The Patriot Post® · The Biden Baby Formula Shortage
Joe Biden continues to downplay the crisis of inflation. Democrats in the House and Senate keep trying to push legislation that will flood the market with dollars, continuing to devalue those same dollars. Raving pro-abortion activists howl about the SCOTUS leaked opinion and attempt to bully the justices into changing their minds. All the while, the rest of us are suffering. Particularly dire to parents is the baby formula shortage.
The baby formula shortage became an issue for new parents back in November 2021, but this shortage is getting worse, not better. According to USA Today, “Nearly 40% of popular baby formula brands were sold out at retailers across the U.S. during the week starting April 24, according to an analysis by Datasembly, which assessed supplies at more than 11,000 stores.”
In mid-February, Abbott Nutrition — a major manufacturer of infant formula — recalled several of its formulas that were made in Sturgis, Michigan. The factory, according to the Food and Drug Administration, had failed to maintain sanitary standards. For its part, Abbott Nutrition claims that the baby formulas were nowhere near contaminants found in the facility. It has recalled the products just the same.
The shortages — plus inflation — are causing prices to soar on these much-needed products. Baby formula, an essential food source for babies with allergies or other medical needs, has risen several dollars per can. Parents who use formula for their children easily spend between $1,200-$1,500 per year. This price hike is overwhelming to families already struggling with other inflation-related financial gouges. Senator Tom Cotton recently brought to light the plight of these worried parents: “The formula shortage is a national crisis, hitting poor moms and kids the hardest. The FDA needs to immediately step up, be transparent, explain how it will get production restarted, and give parents a timeline. And the Biden Administration needs to take this seriously.”
There is not much chance of that, unfortunately. President Biden and his administration have been consistently downplaying inflation while simultaneously trying to spend as much as they can get away with. For example, Biden has just requested another $40 billion to aid the war effort in Ukraine. This financial fecklessness combined with the promotion of a sexually explicit leftist agenda in schools are issues that parents are paying attention to. They are already angry at the radical push of this administration.
Then last week, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization draft opinion was leaked, and Democrats thought they finally found a rallying cry to help revive the dismal outlook for them in the November midterms. As leftists call for the blood of originalist Supreme Court justices and insist that it is their right to kill unborn children, conservatives fear that this baby formula shortage will be yet another diabolical weapon in the continual genocide that is abortion. Political pundit Erick Erickson asked, “How much longer before the left uses the baby formula shortage as a justification for abortion?”
Ultimately, though, abortion is a losing issue for the radicals. Parents are more concerned about the nutritional needs of their tiny babies and the devastating effects of inflation than they are about other women’s determination to commit abortion. Podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey put it very succinctly in a social media post: “REALITY CHECK: Women’s fear of being unable to get baby formula will affect the vote this fall far more than women’s fear of being unable to get an abortion.”
Let’s hope this is true. In the meantime, parents will continue to feel the wretchedness of not being able to readily find vital food for their precious infants and face the financial crush of product scarcity and inflation.