As Americans continue to battle COVID-19 through social distancing and stay-at-home defensive measures, the curve is flattening and fewer people are acquiring the deadly virus.  But sometime in the near future,  a proactive offensive measure will become available to us when a vaccine, or several vaccines, are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Since January, vaccine developers have been using previous research from the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreaks to inform their studies. Reports suggest that the rapid pace at which researchers are currently working will result in a novel COVID-19 vaccine that could be available within 18 months and possibly sooner.

According to the trade publication, Drug Target Review, there are 15 major pharmaceutical companies working to develop a vaccine, all hoping to cash in on the tremendous worldwide demand, while also ending this pandemic. However, the research at two of those companies has become controversial because they are developing their vaccines using fetal stem cells taken from aborted babies. Researchers at Johnson and Johnson (J&J) and Moderna are developing vaccines under that questionable protocol.

So sometime in the next year, each and every one of us may have to make an ethical decision about accepting a vaccine for COVID-19.  Unless the FDA steps in to stop them, those two drug companies may finalize their clinical trials for their vaccines and be first to the market.  If that happens, how many will bypass the vaccine and wait for a medicine developed ethically? How many will just accept it, because they don’t know how the vaccine was developed, or just don’t care?

It will really come down to how many people are informed and have the faith integrity to say no at the potential risk to their health. That will be a very personal decision for each of us, but Christian leaders are working to raise awareness for this issue while calling on the U.S. government not to support the unethical research.

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities

Recently, Catholic bishops were joined by leaders of several health care, bioethics and pro-life organizations, “urgently and respectfully” imploring the FDA commissioner, Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, to ensure any vaccines developed for the coronavirus “are free from any connection to abortion.” They noted that Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a J&J company) has a substantial contract from Health and Human Services and “is working on a vaccine that is being produced using one of these ethically problematic cell lines.”  The group pointed out that other vaccines being developed by Sanofi Pasteur, Inovio and the John Paul II Medical Research Institute “utilize cell lines not connected to unethical procedures and methods.”

“To be clear, we strongly support efforts to develop an effective, safe, and widely available vaccine as quickly as possible,” said the statement from the group’s leaders in an April 17 letter to Dr. Hahn. “However, we also strongly urge our federal government to ensure that fundamental moral principles are followed in the development of such vaccines, most importantly, the principle that human life is sacred and should never be exploited.”

Copies of the letter were sent to President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar.

“We are aware that, among the dozens of vaccines currently in development, some are being produced using old cell lines that were created from the cells of aborted babies,” the group stated in the letter. “It is critically important that Americans have access to a vaccine that is produced ethically: No American should be forced to choose between being vaccinated against this potentially deadly virus and violating his or her conscience. Fortunately, there is no need to use ethically problematic cell lines to produce a COVID vaccine, or any vaccine, as other cell lines or processes that do not involve cells from abortions are available and are regularly being used to produce other vaccines.”

The letter has wide support and will most likely be disseminated to Christians across the country through churches and Christian media outlets.  Last week, Relevant Radio, the highly rated national Catholic radio outlet, highlighted the issue on the Drew Mariani Show.

As could be expected, the political battle on this issue took center stage on April 6, when a group of Congressional Democrats sent a letter to Azar urging the Trump administration to lift restrictions on research that uses human fetal tissue for potential treatment for COVID-19. They argued that allowing fetal tissue in such studies could lead more quickly to a treatment.

So we know the decision the Democratic leadership has made on this issue. But these are not normal times. With so many people across the world living in fear and turning to God, will people on that side of the aisle follow them? Or will they make a different ethical decision? That choice awaits us all.

The “riding with Biden” bandwagon is growing by the day, sometimes by the hour, and it’s triggering a major bump in the polls for the former Vice President. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll, which came out yesterday, showed Joe Biden with a 10% lead, head-to-head against the incumbent Donald Trump. Other polls show a tighter race, but still have the challenger with a lead in the high single digits, comfortably above the margin of error.

Earlier this month, Biden, the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party, received endorsements from a number of key voices including former President Barack Obama, and it’s providing a tremendous boost in his election chances. There are sites that have already updated their odds. Sports Betting Dime lists a few of the more popular sites to bet in the US, where you will noticed the Democratic Party’s chances of winning shifted from +100 to -110. The odds may differ at each site, but all have a similar point: Joe Biden follows closely to Trump’s lead overall.

The former Delaware Senator was officially endorsed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a very influential progressive yesterday. Biden has also been endorsed by, as listed out by the progressive political blog Palmer Report: “Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and John Lewis, among others.”

The Sanders endorsement is really key, as it gets the so-called “Bernie Bros.” and the far left wing of the party on his side. Biden will need the full coalition of the left in order to win, no matter what the polls currently say right now. If the Dems learned anything from 2016, it’s that they cannot get complacent and coast.

Hillary Clinton had all the odds makers and polls favoring her, comfortably, heading into the last Presidential election day. Although she won the popular vote by more than three million, she was still about 77,000 votes shy in the swing states, and thus lost the electoral college.

Which brings us to the next major point- this is no popularity contest. Fortunately for Biden, various E.C. polling sites also have him up comfortably. This one shows him with a 348-190 advantage (270 are needed to win), citing a 49%-41% lead in Michigan, a 52%-43% in Arizona (a place that no Democrat has won since 1996) and three points up in Florida. When all is said and done, it’s really all that matters. The Democrats have been burned by this twice in the past five presidential elections. However, it is worth noting that no one was won the presidency by losing the popular vote and winning the electoral college twice/back to back.

Biden absolutely must win some of the swing states, and that should be considered a top priority when selecting his running mate. He’ll get the left coast and the northeast for sure. The Mid-Atlantic region is probably in the bag too. However, the Rust Belt states are very much in play, with Ohio pretty much neck and neck. Along these lines, perhaps Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, although still a relative unknown until a few months ago, would be the safe pick.

Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.

You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.

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I like Spirit Airlines. Yeah, I know it’s a controversial take, but I really do like them…a lot.

I’m a semi-regular customer of Spirit. I fly with them a few times each year. I have very few complaints. They’re almost always on time. Once you’re in the air, is there really any difference between airlines? And most importantly….$$$$!

Last September, I flew from Chicago to Los Angeles for $125…ROUND TRIP! How do you beat that? So yeah, I’ll put up with a lot for that price.

In February, I decided I wanted to go to Utah. The best way to get there was to start by booking a trip to Las Vegas. Hello, Spirit! For less than $100, I was going to Nevada and Utah. I told you, it’s all about the Benjamins.

It was eight weeks ago today that I was on the airplane to Vegas. Usually there’s an excitement in the air from the passengers flying there. They’ll be spending the next few days gambling, drinking, seeing shows, being with friends and partying. Living the high life. Why wouldn’t anyone be excited? But, not on that day. Not on my plane.

My flight was eerily quiet. People were glued to their seats. It was as if they didn’t want to come into contact with strangers. You didn’t know who had what? They were nervous that the person sitting next to them could be the one to pass on the virus.

It was odd behavior from people heading to a city where they would have little choice but to be in close contact with strangers. Social distancing was not possible in Las Vegas. It was a strange way to begin a vacation.

Four days later it was even more eerie. A Friday night flight back to Chicago was almost empty. Every passenger had their own row of seats. Sure, it was nice to spread out, but it felt more than a little creepy. I asked a flight attendant if she thought the Coronavirus was scaring people off. She said yes.

The worst was about to begin…and it was less than a week away.

Five days later, the Covid-19 pandemic hit the United States. In a matter of days, all businesses were affected. They were cutting back, if not shutting down completely. This included airlines.

During the early weeks of the pandemic, I’d receive emails from Spirit, informing me of their newest deals. I’d take a quick peek, then hit delete. I had no plans to go anywhere. But then, one of their messages caught my eye. Spirit wasn’t selling anything. They were just checking to make sure life under these horrid conditions was going okay. Also, letting me know that once things got back to normal, Spirit was going to be there to take care of my travel needs.

Sure, it was a form letter, but it’s warmth made me feel cared for and wanted. Nothing wrong with that under these trying times.

After reading the email, I decided to see how Spirit was handling the pandemic. I went to their website and looked into booking some flights. Chicago to Los Angeles…SEVENTEEN DOLLARS EACH WAY!! Didn’t even have to book two weeks in advance. If I wanted to go the next day, done! Next came Las Vegas. SEVENTEEN DOLLARS EACH WAY!!!  It was the same thing for Boston and New York. Of course, once you get to any of those places, there’s nothing to do because those cities are closed like everywhere else in the world. Although maybe I can get to Vegas and be part of that petri dish test group that that crazy Mayor Goodman was talking about last week.

I didn’t book any flights because I’m somewhat sane these days. It did, however make me curious as to what it would be like to fly during a pandemic of epic proportions. I have a friend who is a pilot for a different airline. She flew to Los Angeles a few days ago. I asked her what it was like:

“The airports were creepy empty. 41 souls on the ORD-LAX leg (including crew, so 34 passengers) and 39 souls on the return the next day. So yes, Howard, you could’ve had a couple rows to yourself! It is impossible to social distance in the cockpit. Just, impossible.”

I figured that would be her answer. No matter how much you hate any airline, you have to feel bad for them. How is it possible to stay in business with only thirty-four passengers on your airplane? By the way, that will be her last flight for a month. Sorry!!

It had been a few weeks since I checked the Spirit website. I was curious to see if those seventeen dollar deals still existed. SCORE!!!! They’re still there, but with limitations. The flights to Boston and New York are gone. Very few flights to both Los Angeles and Las Vegas…and it’s not at that price every day. No big deal…at least for now. No one is going anyway.

It’ll be interesting to see what the airline industry looks like when the pandemic is over. If you thought it was scary to fly in early March, imagine how the feelings will be in July, August or whenever. My guess is people will get on planes again, but it will be a slow process and with second thoughts.

I hope my friends at Spirit will still be in business. I’m looking forward to my next seventeen dollar flight to Vegas.

Related Post: Would you fly on 9/11?

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