Introduction from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200 by Stephen D. Mumford

Pronatalist Zealotry And Population Pressure Conflicts: How Catholics Seized Control Of U.S. Family Planning Programs by R.T. Ravenholt, M.D., MPH, Former Director, Office of Population (1966-79) of the United States Agency for International Development, chronicles his fourteen year effort to establish a population program within USAID, his eventual removal and dilution of the project.

And how ".... Right-to Life" adversaries invoked the assistance of two Roman Catholics, Congressman Clement Zablocki of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and his assistant, John H. Sullivan, to attack AID's population program...”

And how ".... another Catholic, then Deputy Administrator, John H. Murphy.... and others, created a task force for the purpose of reorganizing and thereby decapitating the Office of Population.”

And how ".... with the help of Jimmy Carter and his political appointees, religious zealots finally managed to degrade AID's population program by placing the two Federal agencies with family planning programs under Catholic control.”

Concludes with a statement by President George Bush, written while he was the U.S. Representative to the United Nations and published as the foreword to Phyllis Piotrow's book, World Population Crisis: The United States Response. This document reveals the political costs of taking a stand against the Vatican and, when seen through the lens of history, provides some insight on why Bush turned against the needs of the world and supported the Vatican during his presidency.

What Happened to the Momentum? Traces the decline from its peak in 1975 of U.S. political will to deal with the overpopulation problem. from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200, Chapter 5 - by Stephen D. Mumford

Why Did Our Political Will Fade Away? Describes the increasing involvement of the Roman Catholic Church in scuttling any positive action toward implementation of the NSSM 200 recommendations. from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200, Chapter 6 - by Stephen D. Mumford

Implications of the Pastoral Plan Analysis of the Plan and its implementation, including the roles of the Catholic Press Association, Catholic physicians guilds, Catholic lawyers associations, hospital associations, lay organizations -- and the paralyzing influence of "ecumenical activity." from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200, Chapter 9 - by Stephen D. Mumford

EXCERPTS * FROM THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200: HOW THE DESTRUCTION OF POLITICAL WILL DOOMED A U.S. POPULATION POLICY by Stephen Mumford reviews the history of US efforts to define, develop and implement a comprehensive population policy, as well as the work of Roman Catholics within the government to undermine the progress of important proposals. From selected passages of his book, Mumford gives examples of Vatican activists in and out of the Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush administrations. Reagan’s “Catholic team” included devout Roman Catholics CIA chief William Casey, [Richard] Allen [Reagan’s first National Security Advisor], [William] Clark [Reagan’s second National Security Advisor], [Alexander] Haig [Secretary of State], [Vernon] Walters [Ambassador at Large] and William Wilson, Reagan’s first ambassador to the Vatican. This report also quotes Cardinal John O’Connor of New York, “The fact is that attacks on the Catholic Church’s stance on abortion - unless they are rebutted - effectively erode Church authority on all matters, indeed on the authority of God himself. "

Mumford clearly makes the case that: "Had the recommendations of NSSM 200 been implemented in 1975, the world would be very different today. The prospects would have improved for every nation and people to be significantly more secure. There would be less civil and regional warfare, less starvation and hunger, a cleaner environment and less disease, greater educational opportunities, expanded civil rights, especially for women, and a political climate more conducive to the expansion of democracy." FOCUS Vol. 8, No. 11998

What Was the Role of the Vatican? How the Reagan Administration altered its foreign aid program to comply with Vatican insistence on an outright ban on use of foreign aid funds for the performance or promotion of abortions. from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200, Chapter 7 - by Stephen D. Mumford

Overcoming Overpopulation: The Rise and Fall of American Political Will. Stephen D. Mumford describes the work of Vatican activists in undermining efforts to implement any population growth control policy by the US government and how Catholic bishops issued their Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities just six days before President Ford made the NSSM 200 report public policy. He shows the plan as a frank and superbly detailed blueprint of the bishops' strategy for infiltrating and manipulating the American democratic process at the national, state and local levels. This report details the three-pronged attack, one devoted to each of the three branches of our federal government: legislative, judicial, and administrative. The purpose is to kill the political will of the United States to overcome the overpopulation problem. From: Free Inquiry, Spring 1994

President Nixon's "Special Message" on Population Marks the moment in 1969 when the President proposed creation of the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future. from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200 by Stephen D. Mumford

The "Rockefeller Commission" on Population Growth President Nixon's remarks upon signing the bill creating the Commission in 1970, and the Commission's recommendations submitted in 1972 on nearly 50 areas of policy and action, including sex education, equal rights for women, contraception and minors, voluntary sterilization, abortion, and population stabilization. from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200, Chapter 2 - by Stephen D. Mumford

President Ford's Move toward a U.S. Population Policy The full text of National Security Decision Memo 314, signed in 1975 by Brent Scowcroft on behalf of President Ford, approving almost all of the NSSM 200 recommendations. from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200, Chapter 4 - by Stephen D. Mumford

THE POPE CALLED THE TUNE from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200, Chapter 7 - by Stephen D. Mumford

The Bishops' "Pastoral Plan" The master blueprint for the infiltration and manipulation of the American democratic process at all levels of government. Includes the complete "unsanitized" text of the U.S. Bishops' Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities. from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200, Chapter 8 - by Stephen D. Mumford

The Human Life Amendment -- and Beyond Evidence of the bishops' great success in killing American political will through implementation of the Pastoral Plan but without yet achieving passage of the Human Life Amendment. from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200, Chapter 10 - by Stephen D. Mumford

LEADERSHIP OF THE POPULATION MOVEMENT from: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200, Chapter 12 - by Stephen D. Mumford