pro life

Black Newborn Mortality is Not About Race

In August 2020, a leading scientific journal published an article with a curious and revolutionary finding.

The study “suggest[s] that when black newborns are cared for by black physicians, the mortality penalty they suffer, as compared with White infants, is halved.”

A very dramatic and consequential finding indeed.

Especially, as the authors explain, “black newborns die at three times the rate of White newborns” in America.

This analysis examined births in Florida hospitals from 1992 to 2015, finding white babies had a mortality rate of 0.3% regardless of the race of the attending physician. However, black babies had a rate of 0.9% if cared for by White physicians. But that percentage dropped dramatically to 0.4% if cared for by black physicians.

This was indeed very good news.

But it raises immediate questions. Do black physicians provide better quality care than white physicians? Are they able to treat babies who share their skin color more effectively?

This is a reasonable assumption from the data. Do babies just seem to respond better to physicians who share their own skin color? Of course, babies would need to be aware of their race at birth for this to be a factor.

Regardless, it is a very interesting and potentially consequential finding for baby health, medical ethics and management, racial politics and our nation’s debate on affirmative action.

In fact, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson cited this research in her dissent in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, a ground-breaking 2023 affirmative action decision. But Justice Jackson made a dramatic mistake in how she interpreted the study’s findings, as explained by The Wall Street Journal.

However, new research, published in the same journal where the original 2020 study appeared, brings significant clarity to this finding.

These new scholars explain, “The estimated racial concordance effect is substantially weakened, and often becomes statistically insignificant, after controlling for the impact of very low birth weights on mortality [emphasis added].” Specifically, they clarify,

It turns out that a disproportionately large number of black newborns with very low birth weights are attended by white physicians. We show that once we control for the impact of very low birth weights on mortality, the estimate of the racial concordance effect is substantially weakened and becomes statistically insignificant in models that account for other factors that determine newborn mortality.

In a less technical explanation of their findings published over at the Institute for Family Studies, these authors inform us,

In our data, about 10% of white babies have black doctors regardless of their weight. By contrast, the share of black babies with black doctors varies substantially by weight. More than 20% percent of black newborns with healthy weights have black doctors, whether owing to patient choice, matching by hospital staff, or other factors. But for black babies with the lowest birth weights, this share falls to the roughly 10% seen among white babies. 

Here is the clarifying data point: “As a result, only 1.4% of black babies attended by black doctors have very low birth weights, but 3.4% of black babies attended by white doctors have this serious health condition.”

These scholars interpret what this means by implication: “Because very low birth weights are a strong predictor of mortality, and because black newborns with this condition disproportionately see white doctors, white doctor/black patient combinations will appear particularly lethal unless one accounts for the condition directly.”

In other words, what appeared to be a substantial racial issue actually just turned out to be about the original scholars failing to measure for a very vital confounding data point.

The authors of this second study make a very important follow-up point about how we know what we know and how science should work.

There are important lessons for science here. Everyday consumers of scientific findings should maintain a healthy skepticism, because seemingly minor tweaks to statistical models often substantially change results. And just as important, scientists can improve the process by being open to challenge.

When good scholars are honest about their work, open to scientific rigor, good things can happen. “We were able to replicate the original study because the authors provided us the necessary information, answered our questions, and gave helpful feedback on the original draft of our paper.”

This is how scientific investigation and reporting should work. It helps us understand how to truly ensure scholars are making correct conclusions. When this happens, policy makers and medical professionals can make the best decisions for our children’s care and well-being.

Image from Shutterstock

Ultrasound Bus for ‘Alive from New York’ Event Makes First Stop in Dallas, TX

It’s a beautiful spring day in Texas—and despite the earlier forecasts of rain, there isn’t a cloud in the sky. The day is perfect to begin the five-city ultrasound bus roadshow tour, which will culminate with a mobile ultrasound unit arriving in New York City, just in time for the Alive from New York event on May 4th.

Alive from New York is dedicated to celebrating the life of the preborn baby and highlighting the horrific abortion legislation signed into law by New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo earlier this year. But abortion is not just a problem in New York. Across the country, there is a battle being waged between the abortion business and pro-life pregnancy resource centers for the lives of preborn babies and the hearts of women. 

That is something that the Hope Women’s Center of McKinney, Texas is discovering. 

Although the community of McKinney successfully drove Planned Parenthood out of the neighborhood, the battle for the lives of women and babies has moved from the sidewalk to Google.

As Planned Parenthood coffers grew exponentially larger under the leadership of its former president Cecile Richards, the ability of local pregnancy resource centers (PRC) to compete and reach abortion minded women became more difficult. For Hope Women’s Center CEO Holly Snell, that’s a problem. Especially since her clinic and team are dedicated to reaching women who are seriously considering an abortion.

“Our target patient is that girl who is abortion minded and that is why we’re here,” Holly said. “That’s why people partner with us, to save those children and be their voice. We also want to empower the woman and come alongside her and to help her make an informed decision.”

Planned Parenthood, with its seemingly limitless resources, often outcompetes Hope Women’s Center and other PRCs like it by buying up what are called Google Ad Words. These Ad Words allow PRCs to come up in the top of a Google search when a woman is looking for an abortion business. It is an opportunity to not only offer them alternatives to abortion, but possibly the only time that the women, and sometimes men, who are in the midst of an unplanned pregnancy will have a chance to hear the Gospel. 

“There is an abortion clinic that is heavily targeting our area,” Holly said. “That is our biggest battle right now.”

Reaching every woman and man who comes through Hope Women’s Center with the Gospel and love is crucial to the center’s heart and mission. It is not just about saving babies but transforming lives.

And Hope Women’s Center is doing just that. Despite some of the challenges that they face from an aggressive Planned Parenthood internet campaign, Hope Women’s Center is thriving. The center’s location has recently doubled in size, thanks to the vacancy of a neighboring office. The newly renovated space is light and airy, providing a calm atmosphere for women who might feel like they are in the middle of an emotional storm. The center’s also grown their nursing staff from three to 15, including two physician assistants that can help with other medical needs, like testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. The number of volunteers has grown from 12 to more than 50, including about 20 men.

This year, the center’s staff anticipates that they may see more than 1,000 women. Every one of them, as Holly describes, is a “divine appointment,” as the staff meets with women who need hope and healing as they process and plan for the future as a parent.

Pray for pregnancy resource centers like Hope Women’s Center, that they can continue expanding and reach more and more abortion minded women. Also, consider donating or volunteering at your local pregnancy resource center so it can continue reaching women in your community.

Stay tuned, as well, for more stories from the road! 

Unplanned Shocks Hollywood, Has a $6 Million Opening Weekend

Last week, Hollywood actors threated to boycott the state of Georgia over its heartbeat bill, which would essentially ban abortion after about the sixth week of pregnancy. These actors argued that the loss of their business would have a detrimental impact on the state’s economy, but after this last weekend, maybe that threat isn’t as true as they would like people to believe.

 “Unplanned,” the pro-life movie about former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson, did exceptionally well at the box office in its initial debut. According to Box Office Mojo, the film earned an impressive $6.4 million, ranking at the number four spot behind “Dumbo,” “Us,” and “Captain Marvel.” For a pro-life Christian film to rank so highly against other blockbuster films is great, but it wasn’t an easy journey. 

Since day one, the film has faced spiritual and cultural opposition.

The co-directors of the film shared that while the on set filming experience was calm, things weren’t always great for the cast and crew outside the studio walls. Cary Solomon, one of the directors, shared with Catholic Herald that there were about 15 car accidents that involved members of the production, including star Ashley Bratcher, or their family members. All were lucky to walk away from those accidents without serious injury.

After filming, perhaps one of the worst things to happen to the production is the decision by the MPAA to give the film an R rating, usually the kiss of death to most films. In general, most Hollywood productions prefer a PG-13 to an R rating, unless the film is designed with an adult audience in mind, because it usually negatively impacts audience attendance. But that’s not what happened to “Unplanned.” Instead, the R rating and the ensuing media articles and social media outrage helped the film attract more attention and likely contributed to more ticket sales. The R rating, for some disturbing/bloody images, also demonstrated that while Planned Parenthood might call abortion a “safe, simple medical procedure,” the reality is something entirely different.

As the film neared its release date, the producers had a difficult time trying to get television stations and Christian radio to play their advertisements. For example, Lifetime, Travel Channel, HGTV, and the Hallmark Channel all declined the opportunity to air “Unplanned” ads. Only Fox News and the Christian Broadcasting Network made an exception. Even KLOVE, the popular Christian radio station, initially passed on the ads because of the film’s R rating. The station eventually reversed course after public outcry about the decision.

When it was finally opening weekend, anticipation for the film was high. But again, things didn’t go off as smoothly as some would’ve liked. Over the weekend, the film’s official Twitter page suddenly went dark. The page was quickly reinstated, with Twitter explaining that it was an “error.” It was just another example of a pro-life film that has struggled against a pro-abortion media environment, but “Unplanned” has gotten the last word. As of today, the official “Unplanned” Twitter account has 324,000 followers and Planned Parenthood has only 259,000. 

There will always be opposition from the media and Hollywood when any pro-life film comes out, but that doesn’t mean that the movie will be unsuccessful. “Unplanned” shows that there is a deep appetite for films that demonstrate a pro-life message and that an R rating or a Twitter blackout will not stop people from discovering the truth about abortion.

Photo from Facebook via Unplanned.