Terry Jeffrey | Posted: Mar 17, 2021 12:01 AM
The opinions expressed by columnists are their
own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
American
children 14 years and younger are more likely to be murdered than to die
because of COVID-19, according to data published by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
On Jan. 12,
the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics published its final report on
the death data for the United States in 2018.
It revealed
that an evil, long-standing trend was continuing in this country. In 2018,
according to Table 6 in the report, 269 American children who were less than 1
year old died as victims of homicide.
The same
table showed that 353 children between the ages of 1 and 4 in 2018 also died as
victims of homicide, as did 289 children between the ages of 5 and 14.
In the 365
days of 2018, a total of 911 children who would never reach their fifteenth
birthday were murdered in this country.
Had the
major television networks and newspapers been inclined to treat this pandemic
of child murder as a major story, they could have led with it every day --
telling the stories of the young and innocent victims, revealing the facts
about those who murdered them, and following the actions of the law enforcement
officers and prosecutors responsible for bringing those murderers to justice.
These 911
murdered children were not some abstract statistic. They were human beings --
at the beginning of their lives.
On Feb. 29,
2020, the CDC reported the first COVID-19 death in the United States. More than
a year has passed since then. How many American children have died from this
disease?
As of March
10, according to the latest data published by the CDC, COVID-19 has tragically
taken the lives of 507,227 people in the United States. Of these, 216 have been
17 or younger.
This is a
disease that has inflicted its greatest toll on older people. Among Americans
65 and older, according to the CDC, 410,192 had died of COVID-19 as of March
10. Their tragic deaths accounted for 80.8% of the nation's total as of that
date.
As more
Americans get vaccinated, this nation will defeat the COVID-19 pandemic -- and
Americans should be profoundly grateful to the scientists and medical
professionals who have made this possible.
But will we
defeat the murder pandemic that kills more children than COVID-19?
In the 22
years from 1997 through 2018, according to the numbers published in the CDC's
annual death reports, 22,405 American children under the age of 15 have died as
victims of a homicide. That is an average of more than 1,000 per year.
Of the
22,405 children 14 and under who were murdered over the past 22 years, 6,802
were under 1 year of age; 8,234 were between 1 and 4 years of age; and 7,369
were between 5 and 14 years of age.
The 911
children 14 and under who were murdered in the most recent year on record
(2018) is more than four times the 216 children 17 and under who died from
COVID-19 in the past year.
Americans,
according to the CDC, saw an increasing life expectancy in 2018. "Life
expectancy for the total population," said its report, "increased 0.1
year from 78.6 in 2017 to 78.7 in 2018."
Why was this
the case? It was because America was defeating some deadly diseases and
injuries and -- for some age groups -- diminishing homicides.
"The
increase in life expectancy at birth for the total population in 2018 was
mainly due to decreases in mortality from cancer, unintentional injuries, chronic
lower respiratory diseases, heart disease and homicide," said the CDC
report.
But as
homicide has declined as a cause of death for the total population, it has
remained a leading cause of death for younger people -- including preschool
children.
"Assault
(homicide), the 16th leading cause of death in 2018, dropped from among the 15
leading causes of death in 2010," said the CDC report. "In 2018, the
age-adjusted rate for homicide decreased 4.8%, but homicide remains a major
issue for some age groups.
"Homicide,"
explained the CDC report, "was among the 15 leading causes of death in
2018 for age groups under 1 year (13th), 1-4 (3rd), 5-14 (5th), 15-24 (3rd),
25-34 (3rd), 35-44 (5th), and 45-54 (12th)."
The fact
that homicide is a leading cause of death for young Americans, including
newborn babies and toddlers, is not a medical crisis. It is a moral crisis.
Manifestly
-- and horrifically -- respect for innocent life, which sits at the foundation
of freedom itself, has eroded in this country.
This nation
took drastic -- and sometimes excessive -- measures to curtail the COVID-19
pandemic.
Now, as much
as ever, we need political and cultural leaders who will act rationally and
morally to protect innocent lives, not destroy them -- and inspire others to do
the same.
Terence P.
Jeffrey is the editor in chief of CNSnews.com.
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