From We the People PA (http://wethepeoplepa.org/):
All over the Commonwealth today people are dying in terrible ways— often struggling for breath without the comfort of their loved ones by their side. About a hundred more people will die today and every day, perhaps for another few weeks.
Together we have kept this far too high number lower than it would be, by obeying Governor Wolf’s order to stay home and keep non-essential businesses closed.
In most places in the country this is not a partisan issue. Republican Governor Mike DeWine has enforced rules as strong in Ohio as those Governor Wolf has ordered here.
Yet Republican members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly have demanded that their leadership call them back to overturn Governor Wolf’s order. They will vote this Tuesday on a bill, SB613, that could lead all businesses in the Commonwealth to reopen.
So, we are writing again to ask you to tell your state legislators to stop and think of the lives that would be endangered by this policy and vote NO. If you haven’t already, please go to https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-your-legislator-choose-lives-not-money to send a letter to your state legislators. If you already sent a letter, you can make a phone call:
Simply call 833-730-5882 to contact your Representative. You will hear an overview of the issue and the call to action, followed by a prompt to put in your zip code. Once you’ve entered your zip code, you’ll chose your Representative, and be connected to their office!
We understand that people are suffering economic distress as a result of the business closures, and that small business owners are worried. Members of our families, like members of many of yours, are now unemployed.
But we also understand, based on science and the recommendations of public health experts, that re-opening non-essential businesses right now would lead to unnecessary illness and death. We have to contain the spread of the virus, so that we can survive to restart the economy when it is safe to do so. We cannot bring back loved ones who die as a result of COVID-19.
Last week we sent an email to everyone on our list asking people to tell members of the PA House to oppose a similar proposal. We received a greater response to this request than to any other we have ever made.
Many representatives heard your voices and took a stand against he policy. But on a straight party-line vote, the House Appropriations Committee amended SB613 to include language that would force Governor Wolf to allow most businesses in the state to reopen.
Legislators need to hear you tell them to put ideology and party aside and vote to protect the lives of the people they serve. Even if you have done so before, please use our on-line tool to send them that message. Or use the toll-free number to call them at 833-730-5882
Sadly, some legislators are trying to secure votes for the proposal by telling falsehoods.
Some are saying that the economic shutdown will itself cost lives. But the evidence we have tells us that mortality dropped during the Great Depression. And even suicide tends to decline immediately in a time of war–and our fight against COVID-19 is similar.
Others are saying that businesses can open safely by following federal rules. But those rules are only for businesses that must stay open in the emergency. Think for a minute about the human interaction—and the surfaces that multiple people touch–in a retail store or a construction site or a factory or a warehouse or an office–and it will be obvious that there is no way to protect employees or customers in those workplaces. And anyone infected in one place will spread the virus everywhere else they go.
Still others are saying we have a right to go to work if we want to do so. But doesn’t that right ends when doing so would endanger the lives of others?
Please tell your legislator to listen to reason and science. There will be a time when we can safely leave our homes, open our businesses and get back to work. But we are not there yet. In a crisis like the current pandemic, we must put safety and lives before profit.
Thank you for reading this and taking action.
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