Full Title: We Are Not Prepared for the Coming Surge of Babies
Highlights
rise in births in the U.S. will be concentrated in some of the worst states for infant and maternal health. Plans to improve these outcomes are staggeringly thin. ()
Note: This article discusses the upcoming surge in births in the United States and the lack of plans to improve the outcomes for infants and mothers in the worst states for these health factors. It suggests that there is a great need for better preparation and planning to address the issues.
be concentrated in some of the worst states for infant and maternal ()
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New highlights added December 22, 2022 at 12:32 AM
Although the existence of these children is the goal of the anti-abortion movement, America is unprepared to adequately care for them and the people who give birth to them. ()
Note: Assuming longtermism is correct and human extinction is a threat, how do we manage the existence of people born in unfavorable circumstances? Or is this a game only for the rich and powerful?
When you consider that there were more than 3.6 million births in the U.S. in 2021, an increase of 50,000 births, or 1.4 percent, may not seem that significant. But these births won’t be equally distributed among the population; they’re likely to be concentrated among the poorest of the poor, in states where the social safety net is frayed to begin with. “This is really an inequality story about who ends up trapped by distance and poverty, and who doesn’t,” Myers told me. ()
Note: This article discusses the projected surge in US births in 2021, and how this increase will be most concentrated among the poorest of the poor. It is suggested that this is an inequality story, as those trapped by poverty and distance will be more affected by this surge than those who are not.
Money, of course, is only part of the equation. Pregnancy puts tremendous physical stress on a person’s body: People are estimated to be 14 times more likely to die during or after giving birth than from complications from an abortion. And the U.S already has striking racial disparities in maternal-mortality rates, with Black women nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts, according to the CDC. A similar disparity is seen in infant-mortality rates. And, compounding matters, many of the states that have banned abortion—such as Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas—also happen to be among the states where mothers and newborns fare the worst. If you look at the six states with the highest maternal-mortality rates in the nation according to the CDC, for example, all of them have outlawed abortion in the past few months. The same goes for the six states with the highest infant-mortality rates. ()
Note: The cost of abortion is not the only issue at hand. Women turned away from abortion are much more likely to die and have other issues down the line than those who do refieve an abortion. This affects in particular underprivileged communities, such as black and Hispanics.
Arkansas already has the highest maternal-mortality rate in the U.S., nearly double the national average. If no one in Arkansas were able to receive abortions, the maternal-mortality rate would be expected to spike an additional 7 percent, according to research from the University of Colorado at Boulder. “We already have a limited number of ob-gyns,” says Lori Williams, the board chair of the National Abortion Federation and the former clinical director at Little Rock Family Planning Services, an abortion clinic that has since closed. “We already have a limited number of places for these patients to deliver and physicians to care for them. And now we’ve intensified the problem without a preplanned solution.” Arkansas is not an outlier here: According to a new report from the March of Dimes, about 35 percent of U.S. counties, mostly clustered in the Midwest and the South, are “maternity care deserts,” which means they do not have a hospital that provides obstetric care, a birth center, or any obstetric providers. ()
Note: Even prior to Roe, many American states had poor infrastructure to deal with pregnancy complications. There are few ob-gyns available, and their work is already heavily restricted.
Arkansas has the second-highest food-insecurity rate in the country—but as Laura Kellams, the Northwest Arkansas director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, explained to me, restrictive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program policies make qualifying for food stamps hard for those in need. A dismal four out of every 100 families in poverty have access to the state’s cash-assistance program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. According to a recent ProPublica investigation into how states spend federal welfare funds, Arkansas—along with Texas, Mississippi, and Nebraska—denied about 90 percent of applicants in 2020. Arkansas is ranked among the worst states for child well-being, according to an analysis from the 2022 “Kids Count Data Book.” It has the highest rate of teen births in the country, according to the CDC, roughly tied with Mississippi, and does not require sex education to be taught in schools. ()
Note: Even the existence of state funded care programs does not help pregnant women and new children. Though some states may expand their services, place like Arkansas already denies 90 of people applying for social security.
Anti-abortion politicians have said that the next phase of the movement is to support pregnant women and families, which raises the question: What would it mean to truly do so? If we dare to dream big, a map for the country’s post-Roe future could include investment in not only comprehensive health-care and mental-health services for pregnant and postpartum people, but also a living wage, paid family leave, subsidized child care, and affordable housing. On the preventive side, we could focus on comprehensive sex education in schools and access to contraceptives. ()
Note: Childbirth care must extend past birth clinic levels. Indeed, it most go beyond the issue of abortion itself: if many new children are being born then there is a need to manage social security holistically, including wages, education, and housing.
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