Birth and fertility rates in the United States declined to the lowest level in nearly 50 years, according to data provided last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One would think that with so many millions of Americans stuck at home on coronavirus lockdowns that the birth rate might have ticked upwards in 2020. But, nope. The numbers are down another four percent over numbers from the previous year’s reports. According to UPI: The total and general fertility rates in 2020 also declined 4% from 2019 to record lows. The report said at the current level — known as “below replacement” — there are more people dying every day than are being born. The decline from 2019 to 2020 is the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years. The U.S. birth rate last year was down to about 56 births per 1,000 women of child-bearing age, which is the lowest rate on record. UPI added that this is the lowest birth rate since 1979. “About 3.6 million births were recorded nationally in 2020, down from the 3.75 million births in 2019, the data showed. The 2019 figure was down from 3.79 million in 2018,” UPI reported. The only good trend is that births to teens is also down. Births among 15- to 17-year-olds fell by 6% and to 18- to 19-year-olds by 7%. Consequently, abortion rates have also been falling. Abortions dropped 7% to 862,320 in 2017. that is down from 2014’s 926,200. America is hardly alone in this. Most economically wealthy nations are experiencing similar declining birth rates. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.

Last week, the Texas State Senate approved SB 1646, which would ban sex change procedures for minors, by an 18 to 12 vote margin. The bill will now go to the State House before it can go to the governor’s desk. State Senator Charles Perry’s bill would define sex changes for kids as child abuse. If made into law, the state’s Child Protective Services (CPS) department would be tasked with dealing with violations. “Perry argued in floor debate that the bill was necessary to prevent children from making irreversible decisions that they may regret later, but experts say both parts of that claim are questionable,” the Texas Tribune reported. “According to Marjan Linnell, a general pediatrician, puberty suppression treatments are completely reversible and have been used for decades to delay early onset puberty. While other treatments such as hormones and surgery may cause irreversible changes, Linnell said the risks are discussed extensively with children and their parents before the procedures, which is typically only performed after puberty,” the paper added. Of course, the problem is, telling a 6-year-old about complex and possibly dangerous procedures is a waste of time since they aren’t advanced enough mentally and emotionally to make such important decisions. The bill in Texas is just one of the many bills in states across the country proposing limits on transgenderism. Not only are states trying to prevent the medical sector from dangerously affecting the health and wellbeing of children already suffering from confusion and pressures (usually from adults), but legislators are trying to limit men pretending to be women from playing sports against natural-born women. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.