‘Years of life’ lost to coronavirus and abortion

Published 10:49 pm Thursday, April 23, 2020

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KENT OSTRANDER The Family Foundation

It’s been roughly seven weeks since the coronavirus entered Kentucky, causing citizens to wrestle with its grim realities.

As of Sunday, according to the governor’s calculations, there have been 148 deaths related to COVID-19 in the commonwealth. Using the governor’s “Age of Death” chart, and a 90-year lifespan estimate (see calculations at the bottom), those deaths total 2,075 “years of life” lost – over two millennia!

Certainly, all life is valuable, including those last, precious years of the lives of our elderly.

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Loss of life, of course, is why Gov. Andy Beshear exercised his authority to limit in-person contact, including the suspension of all elective medical procedures. His decision, however, has abortion providers ignoring his orders and continuing their elective medical services.

Since March 1, there have been 610 abortions at the abortion clinic in Louisville, creating a staggering 54,900 “years of life” lost – well over 50 millennia! (90 years multiplied by 610 abortions). That’s more than 25 times greater than the number of years lost through the coronavirus. (By the way, Planned Parenthood has also opened in Louisville and is doing abortions. It opened in late March, during the COVID-19 crisis.)

These lost “years of life” were not overlooked by the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky legislature passed Senate Bill 9 that, if allowed to become law, provides clear legal standing for the attorney general to enforce Gov. Beshear’s executive order on elective medical procedures, including abortion. The governor’s action or inaction on SB 9 will have a lasting impact on generations.

In addition, with SB 9, the attorney general could investigate why the two University of Louisville School of Medicine professors do all the surgical abortions at the Louisville abortion clinic. He could determine if any state money was involved. (That’s against the law.) AG Cameron could also evaluate whether the medical clinic guidelines for COVID-19 are being evenly applied or if the elective abortion clinics are favored. (Heart surgeries are being postponed across the commonwealth while the abortion clinic keeps cranking.)

The bottom line: “Gov. Beshear, please allow SB 9 to become law.”  The measure also requires any baby born alive will receive medical attention which makes us wonderfully different than New York and Virginia.

What the people of Kentucky really want is to be for every life.

CALCULATIONS: Estimating (generously) that “everyone would live to be 90 years of age,” the COVID-19 victims who have died have lost a total of 2,075 years of life. This is calculated using the governor’s age-of-death chart: 30-39 one death, 40-49 four deaths, 50-59 seven deaths, 60-69 twenty-nine deaths, 70-79 thirty-four deaths, and 80+ seventy-two deaths. Abortion deaths are simply calculated by 610 (number of abortions during the same COVID-19 period) times 90 (years).

Kent Ostrander is the executive director of The Family Foundation.