Speaking of Dead Babies

In 2006, I first blogged about the issue of our infant mortality here in the United States.  I was recently reminded of this in a discussion I was having online regarding the pitiful state of our health care system.  But I was further reminded of the issue thanks to the Casey Anthony trial.  It wasn't so much the trial, it was the assholes who sent death threats to the Anthony family and went down to the court house to protest, cry, and call out "won't someone think of little Caylee."

First off, I don't know what motivates someone to go and act like an asshole at a court house.  Isn't there enough pain and human tragedy in this case, without creating further drama?

Secondly though, the biggie for me is that so many people, and 24 hour 'news' networks have nothing better to do than obsess about this single child dying, when for the fifth straight year that I have been watching this, the infant mortality rate in the United States has fallen again.  We now have 45 countries in the world that do a better job of keeping their babies alive than we do.

The radical right has continued to attack women's right to obtain an abortion.  Several states are now investigating miscarriages as murders, with potential criminal prosecutions for women who cannot prove that they naturally lost their baby to the satisfaction of the state.  Several more states have defunded Planned Parenthood, because you know cutting off women's access to STD screening, reproductive advice, and contraceptives makes the most sense right?

To me it seems like a completely insane logic where we wring our hands over the unfortunate death of a single child, or talk about abortion as if it is routine and taken too lightly by young mothers, yet we as a country are ignoring the fact that we are slipping year on year in our ability to keep our babies alive.

Despite spending more than double what most countries spend per capita on health care, our babies continue to die at an alarming rate thanks to lack of access to health care for all; and the situation is getting worse.  Yet no one talks about this sad fact.  The 'news' networks continue to spew the emotive crap about 'poor little Caylee' giving us round the clock coverage of the trial, what 'experts' think about the trial, what pundits think, what random members of the public think, and so on.  Yet no coverage regarding the thousands of babies who died unnecessarily during the same time period because in our country we don't give a shit about poor people.

Dead Babies?

I just had a conversation with a friend of mine about abortion, and it made me realize that it's been a while (almost two years) since I've visited the latest figures on infant mortality.  [See previous article]

Without rehashing the past, and repeating myself, my stance on abortion in America is very simple.  Our infant mortality rate is so shameful and embarrassing in this country, we have no right to force women to have a baby they don't want.  If we can't keep our babies alive from the age of 0 to 1, why should we be even talking about a fetus?

So I checked on the latest figures (from the CIA, not some left wing think tank), and it seems that just like last year, we have slipped yet again, we are now 46th in the world for infant mortality.

Not only were our figures embarrassing when I first wrote about this in 2006, but year on year our figures have been deteriorating.  In 2006 we were an unimpressive 32nd in the world.  By 2009 (the most recent figures available at time of writing) we are now at 46th.  Now I concede that some additional countries may now being reported that has affected our ranking, but which ever way you look at it; it's a disgrace.  The richest nation on the planet, and we can't provide health care that keeps our children alive?  It's not like we're Cuba, oh wait, Cuba is one of the 45 countries kicking our ass in infant mortality statistics, oops.

I'm sure with the outcome of the midterms as they are, Republicans are going to start an aggressive bid for the White House in 2012.  And as usual they will trot out the political wedge issues like flag burning, gay marriage and abortion.  But the hypocrisy to be 'pro-life' while simultaneously legislating to not give children free and unfettered access to health care is astonishing, and our children are paying with their lives.

Who knows, when the 2010 numbers come out for infant mortality, will America even be in the top 50?  Just how far will we slide, and how many babies will die as we 'debate' health care and abortion?

If you are pro-life, you need to support free access to health care for all children, or you are in fact not pro-life at all.  You are a hypocrite and an idiot.

More Dead Babies

With all the problems of the economy of late, and the election of Barack Obama, a story seems to have slipped though the cracks, and I've yet to see it reported.

The CIA World Fact Book have released the 2008 estimates for our infant mortality rate here in the USA. They don't make for happy reading, since we now sit behind 41 other nations; a significant drop from the last time new numbers were released.

In fact your baby is less likely to die in the first year if it is born and raised in any of these countries:

1. Singapore
2. Sweden
3. Japan
4. Hong Kong
5. Iceland
6. France
7. Finland
8. Anguilla
9. Norway
10. Malta
11. Czech Republic
12. Andorra
13. Germany
14. Switzerland
15. Spain
16. Israel
17. Macau
18. Slovenia
19. Denmark
20. Austria
21. Belgium
22. Australia
23. Liechtenstein
24. Guernsey
25. Luxembourg
    
26. Netherlands
27. Portugal
28. Gibraltar
    
29. United Kingdom
30. New Zealand
31. Jersey
32. Canada
33. Republic of Ireland
34. Monaco
35. Greece
36. San Marino
37. Taiwan
38. Italy
39. Isle of Man
40. Cuba
41. South Korea
42. United States
    

As I've mentioned many times on this blog, our health care system here in America sucks. It is the most expensive in the world per capita. Yet it leaves millions of American adults and children excluded from receiving quality health care. And the result is dead babies.

What is so very odd about America is that the religious right continues to bang on about abortion issues, the fact that evil Obama is allowing charities to mention the word abortion once again without fear of sanctions, and the evils of socialized medicine. Yet our figures continue to slip, year in, year out. Our system is broken, and it is literally killing babies. But still, all the protesters want to do is whine about the evils of abortion.

Seriously though, why do you want to force women to have babies, if you are going to stand by and let them die in their first year?

This infant mortality rate issue is a national scandal, and one we continue to ignore while health insurance companies and other medical corporations continue to rake in their profits. The answer is a RADICAL re-think of our health care system and an acceptance that our current system is not working. As long as we blindly ignore what is going on and campaign against socialized medicine and abortion this problem will continue to get worse.

Update: I also noticed that the United Nation figures for life expectancy of a child to the age of five places America 36th in the world. Meaning, of course that in 35 other nations a child is more likely to live to the age of five than here in the US. No doubt also as a result of poverty and exclusionary health care issues.

Dead Baby Update

Just over two years ago, I posted an article on this blog about the infant mortality rate in the United States.

It came back into my mind because of the election and because of a new report out this month.

Every time we have an election, the Republican party trot out the issue of abortion specifically to rouse their base, and the talk turns to killing babies. Extremists even talk about how Obama wants to 'kill babies' because of his pro-choice stance. Or some intellectually dishonest argument about votes he's made as a politician.

Then you have the likes of Sarah Palin who believe that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape and incest. A woman who went on record the other day as stating that people who bomb abortion clinics are not 'technically' terrorists.

But what I'd like to know is why Americas are ignoring the real issue: infant mortality.

In the recent CDC report it was discovered that America, the richest and most powerful nation on the planet, is 29th in the world for infant mortality figures!

28,000 babies die each year in America before their first birthday.

That's about 7 in 1000. And if you are African American, sorry, but that figure is more than double, at a staggering 13.63 per 1,000. Which is up from the last time I reported on this issue.

We are currently in the company of such countries as, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungry. We are getting beaten by Cuba, New Zealand, Israel and Canada.

And we are being blown out of the water by top countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, Britain and Italy.

It's time that as a nation we woke up to the fact that our health care system is broken. 47,000,000 Americans are without proper coverage. Millions more are simply unable to afford health care costs even with with insurance.

And the trends are scary too. By 2012 if things continue the way they are going the per capita cost of health care will reach $10,000 in America. More than any other country in the world. Yet by then an estimated 54 million people will be uninsured. Businesses costs will rise by 55%.

The issue of broken health care and infant mortality rates is one of the most important issues facing America today.

If we can fix the health care system it is good for everyone. And the only candidate in this election who is trying to do that is Barack Obama. He wants to take steps to stop insurance companies ripping people off. He wants to make health care less of a luxury and more of a right. I don't think his ideas go far enough, but in America we have to take it slow.

Oddly, despite our horrible infant mortality figures, our bad longevity, and our preventable death statistics, many Americans still don't get it. They have seemingly been brainwashed into distrusting any intervention to fix the current broken health care system. And I think this brainwashing has been a clever con trick perpetrated the corporations that make billions from the sick and suffering each year. They love the way things are: Lots of money and very little regulation.

Perhaps once President Obama begins to reform the health care system, to make health care a right and not a privilege of the rich, Americans will finally begin to accept that the 28 countries in the world who are kicking our ass in health care do it cheaper than we do, and save more lives.

So for all the talk about 'pro-life' issues in this election; the reality is very clear. Barack Obama is the pro-life candidate here. He is trying to reach out to ordinary Americans and protect their lives and the lives of their babies.

Let's keep that in mind on election day.