10 Ways the Republican Party Is Literally Trying to Kill Us

That's right—if you thought this was hyperbole, buckle up. The GOP's policy platform remains the Dead Man's Float for the rest of us.

Before you roll your eyes, consider this: U.S. life expectancy dipped to 77.5 years in 2022, while our OECD pals are at 82.5.[1]

Spoiler alert: you're not living longer because of killer tax cuts and deregulation. You're dying sooner.

1. Suicide and "Despair Deaths"

When you stack up gun suicides, opioid overdose deaths (over 55,000 in November 2024 alone), alcohol-related liver disease, and untreated depression, you get what economists now call "deaths of despair."

The suicide rate climbed to 49,000 in 2023 (one every 11 minutes). Want to cure hopelessness? Good luck—Congressional Republicans gutted behavioral-health funding year after year.

But hey, at least they're consistent about making life unbearable.

2. Perpetual War Spending

We're still plowing roughly 50% of our discretionary budget into weapons, wars, and space-force cosplay. Meanwhile, veterans' services get cuts, and mental-health programs for returning troops vanish.

The GOP's foreign-policy strategy: if there's money for nukes, there's less for nurse visits. Because nothing says "support our troops" like abandoning them after service, right?

3. Avoidable Accidents (AKA "Infrastructure Schmfrastructure")

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave American infrastructure a C rating (a slight improvement from last year’s C-).

Bridges still collapse, rail lines still grind to a halt, and OSHA underfunding means more workers get mangled on the job.

Republicans applauded their obscene budgets even as they starved roads and schools of maintenance funds. But don't worry—those potholes are actually freedom craters.

4. Unsafe Abortions (a Grim Punchline to "Pro-Life")

Welcome to post-Dobbs America, where 41 states now have abortion bans with "limited exceptions" (read: good luck proving your case).

A whopping 12 states have gone full Handmaid's Tale with total bans, while 29 others play "guess the gestational countdown".

Seven states won't even let you wait 18 weeks, and 22 more have their own arbitrary cutoffs.

But here's the kicker: The Gender Equity Policy Institute just dropped a bombshell report showing pregnant women in ban states are twice as likely to die during pregnancy or shortly after birth.

And surprise, surprise - these deadly bans are in Republican-led states. Because nothing says "pro-life" quite like Republican lawmakers doubling down on policies that double maternal death rates.

5. Corporate Poisoning

Elk River was just the teaser. Between benzene leaks, fracking wastewater, diesel smog and abandoned Superfund sites, whole towns are on permanent watch for a "cancer cluster."

EPA funding cuts (thank you, budget-slashing Republicans) ensure regulators are too understaffed—and under court-threatened—to stop corporations from treating our environment like an open sewer.

But look on the bright side: toxic waste gives off such a lovely glow at night.

6. Drowning (Climate Edition)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's latest report warns that, at current GOP-approved emission rates, Miami Beach could be snorkel-only by 2040.

Louisiana's coastline still erodes at a football field per hour. Hurricanes are Category 5 all the time now.

But don't worry: if you and your beachfront mortgage drown, at least you won't be paying property taxes... because there won't be any houses left. Venice, who?

7. Thirst and Waterboarding (Unintentional)

Remember Flint? Jackson? Detroit? Private-equity water boards are now celebrating record profits while you scrape lead, PFAS, and whatever fracking goo out of your tap.

In 2023, the EPA failed—again—to regulate "forever chemicals" thanks to a Senate blockade led by GOP stooges claiming, "Jobs over water." Because who needs clean drinking water when you've got bootstraps to pull?

8. Hunger Games (Real-Life Edition)

The latest report by the Food Research & Action Center showed that about one in 7 households (13.5 percent) experienced food insecurity, or lack of access to an affordable, nutritious diet.

An estimated 47.4 million Americans lived in these households.

SNAP benefits? A pathetic $1.70 per meal on average, after the last farm-bill compromise that Republicans celebrated as a "major victory."

But hey, never mind childhood stunting and diabetes spikes; at least you're not on welfare... said the senators who haven't missed a single corporate PAC check or lobbyist lunch.

9. Untreated Health Issues

Ten GOP-run states still refuse Medicaid expansion. Meanwhile, Supreme Court appointees backed by Republican donors green-lighted "work requirements" that kicked hundreds of thousands off coverage.

Your hip replacement can wait... until you're six feet under. But at least you died with the freedom to choose which emergency room would turn you away.

10. Gun Violence

We're barreling toward 50,000 firearm deaths a year—more than in most wars we don't even fight anymore.

For years, Republican lawmakers have blocked universal background checks, immunity-stripping for gun manufacturers, and even a shame-free moment of silence.

Their logic? Your Second Amendment rights outweigh, say, living to see your kid graduate from high school.

Because nothing says "freedom" quite like bulletproof backpacks in elementary schools.

A Death Sentence by Design.

If you still think the Republican Party isn’t out to kill us, take a hard look at the numbers. These aren’t just inconvenient statistics—they’re lives lost because of deliberate policy choices.

From maternal mortality spikes to poisoned water, from crumbling infrastructure to skyrocketing gun deaths, Republican-led states are leading the charge in turning preventable tragedies into permanent realities.

This isn’t just politics; it’s survival.

Every life lost is a result of leadership prioritizing corporate profits, deregulation, and culture wars over the safety and well-being of the people they claim to serve.

We don’t have to wait for the next election to demand better—this fight is ongoing.

Call Republicans out, stay informed, and organize, because the only way to stop a death sentence by design is to refuse to stay silent.

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Footnote 1: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The countries included in the comparison are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.