Comparing Red States and Blue States: Which Party is more Pro-Life?

Below is a list of a bunch of different categories of basic human well-being that show people in states that consistently vote Democratic live longer, and better, lives than those who live in Republican controlled states.

It shows that despite the fact that Republicans have co-opted the term “pro-life,” they are anything but when you consider what they actually do vs. what they say.

Of course none of this is going to be surprising to wise and educated readers such as yourselves. But these facts would be surprising to a lot of people who live in Republican controlled states who are conditioned to believe that Democratic controlled states are hell while their small towns and rural stretches are bucolic paradises.

My Outside-the-Box Perspectives on This Kinda Stuff

You may not know it, but I am peripherally involved in Democratic Party politics. Although I am completely independent, I am technically an official member of the Democratic Party. You probably don’t know that there is such a thing as an official member of the Democratic Party. The first time a Party Chairman threatened to throw me out of the Party, I laughed in his face and said I can run as a Democrat whether you like it or not, but later I learned that it’s true, there is such a thing. Not that being an official member buys you much besides getting invited to Party events, but as I have held one office and run for another, and am now a precinct vice-chair (a meaningless title, btw), I am an official member of the Party. It’s been awhile since anyone threatened to throw me out, these days they just ignore me, as I ignore them, but the entrance is always there should I choose to use it.

One of my biggest problem with the Democrat Party leadership is that way too many of them have genuine contempt for working class people, particularly working class people in Red states. This is not something I am just speculating on as an outsider. This is something I have repeatedly witnessed as an insider.

In this case, that contempt manifests itself in the fact that they do nothing whatsoever to share these statistical realities with people in Red States to show them that there are demonstrably better alternatives to the anti-life policies enacted by Republicans. That disconnect between what the Democratic Party does and what it so obviously should do is something I frequently explore. How hard would it be to create ads and memes based on this info and inundate Red state voters with these facts?

Unlike most Democratic Party activists in Republican controlled states, I have a lot of interaction with both Republicans and working class people who either vote Republican or more likely don’t vote at all, which is essentially the same as voting Republican, so I have at least a little understanding of what drives them. But more importantly, I know and respect them as human beings. They are not the caricatures portrayed in the national media, or the caricatures that are the right wing media. They are mostly normal decent people much like ourselves, with the same hopes and dreams as the rest of us. They are, for the most part, rational people who could be convinced if the Democrats would make the effort to communicate with them.

Relevant to this post, one piece of advice I have shared with Party officials, which was met with horror and loathing, is to try to reclaim the term “pro-life.” Democrats never should have let the Republicans co-opt that term. Had the Republicans not been allowed to define “anti-abortion” as “pro-life,” they never would have had the success they have had, both in outlawing abortion, but more importantly, in winning electoral majorities and largely taking over the courts. Because without the abortion baggage associated with the term, who is not pro-life?

Well, all normal, decent people are pro-life, but the answer to the question of who is not pro-life is that Republicans are not pro-life. The statistics below amply demonstrate the factual basis of that statement. Of course there is so much more, but for now we’ll just go with these quality of life statistics.

To say that Democrats are pro-life and Republicans are not is not just partisan nonsense. It is demonstrable by the ways in which Republican controlled states differ from Democratic controlled states in matters of quality of life, including health, crime, and social issues.

So here are some facts that show which party is more pro-life. Why won’t the Democrats use them? Why won’t they tell Republican voters the truth?

Health

Life Expectancy: People in Blue States live longer.

Health Insurance: People in Blue states have significantly fewer residents with no health insurance.

Infant Mortality: Young children in Red states are much more likely to die from preventable causes.

Food Insecurity: People in Red States are more likely to go hungry.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases: People in Red States are much more likely to get the clap.

Obesity: People in Red States are much more likely to be morbidly obese.

High Blood Pressure: People in Red States have significantly higher blood pressure.

Suicide: Red States have far higher rates of suicide.

Crime

Murder: People in Blue states are less likely to be murdered.

Rape: Women are more likely to be raped in Red States.

Social Indicators

Divorce: Couples are much more likely to get divorced in Red States.

Teen Birth: Teenagers are much more likely to have children.

Income: People are significantly. wealthier in Blue States.

Unemployment: Red states have higher levels of unemployment.

Poverty, including Child Poverty: Unsurprisingly, given the Income and Unemployment situations, people are much more likely to be poor in Red states.

High School Graduation: Kids are more likely to graduate high school in Blue States

College Graduation: People in Blue states are far more likely to graduate college.

Sources

All of these facts come from the Applied Sentience website. Sources for the individual categories are listed there. They are legitimate sources such as the CDC, FBI, Census etc., not links to blogs or the like.

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