Republicans let Babies Die in Wisconsin!!!

And they care so much about fertilized eggs? My how the value of life changes after birth.

Oh, and wouldn't you know it, Wisconsin Right to Life, Pro-Life Wisconsin, Choose Life America haven't said a thing ever. No fight to choose life, save babies.  

jsonline: Two Republican committee chairs are blocking bipartisan legislation that would require all newborn babies in the state to be tested for critical congenital heart disease, the number one killer of infants with birth defects, despite a federal recommendation by medical experts two years ago. The quick, non invasive test costs $4 per baby. Across the nation, at least 32 states have followed the federal recommendation and passed laws mandating testing.

Yet these phony protectors of fertilized eggs, our self-righteous “pro-life” politicians, think it’s silly and are showing their true colors just by their lack of concern and footdragging:

State Rep. Erik Severson (R-Star Prairie), an emergency room doctor who chairs the Assembly's committee on health, says he considers the heart disease bill unnecessary and "kind of silly" as many hospitals are screening babies voluntarily.

National Treasurer of ALEC, Sen. Leah Vukmir, is even more outrageously confused over what you would assume is an easy one. Hell, it's just a life saving $4 test...for babies for gods sake:

Contradiction #1: She believes decisions about newborn screening should be made by an existing committee of medical professionals, not state lawmakers. But the expert committee ... "strongly" recommended screening all infants in Wisconsin for critical congenital heart disease, two years ago.

Contradiction #2: According to Vukmir, Wisconsin law does not allow this committee to recommend tests completed at the hospital.

Contradiction #3: Now, the senator says she is preparing a new measure to ensure that the heart disease test is decided in the same manner as other newborn screening tests. But that process still leaves final approval to the group Vukmir believes ill-equipped to decide such questions: the state Legislature.

A bit confused?

Big Money Hospitals put Profits over Babies: Yes, the Wisconsin Hospital Association is against it. Something about the horror of mandates.

"We are disappointed that a bill that would create a well-intentioned but unnecessary mandate on hospitals, physicians, nurses and their patients..."

A mandate on "patients," like they would object to spending $4 to save their baby?

Yet politicians did mandate a forced and unnecessary medical procedure like an ultrasound, but this mandate gets debated?

Here's what's at stake:

The heart association says about 544 of the 68,000 babies born in Wisconsin in 2010 had a congenital heart defect. In 136 of the babies, the defect was critical and required early detection and intervention.

"With up to 30 percent of (critical congenital heart disease) cases going undetected in the delivery center, that means nearly 40 newborns in Wisconsin may have been discharged in 2010 with an undiagnosed critical congenital heart defect," the heart association said in a statement.

…undiagnosed critical congenital heart disease face consequences ranging from death to brain damage and a lifetime of disabilities, said Berger, the pediatric cardiologist … "It's all preventable."

Vukmir and Severson ideologically detest mandates, even this one, and that's all that matters now in our red state. Mandate supporters just aren't making any sense:

state Sen. Jerry Petrowski (R-Marathon), the bill's lead sponsor in the Senate. "I am disappointed it is not a reality already. Doing this testing will save lives."

"We're not the Third World," said state Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee), a co-sponsor and member of Vukmir's committee. "This is just something that's such a no-brainer. It costs so little....And it's a huge cost-preventor."

I think this mother said it best for all of us:

Buena-Franco, the Oak Creek mother whose son was saved by the test, said she can understand how a false positive might upset a parent.

But "as a parent," she said, "you'd be more (upset) going into your child's bedroom and finding out that they've passed in their sleep."