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Saturday, April 21st, 2007 09:15 pm
Blackwhite Blog tells you what the NY Times article about rising infant mortality in Mississippi means.
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Sunday, April 22nd, 2007 07:48 pm (UTC)
Infant mortality was going down before. The government was not doing a spectacular job of addressing perinatal health, but it was addressing it. Also, in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, there was a big rush of NGOs dealing with the issues that are related to it.

Think about it: Food Stamps, WIC, Food Banks, and the rest, were all started in response to poverty issues. WIC specifically addresses maternal and child health. All the "Great Society" and "War on Poverty" programs that were so easy to deride at the time -- and the results of their removal (or gutting, or crippling with undderfunding, or subversion, in different cases)is that babies die.

One of the pernicious effects of channeling public money through "faith-based" organizations is that part of the money goes to supporting programs to save women's souls rather than to save their lives or the lives of their children. Or to keeping embryos in wombs rather than taking care of children who are born.