Allison Kilkenny posted an excellent article in the Nation this weekend about how, for many people, budget cuts are literally a matter of life and death.  The proposed budget cuts to Medicaid that recently passed in Texas were the most alarming:

The president and CEO of Texas Hospital Association, Dan Stultz, says the budget cuts will permanently maim rural hospitals, and in order for facilities to remain open, they’ll likely have to stop services that are not as profitable, including ambulances and prenatal care. Stultz stresses that lawmakers are cutting prenatal care for tens of thousands of poor women under this bill.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t ambulance services considered life-saving in cases of heart attacks and strokes?  What about potentially fatal car crashes?  If a child with severe peanut allergies has an airway constricting allergic reaction from exposure, and there is no ambulance available to rush her to the hospital, what should her parents do?  And prenatal care?  Really?

Keep in mind that these extreme austerity measures are coming from a Republican party that purports to cherish the sanctity of life at all costs.  Which is ironic, considering they are creating actual death panels, that will cost real people their lives, all without batting an eyelash.