Governor DeWine announced his “open Ohio” plans yesterday, plans that in fact leave almost all restrictions in place and place even more restrictions on Ohioans! I have been asked why the Right to Life movement is involved in the Open Ohio efforts--why have we been involved in the Open Ohio protests at the Statehouse?  I understand why our involvement might cause some confusion - until one understands that the Right to Life movement is intrinsically involved in all human crises and the COVID-19 one is no different. Our mission is to promote and protect the right to life and defend those whose human rights are being threatened by the actions of others. Part of our daily efforts are to aid those in need because of all kinds of social fall out. Our Life Savers program helps many such families. Right now during this crisis not only are we helping those in need of material assistance, but we are intrinsically involved in protecting the unborn child who has been put at increased risk of abortion due to fear that has been generated by the Governor’s response to the crisis. This whole crisis is a crisis that underpins our right to life.

And so, yes, Cleveland Right to Life is duty bound to be involved to protect that right.

We are duty bound to consider our basic moral and human rights principles in our response to the virus. In doing so we must consider this fact. To seek the community good, as the stay at home order has done, cannot be achieved at the expense of the individual good. The good of the patient with COVID-19 must not over-ride the rights and good of the individual to exercise his or her God Given Right to earn a living wage. This is a fundamental principle of human life and to deny this right is a fundamental violation of our human rights. The Governor needs to lift any restrictions that threatens these rights. The end can never justify the means.

Governor Mike DeWine, who I would encourage all of you to please pray for during these difficult decision making moments, by his actions, has stripped many Ohioans of this fundamental right by FORBIDDING entire segments of the population, the right to work, arbitrarily deciding whose work he deems to be essential and whose he deems to be non-essential. I am sure he did not intend his actions to be thus – but they are incredibly INSULTING to huge swaths of Ohioans and has pitted one neighbor against another, one profession against another, one trade against another. Governor DeWine, honest employment and hard work is ALWAYS ESSENTIAL, and is part of our RIGHT TO LIFE. The end can never justify the means

In a recent essay by Rev. Fr. John F. Naugle a priest from Pennsylvania, he nails the situation we now face in a few words. He says that our leaders who have used the DeWine method to cope with COVID-19 have divided us into 3 groups, and I quote:

It is that final group that we in the RTL movement are dealing with up close and personal. It is also this group that are the backbone of our nation and our community. It is also this final groups who have been kicked in the teeth by an ill-conceived one-size-fits-all plan, that throws complicated-accessed handouts, that will take months to acquire, at a citizenry who wants no part of them but wants what Governor DeWine has – to be able to work at the job that they have chosen and in doing so to help solve the current crisis without themselves and their families being thrust into a crisis that will be of a greater magnitude then the COVID19 one we now face.

It is also this group who has pulled the RTL movement into helping to fight for the end of the stay-at-home directives and to get Ohio back to work. Because of the fear that is tangible within these families from loss of a living wage we are seeing more and more families seeking abortion for their children. We are seeing local and state authorities demand the termination of life sustaining treatment of the critical ill COVID-19 patient who does not fit their criteria. And we are seeing more and more families being forced into lines at the food banks.  The End Can Never Justify The Means.

Six weeks ago, not enough was known about the Wuhan flu, so the actions by the Governor were understandable. Today we have irrefutable scientific evidence that shows that the death rate is 100’s of times less than originally predicted by the models, as evidenced by the fact that our hospitals are empty and are closing their emergency rooms. Yet the authorities who continue to impose these draconian “precautions” on us are manipulating the numbers to fit their narrative and justify their actions. The number of COVID-19 cases are being inflated through questionable practices by the authorities. A local Life Flight EMT has recently stated that when a patient is life-flighted to a hospital, EMT personnel are being forced to code them as having COVID-19 even if they test negative.

To continue to deny us our God given rights is an intrinsic evil. It is time for Governor DeWine and Dr. Amy Acton to end this course of action. Dr. Acton by her own admission has absolutely NO SCIENTIFIC evidence for her recommendations and directives other than models and guesstimates which have proven to be woefully inaccurate. Our right to life pivots on our right to feed, clothe, and shelter ourselves and our families and to do so through honest work. Remove ALL restrictions on honest work immediately – GET OHIO BACK TO WORK - NOW. Remember – The End Can Never Justify the Means.