From "Infant mortality rate rose 8% in wake of Texas abortion ban, study shows" (AP).
When I first saw that headline, I thought people who didn't want their babies were murdering them, but it seems to be about babies with "defects" that are called "birth defects" when the babies — who might have been aborted for "fetal abnormalities" — are born.
The article quotes Suzanne Bell, a fertility researcher: "I think these findings make clear the potentially devastating consequences that abortion bans can have." It's not clear to me what the "devastating consequences" are. Isn't it devastating to lose a baby that you want, whether it is lost before birth or shortly after? Bell must mean that it is devastating to be forced to continue with pregnancy and childbirth when you know your child is doomed, even though that is what some women do.
When I first saw that headline, I thought people who didn't want their babies were murdering them, but it seems to be about babies with "defects" that are called "birth defects" when the babies — who might have been aborted for "fetal abnormalities" — are born.
The article quotes Suzanne Bell, a fertility researcher: "I think these findings make clear the potentially devastating consequences that abortion bans can have." It's not clear to me what the "devastating consequences" are. Isn't it devastating to lose a baby that you want, whether it is lost before birth or shortly after? Bell must mean that it is devastating to be forced to continue with pregnancy and childbirth when you know your child is doomed, even though that is what some women do.
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Well, obviously the mortality rate for aborted babies is still higher.
I don't want the government making this decision.
But the pro abortion forces are absolutely repellent people. The "unwanted" rhetoric is pure evil.
I don't know how they fudged the death number but I suspect there’s a wide interpretation of ‘birth defect’ for the purpose of the study. Like- It’s a boy!
Rachel Holt - I Was Gonna Be
Isn't it devastating to lose a baby that you want, whether it is lost before birth or shortly after? Bell must mean that it is devastating to be forced to continue with pregnancy and childbirth when you know your child is doomed, even though that is what some women do.
If that’s not it then I don’t know what it is. The problem is the whole premise shows the abuse of language and statistics. Infant mortality is up, because fetal mortality is down, because of the insistence that a fetus is not an infant or life. Really, to these people, fetus mortality is not a thing. Reality is defects in fetuses are likely at the same level, but if that number is something that low in growth, perhaps more infants were born that otherwise would have died a fetus simply because the mother didn’t want the infant. If you want to spin a story, then it can be spun the other way too.
Personally, I oppose the Texas ban as it exists today, and when it was expanded (I’m sure by Lt. Gov Patrick, because it has been a pet cause of his from talk show days) to include the heartbeat wording. I rather we had the 20 week rule that was in place previously. But discussing this from the extremes won’t get us back to there.
When Suzanne Pleshette auditioned for the Newhart show based in Chicago, she was visibly pregnant. She told Bob and/or the producers: don't worry, if I get the job I won't be pregnant or have a newborn. I've already been told this baby is dead. Despite modern medicine, there is no way to make it as a woman without being tough.
i guess we should be like iceland? iceland has "cured" down's syndrome
In Iceland, almost all diagnosed Down syndrome pregnancies are aborted after prenatal testing.
SOON! the enlightened world will be able to "cure" MOST birth defects!
birth defects like:
homosexuality
redheadedness
female over intelligence
What A Wonderful and Brave, New World we will live in, where parents can CHOOSE which children to have!
"Here's an article from August 2022: "Woman carrying fetus without a skull to seek abortion in another state following Louisiana ban/'Basically they said I had to carry my baby to bury my baby,' said Nancy Davis, who is about 16 weeks pregnant" (NBC News)."
An abortion can only occur on a VIABLE pregnancy. Child with no skull is not that. Abortion laws will have zero impact on it.
I am not sure why doctors doing that crap are not being sued out of existence.
We remember gosnell dont we or the one in nebraska you know mengele sidelined as an abortionist in germany
Once a woman gets pregnant her body is forever changed. An abortion isn't a magic elixir. Removing the baby doesn't return the woman to a pre-pregnancy existence. Whether she keeps it or kills it, she's now a mother.
I won't comment on Texas law. Laws can be changed. What bothers me is the lack of concern shown by the pro choice community for the women in these situations. Where's the " Rescue Fund?" Where's the "Underground Railroad," to smuggle the women to an abortion friendly state? Nope, they're more concerned with keeping the wedge issue alive!
My third child was born with what I would call significant birth defects. She was born with two thumbs on one hand, an extra toe on one foot, only had one kidney, and a 40 degree curved spine. She had several surgeries, including two major back surgeries. Thank goodness there were no pre-birth ultra sounds done back then.
After high school, she made her college volleyball team, became an expert snow boarder and works now as an ...... ultra sound technician at a pro-life clinic. She's one tough cookie.
Did I say she's the apple of my eye?
Rules without the possibility of exception are evil and stupid.
I don't know details of the Texas law on abortion but, I think you can legally kill a person in Texas, under certain circumstances.
I strongly oppose abortion but there are times...
I lost a grandchild who was aborted because of horrible physical defects. If it had survived birth, it would never have left the hospital and would have been a medical curiousity, at best.
I never knew my paternal grandmother. At 28, this mother of three, died in childbirth because the Catholic Church forbid sacrificing the baby to save the life of the mother. Of course, they both died. That's just fucking WRONG!
OTOH, fatalities of convenience might should be "twofers".
They are blood thirsty ghouls daughters of moloch remembef they brook no limits when queried
And how many babies that would have been aborted due to birth defects survived and have a chance to live long happy lives?
Does the article mention them?
Didn't think so.
" Nope, they're more concerned with keeping the wedge issue alive!"
Much money to be made by riding wedge issues.
Humperdink said...
My third child was born with what I would call significant birth defects. She was born with two thumbs on one hand, an extra toe on one foot, only had one kidney, and a 40 degree curved spine. She had several surgeries, including two major back surgeries. Thank goodness there were no pre-birth ultra sounds done back then.
After high school, she made her college volleyball team, became an expert snow boarder and works now as an ...... ultra sound technician at a pro-life clinic. She's one tough cookie.
Did I say she's the apple of my eye?
6/25/24, 8:05 AM
Impressive!! I'm so glad she got a chance to live instead of being aborted and thrown out with the trash. Thank you for brave parents doing the right thing!!! More stories like hers need to be publicized so that people can hear the other side!!
Heartbeats are nice except there's no heart at six weeks. It's likely just general autocatalytic reaction that serves to move stuff around. Chemistry.
The Nazis had a tidy motto for this, “lebensunwerts leben,” life unworthy of life. Children with defects were at the top of the list.
Statistics are wonderful tools, if they are accurate, but I'm suspicious of the study; especially when you consider the number of illegal children in the state of Texas. Does the study remove the defects common in other countries due to poor sanitation and diseases not common in the United States? What about poor nutrition of the mothers? These things influence the health of a newborn, and if not removed from the study slant it toward the narrative of all abortion is a good thing.
Statistics are wonderful tools, if they are accurate, but I'm suspicious of the study; especially when you consider the number of illegal children in the state of Texas. Does the study remove the defects common in other countries due to poor sanitation and diseases not common in the United States? What about poor nutrition of the mothers? These things influence the health of a newborn, and if not removed from the study slant it toward the narrative of all abortion is a good thing.
Im always skeptical when I see percentages.
Eight percent, huh? So the infant mortality rate shot up from 5.32 per 1,000 to a whopping 5.75 per 1,000?
So another way to say this is “before the law, the infant mortality rate was between 5-6 per 1,000, and, after the law, the infant mortality rate was still between 5-6 per 1,000.”
Here is another percentage they didn’t cite. Nearly 100% of these babies, who would have otherwise been aborted, were actually born AND survived infancy, giving them a chance at a full life.
I've adopted 6 children, all with birth defects. Some of which would have been aborted given the pre-natal tests - Heart defect, cleft palate, limb deformity, neurofibromatosis. I can guarantee you that not one of them wishes they had never been born. Last month, my oldest just got her diver's license at age 24 because a new eyeglass technology allowed her to see well enough when we originally thought she could never drive. What a selfish world we live in when people only consider themselves when making life or death decisions. Now, I do not think all birth defects are created the same. Some really are too severe to save, and I would grieve with the family facing that situation. But I know many, many other people with fulfilling lives and proud and happy parents of those people despite a birth defect.
I know a woman who had a baby with a Trisomy defect. He was born, given a name, and has a grave. He's a part of their family even if he only lived for a few hours. OBs try to convince women it's easier to "deal with it" before. I don't believe that's true.
Blogger Joe Bar said...
"I won't comment on Texas law. Laws can be changed. What bothers me is the lack of concern shown by the pro choice community for the women in these situations. Where's the " Rescue Fund?" Where's the "Underground Railroad," to smuggle the women to an abortion friendly state? Nope, they're more concerned with keeping the wedge issue alive!"
I've been saying this since forever.
I do think 5 to 6 weeks is too short.
Why cut the baby's life short? Why not allow the doomed baby to experience the full span of his life? If that's almost entirely in the womb, what of it? It's probably a very nice existence in there.
also in that study is the mention of infant mortality rising 8% after pregnant women were told to get the covid shot.
It's the "science." Pay attention!
That infant mortality rate has to be recalculated against the previous rate of infant mortality including all abortion mortality of unborn infants.
I do think 5 to 6 weeks is too short.
I do, too. 15 weeks is a reasonable decision point.
I agree with Birches and Freeman Hunt
All pregnant women give birth. The only question is whether the baby comes out alive or dead. So much public discourse seems to act like the fetus just gets magicked away in an abortion, when every woman who has one needs to expel the corpse. So I've never understood what advantage some of these people are trying to gain by preempting.
this is called lying with statistics.
The article claims that the neonatal mortality increased 8%. That sounds bad, but then they note it is now 5.75 per 1,000
But if you realized the baseline was 5.5 percent, which increased 8 percent to 5.75, this doesn't sound so bad: Indeed it could be a statistical fluke,
https://www.dshs.texas.gov/sites/default/files/healthytexasbabies/Documents/2021-Healthy-Texas-Mothers-Babies-Data-Book.pdf
Black women have a higher incidence of toxemia, untreated high blood pressure, diabetes, lack of prenatal care, and hemoglobinopathies, twin births
https://blackdoctor.org/5-things-black-women-should-know-about-preterm-birth/.
the mRNA vaccine among other things.
Many of these things can be treated if prenatal care was available.
So the problem is racism, not that moms can't do abortions on malformed babies. (the example, an anencephalic baby, usually is delivered early, but without doing a dangerous dismemberment by an abortionist. But other malformations found on ultrasound are less lethal, such as Down's syndrome, or treatable as in congenital heart disease).
The truth is - the Fauci forced big-pharma jabs are the cause of these infant defects.
Promoting the wholesale slaughter of babies is abhorrent. And let's be honest, most occur because the pregnancy has become inconvenient, i.e.birth control. Good grief that is absolutely evil. As for the article, lying with statistics, lying by ignoring other data, evidence is still lying. And lying to promote this horrific practice is abominable. Slaughtering 7 to 900,000 annually is a genocide. It is evil.
I can't read the original research, but the numbers here sound flimsy. Just to take an example, suppose infant mortality is around 0.5%, and there were, before the law passed, 200,000 births and 50,000 abortions (just making these numbers up). So around 1,000 deaths of babies born alive. After the law passes, there are "only" 30,000 abortions and 220,000 live births. Normal infant mortality would predict 1100 deaths. An 8% increase in infant mortality would mean an extra 88 deaths. Probably easily explainable by the non-random sample of people who would have had a abortion for non-medical reasons but didn't. But in any case, the flip side is that there are now nearly 19,000 babies who would have been aborted but are now alive.
SCIENCE! The same science that makes it possible to identify children in the womb with severe medical defects, may make it possible for such children to live after birth and have meaningful lives. Why not give it a try? Is killing the unborn child the ONLY option?
I meant to add to my 4:29, those deaths aren't "extra": If the thesis of the research is that at least some of these would have been aborted, then it's a matter of dying by abortion or dying naturally. Whereas those who weren't aborted are really extra lives.
"In Texas, the 2022 mortality rate for infants went up 8% to 5.75 per 1,000 births ... "
Doing the math, that works out to an increase of less than one per 1,000 births -- about 0.45 deaths per 1,000 births. I'd like to see all the statistics -- how big is that year-to-year change and variation compared to the last ten or 20 years? Mean, variance, standard variation and all that stuff we were supposed to learn while sleeping through statistics.
Is this a statistically significant change?
Couple of things here.
First, whenever someone says "the law does not allow..." and the story does not include "So my spouse and I have been calling state legislators to change the law to allow this" the story is not about the law, it is about the outrage. If you could get 20 calm men and women to drive to their state capitol (after making an appointment) to sit down with their congressman and their state senator to ask for modifications to the law for these edge cases, there is too much good will in the news stories for the politicians to deny the audience. Never will you find a prochoice advocate telling how they are asking the republican lawmakers, or they are organizing groups of Republican voters to advocate those same lawmakers to create these exceptions for Trisomy, or other severe defects, and that is because they do not want there to be exceptions written into the law. The ghouls, having lost their ability to feed upon thelost human souls discarded into the void of abortion have chosen to feast upon the anguish of the mothers in those truely awful edge cases. They do not care about these women, they are merely using them to allow the wholesale slaughter of innocent babies.
Second, if liberals really cared that these women need abortions they would set up methods to bus or fly the women to other states. The fact that this is not the case is further proof that the abortion advocates do not care about these women.
Lastly, there is a large fertile ground for compromise on this issue. All abortions require seeing a mental health professional (to make certain the woman is not being coerced or abused, understands her choices, access to birth control, access to other options as well). No abortions after 12 weeks without two different doctors with no ties to each other signing off on the need to save the life of the mother or that the child is not viable. Rape victims can have the abortion at any point provided they take out a police report and the remains of the aborted child are preserved for DNA testing to find the man that raped her. To get this above situation all the abortion advocates have to be is be reasonable with the legislators in their state. They will not do this, because if they did abortion would no longer be a political issue.
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