An American Tragedy: Arkansas boasts it’s ‘pro-life.’ So why are so many AR moms & babies dying?

Americans United for Life (AUL) has ranked Arkansas as the most pro-life state in the US for three straight years. At first blush that seems like a spectacular achievement. But it will come as a surprise to Americans who have not associated this Bible Belt state with nation-leading health statistics. So what gives?To answer that, let’s start by considering what metrics AUL uses to calculate its ranking. According to its website:Our “Life List” ranking is based on criteria that score the states’ protection of Life from conception to natural death. This is sorted into the categories of abortion, legal recognition of unborn children, bioethics (such as destructive embryo research), assisted suicide and patient care, and healthcare rights of conscience.In addition, each state is awarded points for cultural and political landscape and momentum, which measures political outlook and the frequency the state legislature effectuates Pro-Life laws, respectively.In summary the organization, despite its Orwellian claim to be ‘pro-life,’ has zero care for the concrete reality of whether babies, kids, adults, and seniors actually live or die. They are only interested in cultural momentum and legislative intent. This must be why they feel no shame in ranking a state with the 7th shortest life expectancy (73.8 years) as #1 pro-life. BTW, Hawaii which ranks #1 in life expectancy (80.7 years), is last on AUL’s ‘pro-life’ ranking.But that is hardly their only inanity. I don’t know how you rank a state with the death penalty as ‘culturally’ pro-life.The sanctimonious absurdity of Arkansas’s AUL ranking is magnified by the third-world outcomes for the state's new mothers and their newborns. According to stats from the CDC, Arkansas ranks 4th in infant mortality. And #1 in maternal mortality (KFF has them at #4 — but you get the point).The Washington Post reported (the paywall should be down) on this dichotomy between AUL’s fanciful claims and the cruel reality of life in Arkansas. The paper focused on maternal health. And pointed to a direct correlation between pro-life activism and the increased risk to new and expectant mothers’ lives.Since Arkansas banned nearly all abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, doctors and others have sounded the alarm on what they say is a deepening crisis in maternal health. They point to other markers, too, particularly the state’s very high rates of teen pregnancy, infant mortality and food insecurity.The alarm has been raised, and not just by progressives. Conservatives with empathy (admittedly a small demographic) have also expressed concerns.Republican state Rep. Aaron Pilkington is an abortion opponent. However, he has led a push for legislation and funding to improve health outcomes.“If we really say to the world we’re pro-life, we need to put our money where our mouth is and make sure these women are treated and have the care they need.”This makes you wonder why more conservatives don’t support this humanitarian, not to mention Christian, point of view. There are two not necessarily mutually exclusive reasons for this callousness. One: banning abortion doesn’t cost anything. Paying to improve the medical outlook of mothers and children does. Two: sadism — especially to minorities and the poor. There is a streak of cruelty, among religious fundamentalists that gobsmacks Jesus-adjacent compassionate Christians and astounds the average atheist.No one embodies the hypocritical barbarity of the heartless Bible-bashers more than the state’s Governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. This daughter of smug indifference is living proof that the crab apple doesn’t fall far from the poisonous tree. As WaPo further reported:This spring, facing pressure from business leaders and the medical community, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders launched an initiative to address maternal health, an issue that she acknowledged “we’ve ignored for far too long.” Yet she declined to support extending Medicaid postpartum coverage to a year from 60 days, saying the state’s existing insurance system was enough. Arkansas will soon be one of only two states not adopting such coverage.(Note: According to NPR, Arkansas is the only state that did not extend Medicaid coverage for new mothers)I have no idea what “launched an initiative” entails. But it smells like a symptom of ‘we have formed a committee to study the problem.’ Or in other words — ‘this is an issue we intend to keep ignoring.’In case any reader thought I was being too cynical in the last paragraph, forming a committee is exactly what Sanders did. In a pronouncement with the encouraging title ‘Executive Order to Support Moms, Protect Babies, and Improve Maternal Health’ (EO 24-03) she mandated that:“there shall be established the Arkansas Strategic Committee for Maternal Health (the “Committee”).”Let’s also note that Sanders’ God couldn’t get her to pretend to do something. She was impelled to offer her hollow solution only after “pressure from business leaders and the medical community.”Most absurd is her claim that “the state’s existing insurance system was enough.” You cannot admit you have a problem and then claim that existing measures are enough to solve it. If they were enough, you wouldn’t have a problem. Conservatives arguing against the expansion of federal programs to help the poor, the sick, and the needy, cite the extra expense as a reason for their inhumanity. But the Feds pay 100% of the medical costs associated with the extension of Medicaid postpartum care. So, if Sanders’ reason for denying poor women and their new babies is the administrative cost, then she must drop her claim to be ‘pro-life.’ She can console herself by adopting the ‘fiscal conservative’ label. As long as she understands most Americans will ignore that euphemism and see her for what she is, a miserable human being whose policies are better characterized as ‘pro-death.’Too much? Fair enough. Let’s just call her indifferent to their outcomes.