Population Connection

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Population Connection is an organization in the United States, formerly known as Zero Population Growth. They adopted their current name in 2002. Zero Population Growth was originally founded in 1968 by Paul R. Ehrlich, Richard Bowers, and Charles Remington, in the wake of the impact from Ehrlich's best-selling book, The Population Bomb.

For nearly forty years, Population Connection has been educating young people with its award-winning Population Education program and advocating for progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth's resources. The organization's mission statement is as follows: Overpopulation threatens the quality of life for people everywhere. Population Connection is the national grassroots population organization that educates young people and advocates progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth's resources.

By 2008, membership in ZPG had grown to more than 35,000 members. The organization's headquarters is in Washington, D.C. Population Connection works on issues concerning overpopulation and reproductive rights, and publishes a quarterly magazine, The Reporter.

Population Connection supporters live nationwide. Their Making the Global Local program reaches out to residents of twelve cities across the nation, chosen for their proximity to a large public university, progressive atmosphere, and large membership base. Grassroots organizers in these cities distribute information about the organization and the issues it covers at festivals, farmers markets, and member meetings.

On May 8, 2008, the group officially abandoned the policy of advocating reduced immigration to the U.S. as a method of limiting population growth. Its newly adopted policy states:

It is Population Connection's view that immigration pressures on the U.S. population are best relieved by addressing factors which compel people to leave their homes and families and immigrate to the United States.[1]

Population Connection advocates strongly for comprehensive sexuality education in the United States and abroad (when using U.S. government funds); the refunding of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); and the repeal of the Global gag rule. The Global Gag Rule is a policy first instated by President Reagan in 1984 in Mexico City. It was repealed by President Clinton and then reinstated by President Bush. The policy states that the U.S. governmental cannot give funding to foreign non-profits that perform, counsel women on, or lobby for more rights surrounding abortion. The policy is officially called the Mexico City Policy.