The selfishness and hypocrisy is on wide display. I would dare say that the vast majority of South Carolinians (where I currently live), would declare themselves to be “pro-life”. It’s a logical conclusion given the immutable redness of this state when it comes to election season. Now that schools are about to go back into session, it would be hard to find a single person who is consistent in their defense of life.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Center for Disease Control have both released guidance saying that all children and staff in schools, especially elementary schools where vaccines are not yet available, should be masked.
Why?
In order to protect one another from the spread of a deadly virus. It has been adequately demonstrated that if we all wear masks when we cannot socially distance, the spread of the virus slows. So when we are dealing with children for whom no vaccine is available, common sense (you would think) would tell us all to mask up and take one for the team.
Common sense is hard to come by these days.
Our governor (the honorable???) Henry McMaster has repeatedly defied the sound counsel of experts in favor of a “parents should make the choice” mentality. His argument is that wearing masks is a personal choice and the government should have no role in dictating what happens to a person’s body.
Sounds a lot like the same exact argument made by proponents of pro-choice when defending abortion….doesn’t it?
The problem with this mentality in the case of masks is that they are their most effective when everyone is doing it. It’s not only about my protecting myself by wearing a mask. It isn’t even primarily about the wearer protecting themself. It’s about not spreading the virus if you happen to have it and do not yet know.
Therefore your personal choice to not wear a mask, or to risk your child’s life by sending them to school without one, isn’t a personal choice. It’s a community choice, because little Jimmy will be spewing his snot all over his classmates, and some will get sick.
It’s a matter of life and death and the “pro-life” right has finally shown themselves for what they truly are, proponents of death.
It’s about time that we realize that this was never about life in the first place. “Pro-life” as a slogan for “Anti-abortion” has never been about life but about winning votes for conservatism, which has a horrible track-record for actual life issues.
Immigrant children needing safety? Lock them in cages!
Working families have trouble putting food on the table? They should have worked harder!
Black boys and girls getting gunned down in the streets? They shouldn’t have been wearing a hoody!
If the “pro-life” right really cared about life they would care about all life, not just the easily manipulated life of the unborn.
If the “pro-life” right really cared about life they would be the first in line to put on a mask and to mask their children.
Not long ago an SC School Board member said that kids should not wear masks because all kids are going to get COVID anyway. Judging by certain statistics on the mortality rate for children with COVID, that could equal about 125 deaths of children in South Carolina alone. That is a horrifying prospect. One death is one too many, and we have already lost children and teachers to this pandemic.
So here is my challenge to everyone who claims to be pro-life. Put your money where your mouth is. If you are pro-life, get the vaccine. If you are pro-life, put a mask on your kid before they go to school. If you are pro-life politician, mandate masks because it is a public health crisis.
However, if you claim to be pro-life, and refuse to do the above things, then sit down and shut the hell up, because it is clear that protecting life is not what you actually want to do.
Blake Hart 
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