By Melody Durrett, ORTL President
The COVID-19 pandemic has enlivened new respect for the value of human life. I was shocked listening to (pro-abortion) Governor Cuomo’s speech on March 24, 2020. Quoted by the New York Times, he said, “[people are] not expendable and we’re not going to accept a premise that human life is disposable, and we’re not going to put a dollar figure on human life. The first order of business is save lives, period. Whatever it costs.”
What a passionate defense of human life. Listening to this, I couldn’t help but imagine what our country would be like if elected officials took a consistent approach to all public policy with such commitment and passion for protecting every life. What would our country look like if the protection of innocent human life was priority number one, no matter the cost?
Of course, there is a deep cognitive dissonance for those who defend abortion while they work to stop COVID-19. At this time in the world, the value of human life has never been more front-of-mind. There is a sense of urgency to save human lives. This pandemic has crystallized a respect for human life, even if that doesn’t yet apply to unborn humans.
Let’s continue to imagine this kind of world that zealously defends human life. Together we can create a society where protecting and upholding the value of each human life is the common ground that unites Americans. This is not a utopia, but a shift in cultural values. We’ve seen similar shifts in culturally-acceptable attitudes about race, such as during the Civil Rights movement.
Someday, I believe American society will look back with repugnance and ask how we as a society ever defended the practice of abortion. Each of us at Oregon Right to Life are working to create this culture by continuing to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves. Will you continue to work towards making abortion unthinkable with me?
