The infant mortality rate in different states, which I mentioned here, is generally represented as the number of deaths of persons under age one year per 1000 live births.
There are 13 states that have passed "trigger laws," meaning that a Supreme Court decision scrapping Roe automatically activates an abortion ban in the state. That's how eager they are to outlaw abortion, and the reason they give is that it kills a baby. They sometimes use the word "holocaust." Perhaps, then, it makes sense to see how these states are doing on infant mortality. Here they are, with their infant mortality rank indicated. Source is the CDC.
| Wyoming | 16 |
| Idaho | 20 |
| Texas | 22 |
| Utah | 24 |
| North Dakota | 25 |
| Missouri | 27 |
| Oklahoma | 33 |
| Tennessee | 37 |
| Kentucky | 38 |
| South Dakota | 45 |
| Arkansas | 47 |
| Louisiana | 49 |
| Mississippi | 50 |
Not a single one in the top quintile. Eight in the bottom half, and four of those in the bottom quintile. Now that the half-century long project of getting Roe overturned is about to succeed, maybe they can get to work on keeping more of their babies alive long enough to celebrate a birthday.
One other observation about the news of the day. Clarence Thomas is the longest-serving current justice. He was appointed by President Geo H W Bush a couple years after the 1988 election. There have been eight more presidential elections since then. That makes a total of nine over the span of time all current justices were appointed. A Democrat won five out of the nine, and more Americans voted for the Democrat in seven out of the nine. Yet six of the nine justices were appointed by Republicans. It's five of them who are going to toss Roe. Of those five, three were appointed by a president who took office after being outpolled by around three million. "Elections matter," we're told. OK, but when did people vote for what they're getting?
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