Bonnie Chernin
The other pandemic
By Bonnie Chernin
There is another pandemic, one that is not under the microscope.
It's been going on daily while national attention has been focused on the constant news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. As more testing becomes available, we will have a better idea of where we are, but the numbers remain fluid. Amid conflicting statistics, travel bans, job losses, a volatile stock market, and unofficial curfews, another pandemic continues to kill.
The other pandemic – abortion – has been going on for 47-plus years and the data is grim and much more accurate. Worldwide, there have been over 1.5 billion lives lost. In the United States alone, there have been nearly 62 million deaths.
Since the coronavirus has caused governors to enact mandatory shut-downs of businesses and all non-essential medical services, the daily number of abortions has declined slightly. Meanwhile, at the time of this writing, the worldwide abortion counter shows that 2,362 babies have been killed by abortion today in the United States.
Planned Parenthood has an abortion quota. Their profits primarily come from killing unborn babies, not providing valid medical services. They are suing several states – Alabama, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas among them – that have halted abortion operations to save critical medical resources for the coronavirus patients whom are sick and really do need vital care. Abortion workers are using masks and gloves that should be allocated to hospitals treating patients afflicted with COVID-19.
However, pro-life advocates have been monitoring facilities that are violating guidelines and spreading the contagion. In Kansas, Operation Rescue has reported a series of horrific incidents occurring at the Trust Women Wichita abortion mill, where abortion workers are throwing safety precautions to the winds. Women are arriving to this facility for abortions from multiple states in violation of interstate travel guidelines, endangering the public. A security guard working there is seen in a photo wearing no protective gear, and he handed a bag full of vomit from a sick patient to a pro-life activist outside. That guard should be fired and criminally charged.
During a national health emergency when people are still getting sick, Trust Women Wichita abortion business is killing unborn babies and committing horrible human rights abuses against women.
If one abortion clinic is ignoring government guidelines and putting people in danger, is it possible that other clinics are committing violations as well? Evidently, yes. Last week a woman was rushed to the hospital after a botched abortion at the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Illinois. The report describes a situation where women were "packed like sardines" and a parking lot with license plates from six different states, at a time when the National Coronavirus Taskforce recommends avoiding travel between states to stop the spread of the virus.
On April 1st 2020, LifeNews.com provided an update on the Iowa lawsuit, and state officials reached an agreement that abortions will continue despite the urgent need for personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus epidemic:
"Killing a baby is 'essential' in Iowa. While state residents can't get hip replacements, cataract surgery, or other legitimate medical procedures, Iowans can still end the lives of their unborn children in lethal abortions."
Steven Ertelt reported that in states like Michigan with Democratic pro-abortion governors, the following details have emerged:
"Today the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List called out Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer for requiring Michiganders to postpone or forego important medical procedures including cancer, pediatric, cardiac and spinal surgeries, while elective abortions are allowed to proceed and take up valuable resources needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic."
Numerous states continue to permit abortions while prohibiting legitimate medical surgeries, and states that are trying to halt all abortions to reserve protective equipment for the COVID-19 pandemic are being sued. Abortion facility workers are wearing masks and gloves that should be allocated to hospitals specifically to combat and contain this deadly virus. A press release representing 30,000 physicians called for a complete suspension of all abortions to conserve resources for coronavirus patients needing care.
Hospitals across the country are halting medical procedures that are considered elective and non-essential, including knee and hip replacements. As of April 1st, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association updated their state guidance on elective surgeries and 33 states have issued official directives. Indiana was the only state listed that specifically mentioned abortion. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb issued an executive order with provisions regarding elective procedures:
"The order states that, 'to preserve PPE for health care providers who are battling the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning April 1, 2020, all health care providers, whether medical, dental or other, and health care facilities, whether hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, dental facilities, plastic surgery centers, dermatology offices and abortion clinics, are directed to cancel or postpone elective and non-urgent surgical or invasive procedures.'"
The push now by Big Abortion is for pregnant women to be able to receive the abortion drug mifepristone by mail after being "seen" by a doctor during an online video conference. The abortion is completed by the woman at home with a second drug, misoprostol. Chemical abortions are even more dangerous than surgical abortions with increased risks of hemorrhaging and infection. To date, 22 women have died and one thousand hospitalizations have occurred from chemical abortions. During a national health crisis, it is irresponsible to suggest women get easy access to these drugs risking an adverse event and necessitating a hospital stay.
If something goes wrong and the pregnant girl or woman has a complication involving infection or hemorrhaging, she will end up in the ER, already overcrowded with COVID-19 patients. There is a high failure rate with chemical abortions, and when that happens, the pregnant woman must undergo a standard surgical abortion. The reason Planned Parenthood is pushing for telemedicine abortions is that it saves them money (in many states a doctor does not even have to be present at the abortion facility location) and DIY abortions can be performed seven days per week, at times when the facility is closed.
March for Life posted an important video this week, COVID-19 & Abortion, that is essential viewing. Dr. Christina Francis, Chairman of the Board of AAPLOG, and Abby Johnson, former Clinical Director of Planned Parenthood, are interviewed and they talk about the dangers of chemical abortions. The facts are disturbing and RU-486 – as the chemical abortion cocktail was called when it was first introduced – should not be legal. But pro-aborts continue to promote these drugs as safe and convenient.
Meera Shah is the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood in the New York City suburbs of Long Island, Westchester, and Rockland Counties. In a BuzzFeedNews.com interview, Shah made some astonishing comments, explaining why her abortion facilities stay open during this national crisis. She called abortion "essential and life-affirming."
Pro-aborts distort the issue. If abortion is an elective choice made only by the woman per the Roe v. Wade decision, then by definition it cannot be essential medical care. Pregnancy is not a disease. If abortion is an essential medical service, then it cannot still be a choice. A choice would be a nose job or a tattoo. Abortion always kills an unborn child.
By allowing abortion businesses to continue operating and filing lawsuits to keep them open, pro-abortion groups also show they have total disregard for the people who desperately need medical resources to fight the coronavirus.
A chilling new reality is now in place where venues that are sacred and bring peace and comfort to its members – churches and synagogues that offer prayer services – are being shut down. Some of the reports coming from LifeSiteNews.com are shocking. Priests are banned from giving last rites. A pastor in Tampa Bay, Florida, was arrested for leading a service. Pro-lifers were arrested in Greensboro, North Carolina, for praying in front of an abortion clinic. This is unprecedented.
Meanwhile, the abortion factories are up and running in all five boroughs and Long Island – business as usual.
© Bonnie Chernin
April 6, 2020
There is another pandemic, one that is not under the microscope.
It's been going on daily while national attention has been focused on the constant news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. As more testing becomes available, we will have a better idea of where we are, but the numbers remain fluid. Amid conflicting statistics, travel bans, job losses, a volatile stock market, and unofficial curfews, another pandemic continues to kill.
The other pandemic – abortion – has been going on for 47-plus years and the data is grim and much more accurate. Worldwide, there have been over 1.5 billion lives lost. In the United States alone, there have been nearly 62 million deaths.
Since the coronavirus has caused governors to enact mandatory shut-downs of businesses and all non-essential medical services, the daily number of abortions has declined slightly. Meanwhile, at the time of this writing, the worldwide abortion counter shows that 2,362 babies have been killed by abortion today in the United States.
Planned Parenthood has an abortion quota. Their profits primarily come from killing unborn babies, not providing valid medical services. They are suing several states – Alabama, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas among them – that have halted abortion operations to save critical medical resources for the coronavirus patients whom are sick and really do need vital care. Abortion workers are using masks and gloves that should be allocated to hospitals treating patients afflicted with COVID-19.
However, pro-life advocates have been monitoring facilities that are violating guidelines and spreading the contagion. In Kansas, Operation Rescue has reported a series of horrific incidents occurring at the Trust Women Wichita abortion mill, where abortion workers are throwing safety precautions to the winds. Women are arriving to this facility for abortions from multiple states in violation of interstate travel guidelines, endangering the public. A security guard working there is seen in a photo wearing no protective gear, and he handed a bag full of vomit from a sick patient to a pro-life activist outside. That guard should be fired and criminally charged.
During a national health emergency when people are still getting sick, Trust Women Wichita abortion business is killing unborn babies and committing horrible human rights abuses against women.
If one abortion clinic is ignoring government guidelines and putting people in danger, is it possible that other clinics are committing violations as well? Evidently, yes. Last week a woman was rushed to the hospital after a botched abortion at the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Illinois. The report describes a situation where women were "packed like sardines" and a parking lot with license plates from six different states, at a time when the National Coronavirus Taskforce recommends avoiding travel between states to stop the spread of the virus.
On April 1st 2020, LifeNews.com provided an update on the Iowa lawsuit, and state officials reached an agreement that abortions will continue despite the urgent need for personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus epidemic:
"Killing a baby is 'essential' in Iowa. While state residents can't get hip replacements, cataract surgery, or other legitimate medical procedures, Iowans can still end the lives of their unborn children in lethal abortions."
Steven Ertelt reported that in states like Michigan with Democratic pro-abortion governors, the following details have emerged:
"Today the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List called out Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer for requiring Michiganders to postpone or forego important medical procedures including cancer, pediatric, cardiac and spinal surgeries, while elective abortions are allowed to proceed and take up valuable resources needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic."
Numerous states continue to permit abortions while prohibiting legitimate medical surgeries, and states that are trying to halt all abortions to reserve protective equipment for the COVID-19 pandemic are being sued. Abortion facility workers are wearing masks and gloves that should be allocated to hospitals specifically to combat and contain this deadly virus. A press release representing 30,000 physicians called for a complete suspension of all abortions to conserve resources for coronavirus patients needing care.
Hospitals across the country are halting medical procedures that are considered elective and non-essential, including knee and hip replacements. As of April 1st, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association updated their state guidance on elective surgeries and 33 states have issued official directives. Indiana was the only state listed that specifically mentioned abortion. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb issued an executive order with provisions regarding elective procedures:
"The order states that, 'to preserve PPE for health care providers who are battling the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning April 1, 2020, all health care providers, whether medical, dental or other, and health care facilities, whether hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, dental facilities, plastic surgery centers, dermatology offices and abortion clinics, are directed to cancel or postpone elective and non-urgent surgical or invasive procedures.'"
The push now by Big Abortion is for pregnant women to be able to receive the abortion drug mifepristone by mail after being "seen" by a doctor during an online video conference. The abortion is completed by the woman at home with a second drug, misoprostol. Chemical abortions are even more dangerous than surgical abortions with increased risks of hemorrhaging and infection. To date, 22 women have died and one thousand hospitalizations have occurred from chemical abortions. During a national health crisis, it is irresponsible to suggest women get easy access to these drugs risking an adverse event and necessitating a hospital stay.
If something goes wrong and the pregnant girl or woman has a complication involving infection or hemorrhaging, she will end up in the ER, already overcrowded with COVID-19 patients. There is a high failure rate with chemical abortions, and when that happens, the pregnant woman must undergo a standard surgical abortion. The reason Planned Parenthood is pushing for telemedicine abortions is that it saves them money (in many states a doctor does not even have to be present at the abortion facility location) and DIY abortions can be performed seven days per week, at times when the facility is closed.
March for Life posted an important video this week, COVID-19 & Abortion, that is essential viewing. Dr. Christina Francis, Chairman of the Board of AAPLOG, and Abby Johnson, former Clinical Director of Planned Parenthood, are interviewed and they talk about the dangers of chemical abortions. The facts are disturbing and RU-486 – as the chemical abortion cocktail was called when it was first introduced – should not be legal. But pro-aborts continue to promote these drugs as safe and convenient.
Meera Shah is the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood in the New York City suburbs of Long Island, Westchester, and Rockland Counties. In a BuzzFeedNews.com interview, Shah made some astonishing comments, explaining why her abortion facilities stay open during this national crisis. She called abortion "essential and life-affirming."
Pro-aborts distort the issue. If abortion is an elective choice made only by the woman per the Roe v. Wade decision, then by definition it cannot be essential medical care. Pregnancy is not a disease. If abortion is an essential medical service, then it cannot still be a choice. A choice would be a nose job or a tattoo. Abortion always kills an unborn child.
By allowing abortion businesses to continue operating and filing lawsuits to keep them open, pro-abortion groups also show they have total disregard for the people who desperately need medical resources to fight the coronavirus.
A chilling new reality is now in place where venues that are sacred and bring peace and comfort to its members – churches and synagogues that offer prayer services – are being shut down. Some of the reports coming from LifeSiteNews.com are shocking. Priests are banned from giving last rites. A pastor in Tampa Bay, Florida, was arrested for leading a service. Pro-lifers were arrested in Greensboro, North Carolina, for praying in front of an abortion clinic. This is unprecedented.
Meanwhile, the abortion factories are up and running in all five boroughs and Long Island – business as usual.
© Bonnie Chernin
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
