C-Span, this fetus worshiper, Bob Enyart is perhaps the most ridiculous person I've ever seen on TV

[MrScorpio]

The man is clearly insane

[malaise]

1. Send him this for me

http://measureofamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ahdr-execsumm.pdf

The US infant mortality rate is on par with that of Croatia, Cuba, Estonia and Poland. If the US rates were equal to that of first-ranked Sweden, twenty-one thousand more American babies would have lived to celebrate their first birthday in 2005.

Remember they more than any other group support Bushco's approach to health care.

[mrcheerful]

3. But those are childern not fetuses, remember anti-choice isn't about

born kids they want to protect the fetus up to birth. After birth their concern stops. Then it's a personal choice if the child lives or dies best decided by the parent/s.

[malaise]

5. If it is life they claim to defend why do they support a party

which does not support decent health care policies.

[fed_up_mother]

4. Just thought I'd mention how these figures are skewed.

As much as I want single payer healthcare, I'm not going to use skewed statistics to make the case.

For starters, we attempt to save many, many babies (preemies) that other countries do not save. When those babies die days, weeks, or months later, they are included in the infant mortality rate. In some countries, babies who die within the first couple of days are not considered living.

Here's some articles that I quickly found:

http://www.slate.com/id/2161899/

http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/08/infant-mortality-measurements-not.html

"Low birth weight infants are not counted against the “live birth” statistics for many countries reporting low infant mortality rates.

According to the way statistics are calculated in Canada, Germany, and Austria, a premature baby weighing less than 500 kg is not considered a living child."

...

"Norway boasts one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world. But when the main determinant of mortality — weight at birth — is factored in, Norway has no better survival rates than the United States."

Just an fyi: My best friend is a neonatal nurse, and routinely 2/3's of the babies are "non-paying." They get the same level of care that other babies do, although I would imagine that their mothers' lack of prenatal care can significantly affect the pregnancy and premature birth.

Also, many big city counties have some of the highest infant mortality rates in the country, and it's usually assumed that it's because of poverty and lack of health care. In fact, the larger cities tend to have large neonatal units where - unfortunately - many babies wlll die due to their prematurity. Very small and sick babies are usually transferred to the units.

What is disgusting is the disparity between the races. Black babies have about twice the chance of dying during their first year.

[malaise]

6. Thanks for those links

and your comments

[MomOf4]

2. Scary

I think I was listening to him in the car. It was insane! He mentioned young waitresses not being able to look at babies who come into restaurants. What the heck was he talking about? What planet does he live on?