Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a shocking statement in one of her opinions this week; writing that “high risk black newborns” are twice as likely to die if they are treated by non-black doctors.
This is race-baiting at its worst – and it’s incorrect. This is the problem with diversity hires. Their world view is based on ideology, not ability
Jackson argued in her dissent that diversity “saves lives” and that it was essential for “marginalized communities.”
“It saves lives. For marginalized communities in North Carolina, it is critically important that UNC and other area institutions produce highly educated professionals of color. Research shows that Black physicians are more likely to accurately assess Black patients’ pain tolerance and treat them accordingly (including, for example, prescribing them appropriate amounts of pain medication). For high-risk Black newborns, having a Black physician more than doubles the likelihood that the baby will live, and not die,” she wrote.
Frank responded to the argument in his Journal opinion piece: “A moment’s thought should be enough to realize that this claim is wildly implausible. Imagine if 40% of black newborns died—thousands of dead infants every week. But even so, that’s a 60% survival rate, which is mathematically impossible to double. And the actual survival rate is over 99%.”
And let us all remember the biggest killer of black babies: Abortion.
In the District of Columbia and 29 states that reported racial and ethnic data on abortion to the CDC, 39% of all women who had abortions in 2020 were non-Hispanic Black, while 33% were non-Hispanic White, 21% were Hispanic, and 7% were of other races or ethnicities.
Among those ages 15 to 44, there were 24.4 abortions per 1,000 non-Hispanic Black women; 11.4 abortions per 1,000 Hispanic women; 6.2 abortions per 1,000 non-Hispanic White women; and 12.7 abortions per 1,000 women of other races or ethnicities in that age range, the CDC reported from those same 29 states and the District of Columbia.
Check out this Pew Research report.