PRESS RELEASE

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Maternal Death Rate in America Has Skyrocketed

Sept. 4, 2016 (EIRNS)—The New York Times Editorial Board has revealed another devastating feature of life in Barack Obama’s America: The death rate among pregnant and post-partum women in the United States is skyrocketing, at a time when that death rate is declining in every other advanced sector country and most developing sector countries. The Times editors cited a recent study published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, which revealed that the maternal death rate has doubled between 2000 and 2014 to a rate of 35.8 deaths per 100,000. In comparison, Germany’s maternal mortality rate is 4.1 per 100,000. Among the 31 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), only Mexico had a higher maternal death rate than the United States.

Texas, according to the O&G study, is the worst state in the country, although California is the only state where the mortality rate has declined over the past 14 years. In Texas, the two leading causes of deaths among pregnant and post-birth mothers are cardiac problems and overdoses involving prescription opioids and illegal drugs, according to a task force report commissioned by the Texas state legislature.

The Times editors made an obvious observation: “Such increases typically happen during war, natural disasters and severe economic distress.” But they also conceded that the rising costs of Obamacare have made it impossible for many Americans to afford health care, and many states—Texas included—have refused to expand Medicaid coverage. The mortality rate among African-American pregnant women in Texas is significantly higher than that for white and Hispanic women. The Times editorial concluded:

“One of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals was to reduce global maternal mortality by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015. The world missed that target but still reduced the mortality rate by 45%. Set against that progress, America’s record is unconscionable.”