According to this article*, the death rate for garbage collectors is about 43 per 100,000 workers per year. This Unicef article** puts the Indian incidence of maternal death at 300 per 100,000 births. However, the maternal death rate in America*** is fewer than 8 per 100,000.

The women selected to be gestational surrogates are pre-screened for any health problems and then receive American-style health care for their pregnancies, delivery, and postnatal care. I would guess that their risk of death is closer to the American rate. A quick look for the causes of Indian maternal mortality turned up this article****, which said the "[m]ajor causes of maternal mortality... were eclampsia and pregnancy-related sepsis." Also mentioned is the absence of antenatal care and deliveries "conducted by untrained village midwives.". In a surrogacy sitation, the most common causes of maternal death for Indian women, eclampsia and sepsis, would be less likely to arise and would be promptly treated. Also, remember that the surrogate carries the baby for nine months and then she's got more than ten years worth of money in her pocket. The garbage man runs that 43 per 100,000 risk every year.

And it doesn't sound like the loss of your kids meant nothing. It sounds like it hurts so much, you are wishing your pain on everyone else.

If you're talking to Anonymous 6:28 am, that was a men's rights troll complaining about his ex-wife moving to a different state. Do what everyone else here does, think "F-off Brightstar" and ignore it.

*http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/26/pf/jobs_jeopardy/

**http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_statistics.html

***http://www.cdc.gov/mmwR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4838a2.htm

****http://www.popline.org/docs/148233 (International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics)

"Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe [he] could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth?"

Given that description of a man, most people would have said that he couldn't be president either. And that is what many people have said about Obama, that he's too inexperienced, that he can try again in eight years, etc. He may prove them all wrong, just an "Achola Obama" might have done if he'd been born female.

I'll be delighted to vote for a woman when she's the right woman. I won't vote for Hillary and I wouldn't vote for Rice or Coulter either. Actually, I believe our first woman president will be a Republican

I wish he'd stop referring to America as "she" and "her". It's obnoxious and it makes him sound like he's a hundred years old.

Once all the votes are counted, is Hillary actually going to get more delegates out of New Hampshire than Obama? With 96% of precincts reporting, CNN is saying that the two of them are getting 9 delegates each, with the remaining 4 going to Edwards.

It is amusing to see Salon calling 39% over 37% a "stunning victory". Especially if she doesn't get any extra delegates from it.

Juneausmog, we can feel understanding and empathy for Hillary without electing her president. She radiates a sense of entitlement to the presidency, because her husband publicly humiliated her and because she put her dreams on hold for him. However, marrying and staying with that sort of man was her choice. She's gotten a lot of benefits out of that choice (money, social status, a best-selling autobiography, etc.). Many women in similar situations get far fewer goodies out of the deal, and we can't elect every publicly "cuckolded" spouse president.

I want our first woman president to be someone my future children can look up to, not someone who got into office because everyone felt sorry for her.

Steinem's absurd article is already being discussed in the Pink Ghetto:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2008/01/08/steinem_obama/index.html

Who have Bill Cosby and Ted Danson endorsed? Does that guy who played Balki on Perfect Strangers have any preferences?

I'd rather have a pregnant daughter than a son who'd gotten a girl pregnant. A pregnant daughter can be reasoned with so that she'll probably get an abortion, or, worst case scenario, a grandchild appears a decade or so earlier than one would have preferred. A son is at the mercy of his pregnant girlfriend. If the girlfriend doesn't have an abortion he's stuck with twenty-two years of child support payments for a grandchild his family will rarely see.

Of course, it would be better to have neither. The last time this country was on the right path towards avoiding teen pregnancy, a Clinton asked for the resignation of the person behind that success: Joycelyn Elders. Thanks Salon, for reminding me of another reason why I don't want Hillary in the White House.

"it was probably carved there by the JANITOR" --nolo93

I thought that too. In college there were always little notes from the janitor(s) in the most heavily-trafficked ladies' rooms. They had the same pleading, hopeless tone.

"The point is that girls' self esteem today is tied to their ability to please boys" --Nola1971

That's always been true. The self-esteem of many adult women is tied to their ability to please their children, their gossiping judgmental neighbors, and their husbands. I can't really feel sorry for them though, because they're absolutely vicious to anyone who lives her life differently or who suggests that things could be a bit different for them as well.

Speaking of the media, I wonder how much coverage will be given to the fact that even when Hillary is running against nobody and all the voters are Democrats, she can still only get 55%. Meanwhile, our faceless friend Uncommitted got 40% of the vote.