The Simple Truth

Jan. 1, 2023

Contrary to media narratives, pro-life laws are not a threat to women’s health

By Dr. Christina Francis

Jan. 1, 2023

Girl stands outside at the March for life holding a sign — (Photo Courtesy of the American Life League)

A central principle of my practice as a pro-life obstetrician-gynecologist is providing excellent care to both of my patients — mother and preborn child. So I was elated to see the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a pivotal step toward ending abortion in the United States. But not everyone felt the same way.

Abortion advocates began to strike fear into the hearts of even many pro-life Americans by questioning how women’s health care might suffer. Without the ability to terminate pregnancies, they asked, how will doctors treat miscarriages? What about the many potentially deadly pregnancy complications for which the only treatment is to separate the mother and preborn child? Will pro-life lawmakers just let these women die?

The short answer to this last question is simple: of course not. Thousands of pro-life physicians across the country routinely treat each of these complications. In fact, all physicians working at hospitals that don’t practice elective abortions, such as the hundreds of Catholic hospitals across the United States, operate under rules similar to the most restrictive state-level abortion bans — yet they also treat these conditions on a regular basis. That’s because the procedures used to treat these complications are not the same as elective abortion, the intent of which is to end the life of a preborn child.

Take ectopic pregnancy, for example, in which the human embryo implants outside the uterine cavity, placing the mother at risk of life-threatening hemorrhage. This condition requires removing the embryo from the woman’s body — but this is not the same as an abortion. When an ectopic pregnancy is removed, it is certain that the embryo will die (and in fact already has in the vast majority of cases) because it is too young to survive outside the womb. But unlike abortion, this is not the doctor’s intent. Rather, the intent is to save the mother’s life, a tragic decision between saving one patient but losing the other or losing both patients. That’s why many pro-life state laws explicitly exclude ectopic pregnancy treatment from their definitions of abortion, and every pro-life state law at least does so implicitly.

The same principle applies to treating other pregnancy complications that abortion advocates have listed under the banner of “medically necessary abortion.” Though these interventions end pregnancies, they violate neither pro-life medical ethics nor state-level abortion restrictions.

I am well aware of the media stories about women in pro-life states whose treatments for pregnancy complications were delayed or denied, ostensibly due to anti-abortion laws. These stories break my heart — but they don’t reflect poorly on the laws themselves. Every pro-life state law that I am aware of defines abortion in such a way that it clearly allows for the treatments that these women were denied. It may be that hospital lawyers are pressuring doctors to risk patient lives because they’re so averse to the risk of prosecution. It may be that some physicians, unclear about what abortion laws do and don’t allow and spooked by media narratives, would rather delay patient treatment than risk their careers. It may be that medical professional organizations such as American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists aren’t providing the clarity that physicians need due to their own decades-long history of pro-abortion advocacy. Whatever the case, refusing to provide women with medically indicated and lifesaving health care isn’t following the law. It’s malpractice.

In my 14 years of medical practice, I have never needed to deliberately kill a human being in the womb to improve a mother’s health. Yet I have served thousands of women, many of whom were suffering from the very conditions that pro-abortion advocates say doctors cannot treat without abortion.

In my 14 years of medical practice, I have never needed to deliberately kill a human being in the womb to improve a mother’s health. Yet I have served thousands of women, many of whom were suffering from the very conditions that pro-abortion advocates say doctors cannot treat without abortion. This claim is a red herring, exploiting women’s heartbreak and tragic medical emergencies to justify legalizing abortion at any point in pregnancy for any reason. These misconceptions only serve to scare pregnant women in pro-life states out of seeking the care they may urgently need. Americans don’t need this — especially not my patients — and women deserve better.

*****

CHRISTINA FRANCIS, M.D., a board-certified OB/GYN who practices in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is CEO-elect of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Chana Gaskins and her three children enjoy some time playing outside.

The Simple Truth

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