Monday, April 23, 2007

That Post-Birth Infant Mortality Crap

Over here at my turtle-loving neighbors to the north, they are happy the Supreme Court upheld a ban on the non-existent procedure they still want to call "Partial-birth abortion". With a tip of the hat (were I wearing one) to atrios (once again), comes this article at American Prospect Online reporting on the "success" of Mississippi governor Haley Barbour's efforts to eliminate thousands from the roles of Medicaid. In so doing - by creating all sorts of obstacles and bureaucratic hurdles and other impediments in the way of people getting the help they need - MS has seen an increase in infant mortality. None of this should be surprising; Medicaid is for poor people, and when poor people no longer have access to adequate healthcare, they and their children and their fetuses suffer. One would think that the Republicans would at least be consistent and continue prenatal plans, but they don't even do that.

So, I wonder, is Barney Frank, as quoted in the Prospect piece correct? Does life begin at conception and end at birth for these so-called pro-lifers? We measure what people believe not by the words that come out of their mouths but by what they actually do. In this case, it sounds to me like the only "crap" out there is the endless bleating of "pro-life" by a bunch of people who really don't care about real people, just all these imaginary fetuses (I still say feti is correct, but my computer doesn't think so) weeping and waling as their mothers abort them.

Virtual Tin Cup

Amazon Honor System Click Here to Pay Learn More