[...] Originally Posted by bungo Any source for the claims wrt American and Cuban definitions of 'live'? Ideally including adjusted figures – if not I'll go with respected international organisations rather than internet crackpots if OK with you. As to the latter point – I genuinely don't understand. Infant mortality and life expectancy are bog standard and widely recognised development indicators – are you upset at the UN when they use these measures to compare countries, or just 'socialists'? And I am not the one gloating about living conditions in another country in order to make a political point, I believe that was the OP (and others). For starters: We Do Well, With Fair Reporting, on Infant Mortality | The Heritage Foundation Cuba vs. the United States on Infant Mortality | Overpopulation.Com [...]

You called Rebecca “brainwashed.” The thing is, I haven’t been able to find any evidence that rigorous pre-natal diagnosis is what drives Cuba’s higher abortion rate or that it leads to their good infant mortality statistics. You didn’t cite a source for your abortion rate statistics, but they closely match the rates given here:

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/25s3099.html

According to that report:

“The relatively high rate in Cuba (78 per 1,000) includes menstrual regulation, an early abortion procedure carried out without pregnancy testing, as well as termination of known pregnancies. In 1996, 60% of the procedures were menstrual regulations.”

* * *

“The high rate in Cuba may be attributed to a desire for low fertility combined with access to a limited range of contraceptive methods, use of low-quality IUDs and irregular contraceptive supplies. A high proportion of abortions are obtained by teenagers (33% in 1990), suggesting a high rate of sexual activity among adolescents who wish to postpone childbearing.”

* * * *

In short, over half of Cuba’s abortions are hormonally induced and done without so much as a pregnancy test, let alone prenatal diagnosis. Moreover, the high number of abortions is due to lousy contraception, not eugenics.

If you believe that Cuba is doctoring its infant mortality statistics or that something other than good maternity care is responsible for them, by all means say so — but back up your claims, cite your sources, and don’t call other contributors names.

If there is a sign of a defect with a child, the doctor recommends abortion.

That is why when they actually do give birth, they are healthy in weight.

Rebecca: You are brainwashed.

Also, I believe prenatal care is a big factor in reducing the incidence of low birth weight. In theory, the universal availability of free (meaning at no out-of-pocket expense to the patient) preventive care in Cuba could account for at least part of Cuba’s “surprisingly” high performance in this area.

P.S. All of the “related post” links above are dead — for me, at least.