They're Born Aren't They?

That is all this country cares about. That all the little babies be born, defects and all. It doesn't matter that they might not have a decent life like Paris Hilton, just that they be alive until we can kill them for doing something we don't like or working at a job with no safety protections so their "betters" can have luxuries while children starve. It doesn't matter that poverty is up, jobs are down and healthcare is expensive and dangerous, just keep[ those babies coming. We just don't want your preschoolers, elementary, teenagers or young adults to have a fulfilling life...for themselves.

CNN.com - U.S. has second worst newborn death rate in modern world, report says - May 9, 2006: "American babies are three times more likely to die in their first month as children born in Japan, and newborn mortality is 2.5 times higher in the U.S. than in Finland, Iceland or Norway, Save the Children researchers found.

Only Latvia, with six deaths per 1,000 live births, has a higher death rate for newborns than the U.S., which is tied near the bottom of industrialized nations with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia with five deaths per 1,000 births.

'The United States has more neonatologists and neonatal intensive care beds per person than Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, but its newborn rate is higher than any of those countries,' said the annual State of the World's Mothers report.

The report, which analyzed data from governments, research institutions and international agencies, found higher newborn death rates among U.S. minorities and disadvantaged groups. For African-Americans, the mortality rate is nearly double that of the U.S. as a whole, with 9.3 deaths per 1,000 births.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the worst place in the world to be a mother or child, with Scandinavian nations again taking the top spots in the rankings by the Connecticut-based humanitarian group.

Sweden heads the list, with Niger last. (10 worst and best)"

For a country that used to be so technologically advanced we certainly like to occupy spaces on world lists that I wouldn't want my dog to suffer. Between the death penalty, birth penalty and the increasing poverty rate, the U.S. is becoming a third world country.

The immigration problem should be solved soon. 224 years to build it into a world class nation, 6 years to reduce it to rubble. Tied with the industrialized nations of Hungary and Slovakia and barely ahead of Latvia (most people can't find it on a map), yep, we are a great nation.

Tags: birth rate, newborn death rates, industrialized nations