Here are some examples of headlines from recent weeks.
“Republicans are using coronavirus to clamp down on abortion.” — Los Angeles Times
“Coronavirus Becomes Pretext to Restrict Abortion” – The New York Times
“Texas women forced to travel 20 times farther for abortions under coronavirus ban.” — The Hill
Five states — Texas, Ohio, Alabama, Iowa and Mississippi — that have banned nonessential medical procedures due to the health crisis caused by the novel coronavirus have included abortion among those nonessential procedures.
These measures were taken with one goal in mind: saving lives. To suggest otherwise is cynical and obscene.
The logic is plain. There is a earnest shortage of medical equipment, facilities and personnel. In addition, most states have mandated social distancing to stop the spread of infection — requirements that could not be followed in abortion clinics.
As it happens, stopping abortion saves the lives of unborn children. That is always true. But by prohibiting the tying of needed supplies and enforcing social distancing, it will also save the lives of Americans at risk from the virus.
Texas abortion providers, led by Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, filed suit challenging the state’s decision to restrict abortions in those circumstances. Their claim was upheld in federal district court, and the state’s abortion license was reinstated. But the state appealed the decision, and an appeals court reversed the decision and reinstated the restrictions, pending an April 13 hearing.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James spoke with National Public Radio about her efforts to organize opposition to efforts to declare abortion illegal and non-essential during the crisis.
According to James, New York and 17 other states have filed a legal brief supporting Texas abortion providers’ efforts to restore abortion rights.
James says, “This ban does nothing, nothing, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. … Texas is doing nothing more than using this pandemic as an excuse to violate women’s rights and treat them like second-class citizens.”
These words come from the attorney general of New York, the state with the highest abortion rate in the country and the most earnest challenges facing the country in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.
How is it possible that New York’s attorney general finds time to question Texas’ handling of the coronavirus response when her own state is failing to address the crisis?
As of this writing, New York has reported 123,018 cases of coronavirus, 37% of all U.S. cases. Texas has 7,045. New York has 6,324 cases per million residents. Texas has 243 per million.
In New York, the case fatality rate among confirmed cases is 3.38%, while in Texas it is 1.89%.
It should be clear that the New York Attorney General should not be criticizing the way the people of Texas or any other state are handling this crisis, given that there is no place more out of control than New York.
In the best of circumstances, crises, personal or national, should be times of growth and learning. They should bring out the best in us, not the worst.
I wish Americans were as shocked to hear that nearly a million unborn babies are killed in the womb each year as they are to hear that an estimated 100,000 to 240,000 people will die from the coronavirus.
You would think that times like these would inspire humility and respect for the miracle of life. Challenges like these should make us better Americans and better people.
But apparently things have become so vulgar that it doesn’t happen in many circles. It certainly doesn’t seem to happen in New York.
Maybe one day we will evolve. In the meantime, the focus should be on saving lives, born and unborn.
Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and author of the recent book, Necessary Noise: How Donald Trump Inflames the Culture War and Why This is Good News for America, available now on Amazon.com.
