Response to politicians using Coronavirus

The New York Times recently criticized pro-life politicians who are taking steps to save lives during the coronavirus outbreak. The newspaper editorial board did not have a problem with states’ bans on most non-essential medical procedures—just those that include abortion, a life-destroying practice that puts both mothers and unborn babies at risk.

In their piece Thursday, the editors slammed Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, and other states for temporarily banning elective abortions. They claimed pro-life lawmakers are “exploit[ing] a pandemic that’s already cost hundreds of American lives” in order to “restrict women’s bodily autonomy,” according to the Daily Wire.

The New York Times editors claimed abortions are essential, especially during a global health crisis. Even though abortions kill unborn babies and activists have spent decades claiming they are a “choice,” even though abortions do not improve women’s health and they are elective, abortion activists now claim they are essential.

According to the newspaper: “The ‘nonessential’ bit is obvious nonsense and the delay a transparent attempt to put abortion out of reach for those who need it. …These state leaders know that once an abortion clinic closes for any significant period, it becomes difficult to reopen.”

They argued that state and national leaders should be doing the exact opposite: expand abortions. They suggested allowing abortion drugs to be mail-ordered and expanding telemedicine abortions. The editors also insisted that abortions should be taxpayer-funded, even though most Americans disagree.

“Given the coronavirus pandemic, it is incumbent on the F.D.A. to relax its regulation on mifepristone [an abortion drug], at least temporarily,” the editors wrote. “Doing so would allow many women to get a prescription for abortion-inducing drugs from a doctor via telemedicine, at which point the medications could be mailed to the patient. Unfortunately, 18 states effectively ban abortion care via telemedicine—measures that also ought to be lifted, at least for the time being.”

But expanding abortions does not save lives. It destroys them. Recently, medical groups representing more than 30,000 doctors in America emphasized that abortions are not “essential” or “urgent,” and abortion facilities that continue to operate during the pandemic are being “medically irresponsible.”