Who would argue that a child simply cannot start out right in life without protection against the risk of being born into the abject poverty of a family with grossly inadequate income. It's society's duty and responsibility to protect its children from suffering or death because of poverty. Indeed, more American children die each year from poverty than from traffic fatalities, and twice as many children die in this country from poverty than from cancer and heart disease combined. And poverty, of course, has especially serious consequences for infants and toddlers. Children born into poor families are more likely to be premature, to have low birth weight, to die within the first year of life, and, of course, to experience much more illnesses and all kinds of health-related problems.
Poor children are more likely to die at every age and from every cause.
The United States of America is unique in its lack of provision for childbirth. In all other rich nations, pregnant women and newborn babies are treated with much more generosity and humanity. It is a large part of the reason why infant mortality rates are so much lower in France, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, and in all other civilized countries than they are here in the United States. Today, in the modern world a nation's rate of infant mortality is like a barometer of its success and advancement in combating poverty, ignorance and disease. It is one of the clearest indications of the overall health and well-being.