Why do so many people die of Covid in “pro-life” states?

Here are (in order from highest to lower) the states with highest total Covid deaths per 1 million population during the pandemic so far: Mississippi, Arizona, Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, New Jersey, New Mexico, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, Georgia, Kentucky. Other than New Jersey, New Mexico and Michigan, all of these states are very firmly in the “pro-life” camp in the abortion debate.

What does “pro-life” mean in practice? I can’t think of a better example than Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who a few days ago sued the federal government because – I kid you not – HHS had reminded all hospitals that they’re required to do whatever they can to save a human life, including performing an abortion when the mother’s life requires it. Here’s the first paragraph of the press release on the AG’s web site:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding their use of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) to require hospitals to perform abortions. This latest unlawful action by the Biden Administration comes in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade and the subsequent triggering of Texas’s abortion ban. By this move, the Biden Administration seeks to transform every emergency room in the country into a walk-in abortion clinic. EMTALA does not authorize and has never been thought to authorize the federal government to require emergency healthcare providers to perform abortions. 

Let’s be clear: Texas is suing the Feds for infringing on their right to let women die of complications in pregnancy and childbirth rather than abort the fetus (which will in all likelihood die anyway). To paraphrase Alexandra Petri in WaPo recently: In Texas, they will fight to the death (the woman’s, in this case) to protect life from conception to birth. But after that, you’re on your own. It’s a tough world, kiddo.

Of course, this is the state whose Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said in late March 2020 (when Covid deaths were close to doubling daily, and the entire population of the US would be dead in less than two months if they continued to double daily) that possibly hurting the economy with public health restrictions was worse than dying (he famously used his own death as an example. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to fulfill that commitment so far and he remains Lt. Gov. of the great state of Texas. BTW, Texas is no. 28 on the Covid deaths list, but Paxton’s and Patrick’s statements and actions are quite similar to those of the states at the top of the list).

And need I point out that those same states’ attitudes on gun deaths – that sensible gun restrictions are a greater evil than the deaths themselves – are also displayed in the numbers for gun deaths per capita? In fact, it’s remarkable how closely the two lists track: From top down, Mississippi, Louisiana, Wyoming, Missouri, Alabama, Alaska, New Mexico, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Montana, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana.

Perhaps companies that are considering locating in these states need to warn their female employees that not only will they most likely lose the right to receive an abortion when they move, they will also acquire the new “right” to be forced to die rather than receive the lifesaving treatment they need through complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Plus, they and their family members will be much more likely to die in mass shootings and to suffer from long Covid (they won't die, assuming they're fully vaccinated and boosted. Unfortunately, a lot of their neighbors won't be, and long Covid doesn't seem to care about vaccination status). I’m sure that will be a great recruitment tool.

The numbers

These numbers were updated based on those reported on the Worldometers.info site for Sunday, July 17.

Month	Deaths reported during month/year	Avg. deaths per day during month/year	Deaths as percentage of previous month/year
Month of March 2020	4,058	131
Month of April 2020	59,812	1,994	1,474%
Month of May 2020	42,327	1,365	71%
Month of June 2020	23,925	798	57%
Month of July 2020	26,649	860	111%
Month of August 2020	30,970	999	116%
Month of Sept. 2020	22,809	760	75%
Month of Oct. 2020	24,332	785	107%
Month of Nov. 2020	38,293	1,276	157%
Month of Dec. 2020	79,850	2,576	209%
Total 2020	354,215	1,154
Month of Jan. 2021	98,604	3,181	119%
Month of Feb. 2021	68,918	2,461	70%
Month of March 2021	37,945	1,224	55%
Month of April 2021	24,323	811	64%
Month of May 2021	19,843	661	82%
Month of June 2021	10,544	351	53%
Month of July 2021	8,833	287	84%
Month of August 2021	31,160	1,005	351%
Month of Sept. 2021	56,687	1,890	182%
Month of Oct. 2021	49,992	1,613	88%
Month of Nov. 2021	38,364	1,279	77%
Month of Dec. 2021	41,452	1,337	108%
Total 2021	492,756	1,350	158%
Month of Jan. 2022	65,855	2,124	159%
Month of Feb. 2022	63,451	2,266	96%
Month of March 2022	31,427	1,014	50%
Month of April 2022	13,297	443	42%
Month of May 2022	11,474	370	86%
Month of June 2022	11,109	370	97%
Total Pandemic so far	1,048,843	1,237

 

I. Total deaths (as of Sunday)

Total US reported Covid deaths as of Sunday: 1,048,843

Average daily deaths last seven days: 436

Average daily deaths previous seven days: 258

Percent increase in total deaths in the last seven days: 0.3%

II. Total reported cases (as of Sunday)

Total US reported cases as of Sunday: 91,275,149

Increase in reported cases last 7 days: 936,492 (133,785/day)

Increase in reported cases previous 7 days: 559,937 (79,991/day)

Percent increase in reported cases in the last seven days: 1.0% (0.6% last week)

I would love to hear any comments or questions you have on this post. Drop me an email at tom@tomalrich.com.