Miss. has highest infant deaths & they lie to women

[donsu]

http://www.mahablog.com/2004.12.26_arch.html#1104247551715

the LIE: that women who get abortions could get breast cancer from it.



According to the Center for Disease Control, Mississippi has the highest infant mortality rate among all states. In 2002, in Mississippi 10.5 infants per 1,000 live births died before their first birthday. The lowest rate was in Massachusetts, where 4.8 infants per 1,000 live births were lost.

I mention this because Mississippi is proud of another accomplishment -- it is the most populous of a handful of states with only one abortion clinic. Yes, there's only one abortion clinic in Mississippi; there used to be seven. And in the past decade, the number of legal abortions performed in Mississippi have been cut in half. The abortion rate in Mississippi is about one third lower than the national average.

-snip-

Mississippi is one of only two states, along with North Dakota, requiring consent of both parents before a minor can get an abortion. It is one of two states, along with Texas, requiring that women seeking abortions be told, in contradiction of National Cancer Institute findings, that abortion might increase their risk of breast cancer.

-snip-

Anti-choice activists have been so successful in Mississippi that the executive director of Pro-Life Mississippi says she's no longer working to change state abortion laws. All the legislation she wanted has been enacted. Now the anti-choicers are targeting the remaining clinic, in Jackson, by asserting that one of the three doctors working there has vision problems.

Here's another accomplishment: According to the Children's Defense Fund, 27 percent of the children of Mississippi live in poverty. This is the highest child poverty rate of all the 50 states. I take it the Mississippi state legislature hasn't had time to get to this problem yet.
-snip-
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what do Mississippians have to say about this? are they proud?

[quaoar]

1. I used to live in Jackson

and went to school in Mississippi.

It is a very poor state, especially in the counties that make up the Delta east of the river and between Jackson and Memphis.

Bobby Kennedy once toured the Delta and proclaimed his astonishment that people in America lived like that.

As for the Mississippi legislature, it is as craven as any other state Legislature in the country. I can cite one major improvement they did, however.

Back in 1982, Mississippi was the only state left that did not have public kindergartens. A campaign was launched by Gov. William Winter, a progressive Democrat, to change that. I was working at the newspaper in Jackson at the time and we launched a crusade to push the Legislature into approving it. We publicized legislators who opposed it in a Hall of Shame on the editorial pages. The measure passed and the newspaper was later awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Public Service.

Mississippi has a long, long way to go. But change is possible.

[atreides1]

2. The True Agenda

This is the true pro-life agenda, it seems. The more people that live in poverty the more that the fundie xtians can spew their propaganda to, the more xtian soldiers they can create.

These people have no true love or concern for these children, they
are convinced that they are doing God's work, I guess they are if that God was Jupiter.

Whenever someone tells me that they are "pro-life", I ask them if they really care about the child that will be born and are they willing to make sacrifices for that child, or if they are just
pro-fetus. Most have to actually stop and think before they answer the
question.

[MS Liberal]

3. We are ashamed!!!

Those of us who are pro-choice here are very ashame that we do not take care of our children. We continue to fight.

[quaoar]

4. Welcome to DU

You might want to check out the Southern Democrats forum:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=234

[Melodybe]

6. Ditto from another MS Liberal

Welcome MS liberal!

:toast:

[donsu]

7. more power to you - wishing you a ton of Stamina and

hoping a lot of women join you

[newyawker99]

8. Hi MS Liberal!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[bleedingheart]

5. Those unwanted Planned Parenthood centers provide pre-natal care

as well as abortions...but alas Mississippi doesn't seem to care.

[Bombtrack]

9. Well, atleast they voted for Strom Thurmond, and they're proud of it

thank you very much.

[Sgent]

10. Just wanted to point out

Mississippi doesn't have a planeed parenthood chapter in its state.

Pre-natal care is provided either by private physicians, or through the state health department & medicaid office by contracting with nurse-practitioners, who are overseen by private physicians.

We also teach no sex ed in most school districts in MS...

[donsu]

11. sigh - maybe the Peace Core could put Miss. on their list

nt