My friend Chad at CCK had a post a while ago that I have been meaning to respond to. Here it is:
Cut access to health care as much as possible. Let babies die in increasing numbers. I guess that's what they mean by "pro-life."
I am not sure who "they" are, but the article Chad cites is important. After decades of decline, infant mortality in some states has stalled and even ticked up a bit. From the New York Times article that Chad directs us to:
To the shock of Mississippi officials, who in 2004 had seen the infant mortality rate — defined as deaths by the age of 1 year per thousand live births — fall to 9.7, the rate jumped sharply in 2005, to 11.4. The national average in 2003, the last year for which data have been compiled, was 6.9. Smaller rises also occurred in 2005 in Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee. Louisiana and South Carolina saw rises in 2004 and have not yet reported on 2005.
Chad's knee jerk reaction is to blame cuts in health care spending. But the article he cites does not support that.
“I think the rise is real, and it’s going to get worse,” said Dr. Bouldin Marley, an obstetrician at a private clinic in Clarksdale since 1979. “The mothers in general, black or white, are not as healthy,” Dr. Marley said, calling obesity and its complications a main culprit. . . .
Another major problem, Dr. Marley said, is that some women arrive in labor having had little or no prenatal care. “I don’t think there’s a lack of providers or facilities,” he said. “Some women just don’t have the get up and go.”
I know a little bit about this issue, having followed it over the years; but I am guessing that this is a lot more than Chad knows. The infant mortality rate is defined as the number of children who die in their first year per thousand live births. The United States has a very high IMR compared to other developed nations. This is certainly something we should be concerned about. But in fact, it bears no relation to the availability of heath care. An article in Slate by very clearly explains why.
According to a 2002 analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least a third of all infant mortality in the United States arises from complications of prematurity; other studies assert the figure is closer to half. Thus—at the risk of oversimplifying—infant mortality in the United States principally is a problem of premature birth, which today complicates just over one in 10 pregnancies.
To reduce infant mortality, then, we need to prevent premature births, and if that fails, improve care of premature babies once born. . . . But modern medicine isn't good at preventing prematurity—just the opposite. Better and more affordable medical care actually has worsened the rate of prematurity, and likely the rate of infant mortality, by making fertility treatment widespread.
Infant mortality is indeed something we should worry about. But if we really want to do something about it, and not merely use it as a weapon to bash our political opponents, we need to understand it. More spending on health care will only worsen the problem unless it addresses the issues mentioned by Dr. Marley and
Recent Comments