to the resource, he drew attention to contemporary crises—including war, violence, poverty, and discrimination—that make a pastoral approach to life more necessary than ever. He also referenced the Vatican’s recent declaration «Dignitas Infinita», which reaffirmed the inalienable dignity of every human being, regardless of their condition or circumstances.

The document is the result of extensive dialogue with bishops from around the world, many of whom expressed their concerns during their “ad limina” visits to Rome. According to Archbishop Dario Gervasi, the Dicastery’s Adjunct Secretary, this collaboration reflects a collective desire to enhance the Church’s efforts in defending human life at all stages. A webinar held in 2024 with representatives from episcopal conferences laid the groundwork for this process, ensuring that the pastoral strategy aligns with the Church’s latest teachings.

A Synodal Approach to Defending Life 

The new resource offers a method for applying synodal discernment to life-related issues, helping dioceses develop tailored pastoral programs suited to their specific cultural and geographic contexts. Rather than providing rigid guidelines, it encourages an open and dynamic approach, allowing local churches to adapt their strategies according to their needs.

Bishop Gervasi underscored the importance of collaboration in this endeavor, stating that the goal is to equip dioceses with the tools necessary to train laypeople effectively and engage younger generations in the defense of life. The hope is that the resource will inspire a broader movement, reaching not only clergy and religious leaders but also parents, teachers, and youth.

Free Access and Global Distribution 

To ensure widespread accessibility, the document has been made available for free in Italian, English, and Portuguese on the Dicastery’s website (www.laityfamilylife.va). French and Spanish versions are set to be released soon. The Vatican urges clergy and laypeople alike to study the resource and take active steps toward integrating its principles into pastoral work.

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Viewed under the microscope of the only organization solely dedicated to serving as a Planned Parenthood watchdog, the financial woes claimed by the abortion conglomerate seem hollow. This is especially true in light of the salaries bestowed by the abortion vendor on the chief executive officers of their 49 affiliates in the United States.

“There is a vicious cycle going on right under our noses,” explained American Life League national director Katie Brown Xavios. “Hundreds of millions of our tax dollars are forked over to the oligarchs at Planned Parenthood, and in turn, they kill nearly half a million preborn Americans each year. And the reward? A government-funded nonprofit CEO making nearly $1 million a year. That should enrage Americans. At this time in America, when it is clear that there has been an extremely inappropriate misuse of funds by our government and by other nongovernmental organizations, Planned Parenthood reeks of guilt.”

The report details the salaries of all 49 of the abortion vendor’s affiliate CEOs, along with those of the top-paid employees at the organization’s headquarters—Planned Parenthood Federation of America. STOPP International’s extensive research into Planned Parenthood and its affiliates shows that this abortion empire, classified by the Internal Revenue Service as nonprofit, is paying its executives salaries that are far above industry averages.

The 2025 Report on Planned Parenthood CEO Compensation from American Life League’s STOPP International highlights the following facts:

• Designated by the federal government as 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and each of its 49 affiliates pay no taxes, despite drawing in millions of dollars of income in excess of expenses each year.

• Planned Parenthood’s latest annual report cited $699.3 million in federal funding, a massive 34 percent of the organization’s total annual revenue.

• Alexis McGill Johnson earned $904,014 in 2023 for her role as Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s president. That income is a 32 percent increase from her 2021 salary of $683,697.

• The average annual salary of a Planned Parenthood CEO is more than triple that of other nonprofit executives. In the United States, the average salary for a nonprofit CEO is roughly $117,000 a year, while Planned Parenthood CEOs earn an average of $352,661, placing these abortion executives in the 98th percentile of US wage earners.
• Planned Parenthood received almost $2,000 in federal dollars for each abortion it reported for the 2022-2023 year.

Katherine Van Dyke, American Life League’s lead researcher for the report, also spoke to the disingenuousness of the abortion vendor’s claims of money troubles. “Planned Parenthood’s exorbitant CEO and affiliate earnings continue to grow each year, while they simultaneously say they are experiencing financial decline,” Van Dyke observed. “The data collected in our CEO report is vital, as it shows that taxpayer money is truly the fuel for Planned Parenthood’s earnings and that the financial facts from their own reports do not align with the organization’s claims of financial woes.”

“Now is the time for our country’s leaders to truly assess these numbers and give Planned Parenthood the boot when it comes to receiving government reimbursements or benefitting from any form of appropriations. In other words, it is time to defund this very wealthy and profitable abortion megacorporation.”

Read the 2025 Report on Planned Parenthood CEO Compensation from American Life League’s STOPP International, released March 19, 2025, here (https://all.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Final-Version-STOPP_CEOcompensation2025.pdf).

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In 2023 there were 3,423 officially registered cases of euthanasia, or 3.1% of all deaths, as opposed to 483 victims of traffic accidents. Comparing deaths by euthanasia with other causes, in 2020 there were 2,111 deaths by suicide and 2,587 from breast cancer of the 126,850 in the whole country: 2,445 cases of euthanasia is a higher figure, which expresses a disproportionate use of the law, because access is available to a procedure that initially was thought to be reserved for extreme cases.

The Christian Democrats were out of power in 1999, and the Coalition of Socialists, Liberals and Greens focused on reform of bioethical questions, obtaining a law on euthanasia in 2002.

The legal requirements to be able to request euthanasia in Belgium specify that the patient must be able and aware, with unbearable and persistent physical psychological suffering from an incurable disease. Moreover, each case must be justified with precision by at least two doctors in a document that is examined by the Belgian Euthanasia Commission for approval.

In 2024, the Commission received 4,000 documents to verify. At the beginning of the application of the law, it received around 350 requestss a year. Today there are almost 350 per month.

The main group of those requesting euthanasia are between 70 and 90 years of age. However, doctors performed euthanasia in Belgium on 83 cases involving people under 50 years of age, 30 of whom were people under 40 years of age and 8 people under 50 years of age, 30 of whom were people under 40 years of age and 8 under 30 years of age. There was a 16-year-old girl who was euthanized because of a brain tumor.

The main reason for requests in 2023 was cancer, with 1,900 cases, followed by problems of the nervous, circulatory and respiratory system. The pathologies of those requesting euthanasia are varied and combined.

Requests for euthanasia have also increased by those suffering psychiatric problems, which are not incurable, with 48 cases in 2023.

The Belgian law, which they describe as perfect in the practice of euthanasia, has black holes, such as the possibility of skipping procedural steps lightly: it happened in 2010 with Tine Nys, a young girls, whose family denounced irregularities. The Federal Commission for Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia, responsible at the national level, did not take the required month to respond to the request, but gave an immediate yes.

The Commission publishes a statistical report annually. In 2020 it stated “in the last two years, the implementation of the law has not given place to difficulties or important abuses that require legislative initiatives.”
In the face of euthanasia cases officially supported by the Commission, «scientific studies estimate that between 25 and 35% of euthanasia cases are not declared» and are illegal, according to lawyer and researcher Leopold Vanbellingen of the European Institute of Bioethics.

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Sister Giustina, a member of the Servants of Mary Immaculate, is not only a clinical psychologist at the Medical Genetics Center in Lviv but also the founder and president of «Huella de Vida», a pioneering perinatal hospice established in 2017. The organization, driven by its motto—»I cannot give days to your life, but I can give life to your days»—provides perinatal palliative care to families experiencing the heartbreak of severe and untreatable fetal conditions.

During a press conference at the Pontifical Academy for Life’s General Assembly, which explored the theme «The End of the World? Crisis, Responsibilities, Hopes», Sister Giustina spoke passionately about the urgent need to change societal attitudes toward prenatal loss. She pointed out that prenatal diagnoses often lead to pregnancy termination, which, in turn, skews medical statistics by reducing recorded cases of congenital conditions.

Her work at «Huella de Vida» is built on four core pillars:

– Raising public awareness about prenatal and perinatal grief

– Providing emotional and psychological support to mothers and couples facing a severe fetal diagnosis

– Advocating for the dignity and care of unborn children with terminal conditions

– Accompanying parents who have lost a child during pregnancy or shortly after birth

Sister Giustina emphasized that no life is too brief to leave an imprint on the world. The hospice’s approach focuses on helping parents cherish every possible moment with their child, no matter how short.

«A tiny footprint can still leave a mark on this earth,» she said. «Our mission is to strengthen parents so they can continue the journey of pregnancy with love, appreciating each moment they have with their child.»

She also highlighted a widespread lack of awareness surrounding prenatal and perinatal grief, lamenting that many people do not know how to support families in these situations. To change this, «Huella de Vida» promotes October 15 as a global day of awareness for pregnancy and infant loss.

«For us, this day is an opportunity to proclaim the value of even the shortest lives. It is a day to honor motherhood and fatherhood. In the evening, we light candles in memory of these little souls, creating a wave of light across the world—a wave of remembrance, hope, and love,» she explained.

Sister Giustina’s message was clear: even when medicine offers no solution, love remains. «In situations where ‘nothing more can be done,’ there is always something left to do: to love—to love until the very end.»

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(ZENIT News – Center for Family and Human Rights / Washington, 02.23.2025).- When President Donald Trump reinstated the executive order blocking U.S. funding to foreign abortion groups in his first week in office, the outcry from abortion supporters was loud, swift, and predictable.  A new report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute debunks these claims and makes the case that the Global Protecting Life Rule is actually good for U.S. taxpayers as well as those receiving U.S. assistance overseas.

The report cites a 2025 survey showing that 73% of Americans “oppose or strongly oppose using U.S. tax dollars to support abortion in other countries.”  This includes 55% of Democrats, whose party supports abortion, and overwhelming majorities of Republicans and independent voters.

The policy also respects the cultural values and sovereignty of the countries receiving U.S. aid.  The largest organizations whose funding is blocked by the policy – the International Planned Parenthood Federation and MSI Reproductive Choices – not only provide abortion, but lobby foreign governments for more permissive laws and policies on abortion.  While they are already blocked from using U.S. funds to directly perform or promote abortion, the fungibility of money means that any U.S. aid they receive enables them to increase their foothold in countries and claim the enhanced credibility of being partners with the United States.

The Lozier report examines the claims from abortion groups that the policy has the unintended consequence of reducing access to health care.  However, these claims appear to be exaggerated.  Following the reinstatement of the policy, some countries have reported a decline in HIV infections and unintended pregnancies.  When services were interrupted, a survey found that the affected involved the provision of information, including on abortion, as well as advocacy efforts and trainings as opposed to medical services. When abortion groups declined U.S. funding and reduced service provision, they were usually replaced by other providers.

While abortion groups claim that increasing access to abortion is necessary to reduce maternal deaths, the Lozier report points out that “Western aid has failed to focus on the causes responsible for 90% of maternal deaths,” which are overwhelmingly preventable or treatable.  The argument that abortion and contraception are needed to address maternal mortality relies on the assumption that birth will remain unsafe and therefore must be avoided.  As one group of doctors working in Africa point out, “an asphyxiated newborn cannot be resuscitated by the failed intent to prevent his or her conception.”

Another effect of the pro-life policy claimed  by abortion groups is a setback to their ability to form coalitions and advocate for liberalized abortion laws.  Organizations looking to serve the needs of people in poor countries—and partner with the U.S. government to do it—tend to steer clear of the abortion groups when they are disfavored by U.S. policy.

The Global Protecting Life Rule (previously known as both the Mexico City Policy and Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance) remains an executive order that could be rescinded by a future Democratic president.  If Congress were to make it a law, it would not only extend the protections to all life overseas, but end the temporary interruptions to services caused by the need to find new implementing partners.

Nevertheless, the Lozier report argues that the pro-life policy remains effective and aligns with the will of the American people, the people they assist overseas, and the global consensus that abortion is not a human right.

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While, in 2024, 60,755 unborn babies were eliminated, in the year 2023, abortions reached the terrible figure of 84,052.

This decrease is due in principle to the change that took place last April in the laws regarding the voluntary interruption of pregnancy in this state, by which the limit of the number of weeks allowed for abortion was reduced from 15 to 6 weeks. Thus, Florida has become one of the most restrictive states in terms of laws.

It was Governor Ron DeSantis who signed this law, calling abortion “a third-degree felony.”

Last year, 1 in 3 abortions in the Southern U.S. occurred in Florida, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on sexual and reproductive health that supports abortion rights.

In 2023, there were about 7,000 abortions a month in Florida, and more than 9,000 people traveled there from other states for abortions throughout the year.

The effect that liberalizing or restrictive legal measures have on certain behaviors is well known.

The legalization of euthanasia or the permissiveness of abortion causes an increase in their practices, both due to the ease of access to them and the “moralizing” effect on the conscience of citizens. They can confuse what is legal with what is ethically permissible, circumstances that do not always coincide.

In this case, the opposite phenomenon is observed: an increase in restrictions on the practice has facilitated the birth of more than 20,000 children in Florida in 2024, compared to those born in 2023.

The exercise of individual freedom must be restricted when its consequences result in harm to third parties (abortion) or to oneself (euthanasia). Respect for human life justifies these restrictions, which make it possible for babies born thanks to them to also exercise their rights.

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(ZENIT News – Center for Family and Human Rights / NY, 02.11.2025).- or decades, pro-life and pro-family NGOs have been complaining about the radical nature of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Something is finally being done. The Trump administration has dramatically taken control of the agency this week. President Trump said the agency was run by “radical left lunatics” when confronted about it over the weekend.

The takeover of the agency, which has over 10,000 employees and gave over $40 billion to 130 countries last year, follows accusations of funding abortion, terrorism, LGBT projects, and censorship of the American People. It has also been accused of insubordination and covering-up its controversial programs to avoid scrutiny.

Late last Friday, the White House team from the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, under Elon Musk, gained access to computers and escorted officials off-premises. Over the weekend, they told over 1,000 headquarters employees not to return to work on Monday. On Tuesday, all USAID staff were placed on administrative leave.

The dramatic takeover of the agency appears to have been designed to counter acts of sabotage and insubordination as the Trump administration attempts to review the agency’s work. The White House froze all USAID disbursements on January 24, pending a review of existing contracts and commitments, but apparently, not everyone at the agency was cooperating.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited the agency’s “rank insubordination” as the reason for the Trump administration’s actions. “We had no choice but to bring this thing under control,” he explained in interviews on Monday. Rubio emphasized that every U.S. foreign aid expenditure has to be reviewed to ensure it was promoting U.S. interests.

Elon Musk complained of USAID official sabotage through an X post, and said, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.”

Critics of USAID on all sides agree that scrutiny of the agency’s work was long overdue. An inspector general report on January 23 found that the agency was failing to carry out due diligence in vetting U.S. foreign aid recipients to prevent funding to terrorists, fraudulent groups, and failing to require aid recipients to report on how U.S. funds are spent.

Over the weekend, reports of other controversial programs run through USAID circulated on social media and were amplified by Elon Musk. Among these, are accusations by Mike Benz of the Foundation for Freedom Online that USAID is a key player in efforts to build a global censorship machinery to control traditional and social media as well as efforts by the U.S. intelligence and pentagon schemes to overturn foreign governments.

Benz remains skeptical about current reform efforts. Many of USAID’s most controversial programs are classified and beyond the scrutiny of U.S. taxpayers.

“Killing USAID doesn’t end USAID,” Benz said. “It now gives the State Department a USAID [disease] unless billions in bad grants are ended, permanently, and not respawned by the State Dept inheriting USAID’s portfolio”.

United Nations officials have complained that the freeze will disrupt aid delivery and endanger lives. The U.S. government provides over 47% of world’s humanitarian aid, including hundreds of millions of dollars in medical assistance in Afghanistan.

It remains unclear how USAID’s overhaul will shape up. It is unlikely that the White House plans to do away with the agency entirely because it is formally established through Congressional legislation. Democratic Senators issued a letter on Tuesday calling the Trump administration’s actions “illegal.”

The agency was first formed by John F. Kennedy through executive order and was later established by Congress under Bill Clinton.

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