Sounding Off:

In an attempt to lure you to support Obama’s ambitious push for state-run universal health care, a number of myths have been purposely circulated.

You should be concerned because if passed the who, when, where, why and to what extent of medical care will be determined by the feds. The medical power push, in addition to other incremental grabs, would be the proverbial “straw” in the government’s attempt to gain cradle to grave control of you.

The circulated myth is a number of countries claim lower infant mortality than the U.S. In truth this has nothing to do with the source of payment for medical care.

Many nations do not count very small babies as live births. Hence, they don’t count as deaths either. In France and Belgium, for example, babies born before 26 weeks are automatically considered stillborn.

In the U.S., all our babies count, even if they make our statistics look worse. The tiny ones we now save could be the first casualties of “reform.”

In Japan, which has the best statistics (3.3 die per 1,000 live births), the national system does not cover normal childbirth — or prenatal, postnatal and postpartum care (“Your Health Matters” by Gregory Dattilo and David Racer, Alethos Press, 2006).

In the U.S., mortality is only 3 per 1,000 for full-term babies weighing at least 5.5 pounds. Premature, low-birth-weight babies, who have a much higher risk of early death, have a better chance of survival in the U.S. than anywhere else, because of the excellent medical care they receive here.

The incidence of prematurity and low birth weight is relatively high in the U.S.; black mothers give birth before 37 weeks twice as often as whites, and 3.8 times as often before 28 weeks (“Future of Children,” spring 1995).

Predictors of premature birth include socioeconomic factors such as age younger than 20, single marital status, being on welfare, and not having graduated high school; chronic health problems such as diabetes, hypertension or clotting disorders; certain infections during pregnancy; use of cigarettes, alcohol or illicit drugs; and prior abortions.

Increasing Medicaid coverage for pregnant women had no effect on birth outcomes.

How much capital are we willing to invest to save the lives of the most extremely preterm infants? Who decides?

We need to let our senators and congressmen quickly know our views before the feds make their plan a fete complete in the middle of the night.

MICHAEL ARNOLD GLUECK lives in Newport Beach.