Inconvenient truths exposed during Covid

Over the past year, the value of having the world delivered to your doorstep has increased exponentially. From the expansion of online grocery shopping (which has more than doubled the number of online customers since COVID-19) to mail-in voting (which more than doubled the number of mail-in ballots cast in 2020 from 2016) to working from home (which is expected to increase 87% by 2025) to telehealth visits with your doctor (which have now quadrupled since last year) to attending church online (where 18% of Americans started doing this for the very first time during the pandemic), life seemingly has become easier.

And if Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress have their way, you can add “abortion by mail” to the above list of “conveniences.” That’s because Joe Biden’s administration has now issued an order allowing abortion facilities to sell abortion-inducing drugs through the mail without a medical professional ever seeing the woman in person (via Zoom).

Never mind about the two dozen women who have died after taking such abortion inducing drugs, nor the thousands who have had life-threatening hemorrhages, ruptured ectopic pregnancies or infections while at home, or perhaps far from any medical facility, at all.

But Americans who voted for Biden (who, by the way, received the most votes of any presidential candidate in American history) knew this was what they were getting, right? Biden announced early on during the campaign of his support for abortion “under any circumstance,” arguing for a woman’s unrestricted right to an abortion up until the mo- ment of birth. This should not be a surprise for most folks.

In fact, the abortion industry has been intent on not letting this coronavirus crisis go to waste, as they have doubled down on their “pro-choice” agenda across the country. For example, they started urging the FDA (last year) to let women receive abortion-inducing drugs through the mail (months before last November’s election) so that women wouldn’t need to leave their homes to get those drugs.

As the New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a letter to the FDA last year, “These women (those seeking an abortion) are putting themselves and their families at risk when they seek out the health care (i.e., abortions) that they need, and the federal government must act to ensure that no matter where they live, they can continue to receive necessary, safe and legal abortion care.”

And before you say, “Well, that’s just some attorney general from New York state,” consider that her letter was also signed by the attorneys general from the states of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Rhode Island and Virginia.

Many state governors across the country followed suit – and abortions during the pandemic continued unfettered in several states, like Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia and Louisiana, even though those specific states halted every other elective medical procedure (other than the killing of the unborn).

It’s just ironic that so many moved heaven and hell to protect lives during this pandemic, while at the same time, so many are remaining silent to the loss of the most innocent of lives among us – the unborn – and now the Biden administration is advertising the convenience of abortion by mail.

Just doesn’t make any sense. So, how did we get to this point? I think it’s because too many of us are increasingly agnostic or apathetic about doing what is “right” for fear of being considered politically incorrect, insensitive or otherwise offending another.

But the Bible teaches us that a “sin of omission” is a failure to do something one can and ought to do. James 4:17 reads, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Proverbs 3:27 says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.”

And yet, millions of us have simply chosen to opt-out of the debate. Many say, “Who am I to presume what is right for another woman?” Others argue they “cannot make the decision for someone else” and say they don’t want to feel like they are forcing their beliefs on others.

OK, but the bottom line is this: We can no longer afford to just “know” the right thing to do, but fail to do it, especially when it comes to speaking out for life. As Edmund Burke wrote famously, “(t)he only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

So while some may say life has seemingly become easier since the pandemic, with more and more conveniences of life delivered to you, for so many more of us life only seems to have become more violent and deadlier – especially for the most vulnerable among us.

Louis R. Avallone is a Shreveport businessman, attorney and author of “Bright Spots, Big Country, What Makes America Great.” He is also a former aide to U.S. Representative Jim McCrery and editor of The Caddo Republican. His columns have appeared regularly in 318 Forum since 2007. Follow him on Facebook, on Twitter @louisravallone or by e-mail at louisavallone@mac.com, and on American Ground Radio at 101.7FM and 710 AM, weeknights from 6 - 7 p.m., and streaming live on keelnews.com.