Like many countries around the world, America is facing a fertility crisis. The problem is so dire — currently 1.66 births per woman — that Elon Musk is kept up at night by fears of what will happen if the trend does not reverse.

The Trump administration is actively seeking to remedy this problem. As they do so, my hope is that the policies they propose recognize that people are gifts from God — not tools — and that the economy and government are meant to serve families, not the other way around.

For the past several generations, young people have been taught that life is disposable and they should put themselves first. Increasing the birth rate requires reviving the virtues of courage, love, and self-sacrifice, as well as instilling a respect for every life. This will not be an easy task, but the Trump administration is up to it. Here are three ways to start.

1. Revoke the Approval of Mifepristone

The abortion drug, mifepristone, is one of the most dangerous drugs approved by the FDA. Not only is it designed to kill a human being, but it is also incredibly dangerous for the child’s mother. The drug is marketed as “as safe as Tylenol,” but the consequences of the drug couldn’t be more different.

Typically, after ingesting mifepristone, a woman is left alone in her bathroom where she delivers her often visibly recognizable unborn child into the toilet, while trying to determine if the extreme pain, nausea, vomiting, and bleeding she is experiencing is normal or a life-threatening complication from the drug. According to new research, mifepristone causes a serious adverse event in over one in 10 women who take it.

There is nothing more destructive to increasing the birth rate in our country than abortion. Congress and the Trump administration may not have the votes to protect unborn life completely, but if the goal is to improve the birth rate, then repealing the approval of mifepristone that is literally designed to kill unborn Americans would be a great place to start.

2. Ban Pornography

Since the rise of the internet, pornography use has increased dramatically. Viewing pornography used to involve walking into a specific store known for selling filth and interacting with another person to purchase a magazine that both people knew to be degrading — especially to women. Shame that was at least semi-public accompanied porn use. Since the rise of personal computers, and especially the iPhone, secret pornography consumption has become as easy as closing the bedroom door.

Numerous studies show the negative impacts of pornography use. It is associated with infidelity, reduced gray matter in the brain, less relationship satisfaction, less sex with a spouse, desensitization to sexual violence, weakening of the cingulate cortex (the region of the brain responsible for moral and ethical decision making), and erectile disfunction. All of these are problematic.

But perhaps the worst impact of pornography is what it does to a person’s ability to love. As Christian author C.S. Lewis put it, “Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” Contrary to this, pornography teaches the viewer to disregard others completely in exchange for isolated and isolating pleasure, making the user more selfish. If consumed regularly, pornography destroys a person’s ability to love.

Today, the pornography industry is attacking and addicting young people more than ever. According to one survey, nearly three-quarters of teenagers have been exposed to pornography by the age of 12 — creating a generation conditioned to prefer interacting with a screen to a person. The use of pornography, an empty fulfillment of a desire with seemingly no responsibility attached, has had tragic consequences for our marriage rates, and consequently our birth rates.

Banning pornography would reorient our society toward relationships with people — relationships that would likely grow first into love, then, into marriage, and then, as the rhyme goes, comes the baby in the baby carriage.

3. Fund Restorative Reproductive Medicine Research and Treatment

In the United States, the number of couples who would like to have a child but either struggle to get pregnant or can’t carry to term is heartbreaking. In 2019, estimates showed 15.4% of women ages 25-49 struggling to get pregnant, and 8.7% of women were infertile. Studies also estimate up to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. The emotional and mental toll of these crosses cannot be quantified.

But there is hope.

Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) — like NaPro,FEMM, and the Neofertility — looks for the underlying cause of infertility or miscarriage and works to repair it. The science behind these methods is constantly being studied through new research, such as the use of DHEA to prevent miscarriage for women with low estrogen levels, discovering solutions regularly.

These methods work with a woman’s body, and doctors who practice RRM understand that infertility and miscarriage is a sign that something is wrong. In many cases — over 60% of couples, including many couples who failed to conceive via IVF, conceive and carry a child to term after using RRM.

Furthermore, the practice of RRM respects the dignity of every person involved and recognizes the gift that every child is, thus furthering a culture of life. But the number of doctors trained in RRM are so few that many struggle to find one, and funding for RRM research is limited. If these were remedied, this type of medicine could be far more effective.