Oklahoma has officially added abortion to the list of “non-essential” elective procedures that must be canceled or postponed under Governor Kevin Stitt’s executive order to conserve supplies and slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
According to The Oklahoman, Gov. Stitt clarified that abortions not deemed “necessary to prevent serious health risks to the unborn child’s mother” are subject to the order and must be postponed until April 7.
“We must ensure that our health care professionals, first responders and medical facilities have all of the resources they need to combat COVID-19,” Stitt said in a press release. “I am committed to doing whatever necessary to protect those who are on the front lines fighting against this virus.”
Stitt’s order goes against guidance by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists which deem abortion an “essential component of comprehensive health care.”
The Oklahoman notes that Stitt, who opposes abortion, has said he believes life begins at conception and “vowed to sign every piece of anti-abortion legislation that advances to his desk” while campaigning for governor.
According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Stitt is joined by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in clarifying that his executive order postponing any non-essential medical care includes elective abortions.
“The executive order was certainly crafted in order to provide [personal protective equipment] for health care” professionals involved in the coronavirus response, as well as ensure resources were available for those suspected or already known to have the potentially deadly infection, Lee said.
“This would be like any other non-essential procedure,” Lee said of abortion. “It would be treated the same, and my expectation and belief and certainly my expectation is that no non-essential procedures would be performed in the state during the crisis and during this time we need all of those supplies to be used on the frontlines of protecting citizens.”
If Oklahoma, Tennessee, and other states can put abortions on a two-week hold by the whisk of the governor’s pen, what excuse do we have? We can end abortion—they’re proving it!
Abortion will claim more lives than coronavirus, that is a fact. We are seeing our elected officials take unprecedented actions, whether we agree with them or not, to slow the spread of the virus. Why, then, are they acting as though their hands are tied when it comes to ending the holocaust of the unborn?
