(LifeSiteNews) — U.S. government agencies have never engaged in open coercion to force down the birth rate, at least within the borders of the United States. (USAID’s past actions overseas are another matter.)

We are, after all, not China. There, the birth control police hunted down women they suspected of violating the one-child policy, arresting them for the crime of being “pregnant” and forcing them to abort their babies, even if they were about to give birth.

But if U.S. officials did not show up on people’s doorsteps—since when has a visit from a government official ever been a good thing?—that did not mean that the federal government has been taking a hands-off approach to baby-making in America.

In fact, quite the opposite.

Most people don’t know that, for the past few decades, various government agencies have used a clever combination of educational, economic, and social policies to deliberately drive down the birthrate.

You might call it a whole-of-government approach to stealth population control, and much of it is still in place today.

The blueprint for this assault on American families and American fertility was drawn up way back in 1972 by something called the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future.

The Commission was the brainchild of one of America’s original population bomb fanatics, John D. Rockefeller III, who also happened to be one of the wealthiest men on the planet.

Like many of his fellow globalist elites—think Bill Gates and Warren Buffet—Rockefeller had long been convinced that Americans were having way too many babies. And he decided that it was past time to use a whole-of-government approach to put a stop to this reckless reproduction.

Rockefeller badgered President Richard Nixon into setting up the Commission on Population Growth in 1970 and appointing him as chairman. Over the next two years he steered it with an iron hand, using it to concoct a comprehensive plan that he hoped would stop America’s population growth dead in its tracks.

The report that he issued, called Population and the American Future, was a population controller’s dream. It began—as such screeds always do—with a stark warning: Unless something was done to stop America’s high birth rates, the population of the U.S. would explode from 203 million in 1970 to 300 million by 2000.

Grim consequences would follow, the report warned: Cities would become overcrowded cesspools of poverty and racial tension. Inequality would grow. Hordes of children would strain schools and other social services to the breaking point. Pressure on natural resources like water and energy would escalate as cities sprawled across the landscape, full of people sowing pollution wherever they went.

After laying out this dark scenario, the Commission argued that “no substantial benefits would result from continued [population] growth.” The only way to improve America’s “quality of life,” it insisted, was to “stabilize the population.”

The Commission then laid out a detailed plan to variously propagandize, persuade and compel Americans to “choose” to have fewer children. If what they proposed sounds familiar, it’s because we have been living with them for the past 50 years.

The first key policy proposal was to flood the country with condoms, contraceptives, IUDs, and the like. The stated goal was “universal access to family planning services,” and to this end a huge increase in federal funding was proposed to ensure that poor and so-called “underserved communities” had access to the contraceptive of their choice.

READ: 105 abortion centers have closed since Roe v. Wade was overturned: report

Like most population controllers, Rockefeller was convinced that the poor should have few or no children. After all, he himself had fathered only one.

Today’s nationwide network of abortion and family planning clinics, disproportionately located in poor and minority neighborhoods, which hand out condoms like candy, and put minor girls on birth control without their parents’ knowledge or consent, is the result.

A second key proposal concerned abortion, which the Commission argued should not only be legalized but should be free to all comers. Unwanted births must be reduced, it said, and the only way to make sure that the poor actually eliminated their offspring was to make abortion free.

The Commission’s recommendation had a great impact in elite circles, paving the way for the Supreme Court’s infamous Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, and public funding of abortion soon followed. It took a half century for the Court to overturn Roe and, even today, abortion remains legal in in 37 states, and the biggest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, receives $700 million in public funding each year.

A third key proposal involved sex education. Beginning in junior high school or even earlier, young people were to be taught how to have sterile sex by introducing them to a wide array of contraceptives and abortion as a last resort.

The predictable, indeed intended, result of indoctrinating students in secular notions of sex was to destroy traditional sexual mores and reduce the birth rate.

In tandem with sex education, government agencies were also encouraged to undertake educational campaigns to “shift cultural attitudes towards smaller family sizes.” In the decades since, government-funded education campaigns and environmental initiatives have highlighted overpopulation concerns, shifting more recently into climate fearmongering.

Finally, the report advocated the elimination of any and all tax incentives and welfare policies that encourage larger families. This is one reason the standard deduction for dependents remained unchanged for decades. Even today, child tax credits and deductions have not kept up with inflation, nor do these reflect the increased costs borne by larger families.

In an America beset by falling fertility, the repudiation of the Rockefeller Commission’s radical proposals contained in Population and the American Future is long overdue. That’s why we at Population Research Institute have prepared a draft Executive Order proposing exactly that.

DISAVOWING THE 1972 COMMISSION ON POPULATION GROWTH AND PROMOTING AMERICA’S DEMOGRAPHIC FUTURE

In 1972, the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future, established by Public Law 91-213, issued a report recommending sweeping efforts to slow population growth in the United States. These recommendations rested on flawed assumptions about unsustainable population growth, resource scarcity, and environmental collapse. They underestimated America’s ingenuity in agriculture, technology, and economic development. For decades, these misguided conclusions fueled a false narrative that overpopulation threatened national stability, misleading three generations of Americans.

The Commission’s report wrongly declared that “no substantial benefits will result from further growth of the Nation’s population” and pushed for policies to stabilize or reduce population size. It dismissed population growth as a driver of economic vitality and national strength, instead advocating a radical shift away from traditional family values. The report promoted invasive policies, including federally backed campaigns to limit childbearing, often targeting marginalized communities through measures like unrestricted abortion access. It framed childbearing as a burden, undermining the aspirations of American families.

Today, these ideas are outdated and dangerous. The U.S. Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has plummeted to 1.62 births per woman (2024), far below the replacement level of 2.1. America now faces a crisis of population decline, with fewer workers, strained entitlement programs, and weakened communities. The Commission’s failed vision no longer reflects the urgent demographic and economic realities of our great Nation.

Section 2. Purpose. America’s future depends on a strong, growing population. The United States faces a demographic crisis of declining birth rates, shrinking workforces, and an aging population. These trends threaten economic prosperity, national security, and the sustainability of programs like Social Security and Medicare. Fewer workers mean less innovation, lower productivity, and weaker communities. Smaller families risk social isolation and cultural decline.

This Administration will not tolerate the outdated fears of overpopulation. Immediate action is essential to reverse these dangerous trends and restore America’s demographic strength. The Federal Government must reject the discredited 1972 Commission and embrace policies that support families, promote population growth, and secure our Nation’s future.

Section 3. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to strengthen America’s demographic and economic foundation by reversing declining birth rates and promoting sustainable population growth. The Federal Government will prioritize policies that support family formation, eliminate barriers to child-rearing, and encourage strong, thriving families. Rather than relying on immigration to address population decline, the Federal Government will focus on increasing birth rates among the existing American population to ensure a vibrant and self-sustaining future. This policy will ensure economic growth, protect entitlement programs, and preserve the cultural and social fabric of our Nation.

…

Section 5. Disavowal of the 1972 Commission.
(a) The findings and recommendations of the 1972 Commission on Population Growth and the American Future are hereby declared outdated and irrelevant to current demographic and economic realities.
(b) All executive departments and agencies shall cease citing, referencing, or relying on the 1972 Commission’s report or its derivatives in developing policies, educational materials, or grant decisions, except for documented historical or archival purposes.
(c) Within 90 days of this order, agency heads shall report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on steps taken to comply with this section.

Section 6. Review and Removal of Outdated Materials.
(a) Within 120 days of this order, heads of executive departments and agencies shall review all publicly available materials under their jurisdiction, including websites, training programs, and policy documents, that reference or promote the 1972 Commission’s conclusions.
(b) Materials endorsing or relying on the Commission’s findings shall be revised or removed, except when used for historical or archival purposes.
(c) Any reference to overpopulation as a justification for suppressing fertility or population growth, including in connection with climate change, shall be eliminated or updated to reflect current demographic realities.
(d) Agency heads shall submit a compliance report to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within 150 days of this order, detailing actions taken.

Section 7. Establishment of the Task Force on Demographic Renewal.
(a) There is hereby established the Task Force on Demographic Renewal (the “Task Force”) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which shall lead and support its activities.
(b) The Task Force shall consist of not more than 12 members appointed by the President, including one representative each from HHS, the Department of Education, and the Department of Labor, and other experts in demography, economics, family policy, and public health, as well as representatives of pro-family organizations.
(c) The Task Force shall be chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services or the Secretary’s designee.
(d) The Task Force shall:
(i) analyze current demographic trends, including fertility rates, workforce participation, and aging populations;
(ii) assess federal policies impacting family formation and population growth;
(iii) evaluate the economic, social, and fiscal consequences of population decline;
(iv) recommend strategies to promote marriage, increase birth rates, and strengthen family-oriented communities; and
(v) propose family-supportive policies to eliminate barriers to childbearing and parenting.
(e) Within 180 days of its first meeting, the Task Force shall submit a report to the President, through the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with its findings and recommendations.
(f) The Task Force shall terminate upon submission of its report, unless extended by the President.

We respectfully urge President Trump to turn the page on the failed policy instituted by the 1972 Commission, which has contributed to America’s demographic decline, and institute new pro-natal and pro-family policies to bolster the birth rate.

The best days of America are ahead of it.