Voting Republican is Deadly

Republican politicians typically talk about freedom, low taxes, and against big government. The result of their actions in support of those notions is often not in the best interests of their constituents not even the folks that voted for them or simply contrary their claims.

A case in point is the COVID-19 pandemic and the high proportion of deaths among Republicans versus Democrats. In research conducted by Yale University School of Management’s Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham and Jacob Wallace and Jason L. Schwartz of the Yale School of Public Health they found that excess deaths during the pandemic were 76% higher among Republicans than Democrats in Ohio and Florida. In another study Mauricio Santillana, a professor specializing in epidemiology at Northeastern Univesity and a team of researchers studied 2,000 counties across the country and found that the median death rate for counties with the strongest Republican leaning was between 40% and 300% higher than the counties that leaned Democrat. Santillana believes this is symptomatic of a heavily politicized public health crisis. The combination of failure to enact strong public health measures and spouting misinformation was deadly. Lots of freedom and anti-big government rhetoric from the state’s Republicans including Gov. Abbott regarding mask mandates and lockdowns.

The Texas Tribune recently reported that “Fatal crashes in rural areas accounted for 51% of Texas’ 4,489 traffic fatalities in 2021, even though only about 10% of the state’s population lives in a rural area, according to data from the state’s department of transportation.” Many of those crashes are due to lack of safety precautions like shoulders or guardrails that are generally found on more urban highways. The high rate of fatalities is also due to high speeds and failure to wear seatbelts; think “freedom” rhetoric. Nationally the trend is similar though not quite as drastic as here in Texas. We all know that rural counties have mostly Republican voters and are run by Republican elected officials and that Texas is governed by Republicans at the state level so there are only Republicans to blame for this disparity. On the other hand they claim to be keeping your taxes low.

The Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee report called for by the Texas legislature was delayed three months and released early in December. The report estimates that up to 90% of the maternal deaths may have been preventable. Severe medical complications from pregnancy and childbirth also increased drastically between 2018 at 58.2 per 10,000 and 2020 at 72.7 cases per 10,000 deliveries in Texas. Advocates for maternal medical care suggest the report was delayed for political reasons otherwise it would have embarrassed government officials right before the election.

Obstetric hemorrhage was the leading cause of pregnancy-related death in Texas, accounting for a quarter of cases. The most common cause of hemorrhage deaths was ectopic pregnancies, in which a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus. Left untreated, these nonviable pregnancies can rupture, causing life-threatening complications such as severe blood loss and sepsis. If the woman doesn't mis-carry the only treatment is an abortion. Given the state’s near-total abortion ban you can see where death is a very real possibility. Knowing who voted for and signed into law the Texas abortion ban there is no doubt who is to blame. Being a new mother in Texas is more dangerous to life and health than most other states. Republicans are pro-life unless you’re a pregnant woman.

Voting Republican is risking your life and the lives of your loved ones.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - December 28, 2022