America’s infant mortality rate increased for the first time in decades last year, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, with 3% more babies dying before their first birthday in 2022 than in 2021.

The overall increase in infant deaths reflected a 3% increase in babies who lived less than 28 days (neonatal) and a 4% increase in babies who lived less than one year (post-neonatal).

Some premature babies also fared worse in 2022 than in 2021, with a 3% increase in deaths among those born before 37-weeks gestation, and a 4% increase in babies born before 34-weeks. There was no statistically significant change in the deaths of babies born between 34- and 36-weeks gestation or before 28-weeks. While the report doesn’t say why infant deaths increased in the last two years, the data seems to correspond with marked declines in maternal health and natal care availability starting as far back as 2019.

Mothers with pre-existing chronic health conditions — including obesity, eating disorders, sexually transmitted diseases and infections, diabetes, and high blood pressure — are more likely to deliver babies before their bodies are fully formed, increasing the baby’s risk of dying before their first birthday.

The CDC found four states had statistically significant increases in 2022 infant deaths — Georgia (13%), Missouri (16%), Iowa (30%) and Texas (8%). These same states had high numbers of women with health problems in 2020, according to March of Dimes 2022 report on maternity care deserts.

President Ronald Reagan once famously quipped, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

It seems since time immemorial that bureaucrats have perfected the art of making a bad situation worse. Lately, nowhere is that more apparent than a recent proposal to revise federal foster care regulations.

With nearly 400,000 children currently in foster care, never has the need for healthy and safe homes been more acute. With the need rising, you’d think officials would be concentrating on making it easier and more attractive to be a foster parent — but the current proposal does the exact opposite.

In an alarming move that not only alienates Christians with strong moral convictions but also potentially disqualifies them from stepping up to serve in the foster care system, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing new approval guidelines to ensure parents “affirm” sexually confused children.

Deceptively titled, “Safe and Appropriate Foster Care Placement Requirements for Titles IV-E and IV-B,” the new regulations would basically label any parent who doesn’t go along with a child’s sexual confusion to be unsafe and unqualified to welcome that boy or girl in foster care into their home.

The Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and equipping believers to “effectively live out the Bible’s call to care for orphaned and vulnerable children,” is sounding the alarm.

The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) held its inaugural, invitation-only three-day international conference last week in London and Daily Citizen staff attended.

We were among 1,500 delegates from 72 nations gathering with other global religious, political, academic, media, business and cultural leaders focused on setting an agenda to overcome the declinism that is sweeping so much of so-called “progressive” politics today.

British Baroness Philippa Shroud, CEO of ARC, explained in her speech opening the conference that the world desperately “needs a better story rooted in hope, established on historic foundations, foundations from our liberal democratic history and the foundations from our precious Judeo-Christian history.” ARC was specifically organized to work to call all sectors of responsible society together to cooperatively restore these foundations.

This declinism is ironically happening at the very time when humans are living longer, safer lives; more of us are better educated than ever before; and increasing numbers of nations are gaining unparalleled access to cleaner air, fresher water and better food that is grown on less land and enjoying greater access to cleaner, more plentiful energy sources.

But rather than living in and furthering these profound advances in human well-being, this growth is stagnating because there is a very intentional expansion of skepticism, anxiety and negativity about the sustainability of our future existence driven by malign forces in our world.