“Pro-Life” Lt. Gov: “There are more important things than living”

I am getting really, really annoyed.

[Texas Lt. Gov Dan] Patrick was heavily criticized last month after he suggested in an interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that he and other senior citizens might be willing to die to save the economy. He stood by his statements in a new interview with Carlson on Monday night, saying, “We are crushing the economy.”

“And what I said when I was with you that night, there are more important things than living. And that’s saving this country for my children and my grandchildren and saving this country for all of us,” Patrick said Monday night.

“There are more important things than living.” 

Have I mentioned that this guy is really, really anti-abortion—or as he would put it, pro-life? 

In fact, Patrick is so anti-abortion he once said this:

We talked about the choice, you ask us, well don’t we put ourselves in the place of the woman and her choice, what choice does the baby have? Who speaks for the baby? Do you think if the mother had a conversation with the baby and said, “You know, this just isn’t really convenient to give birth to you right now, do you mind dying?”

Oh I’m sorry, why does convenience matter here but not there? After all, isn’t this the exact same argument Patrick is making today? That keeping the economy shut down isn’t convenient? That it’s economically painful? Does Patrick know the economic consequences an unplanned pregnancy has on a woman? Because those economic consequences are big! Really big!

All of a sudden, when he is the one affected, “there are more important things than living.” Huh. Interesting.

Oh and then there’s this very good point:

Remember the Bush years when there was a giant news story about one woman on life support possibly being taken off per her own wishes? And now those same people are straight faced asking us to sacrifice a few relatives for the sake of being able to eat at Applebee's? Good times.

— Allison Widder (she/her) (@elhijodealli7) April 20, 2020

Do you remember Terry Schiavo? Because I do.

Conservatives moved heaven and earth to prevent authorities from letting Schiavo die, fifteen years after a medical emergency left her with severe brain damage and in a persistent vegetative state. This is an interesting point because it’s a reminder that abortion opponents don’t limit their activism to abortion—they also oppose euthanasia and other forms of removal of care.

If anything, this makes Patrick’s current line of reasoning that much more baffling. All of a sudden now “there are more important things than living”? Since when?

People like Patrick have no problem inconveniencing others, whether by forcing women to carry unplanned pregnancies or by overriding people’s end-of-life wishes, but they’re not okay when they’re the ones being inconvenienced. When they’re the ones inconvenienced, there are suddenly “more important things than living.”

Tell me, who is really “pro-life”?

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