This post originally appeared at https://www.prolifewi.org/blog/2024/11/4/abortion-is-never-medically-necessary

Last Thursday, my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but not knowing if someone was trying to reach me for work, I picked it up.

“Hello, this is Teresa,” I said amicably.

“Hi!” said a female voice on the other end of the line. She then went on to explain she was with a local Democrat group and asked if I would be voting for Kamala Harris in the upcoming general election.

“No, I will not be voting for Kamala,” I replied immediately.

“May I ask why not?” the voice on the other end replied.

“Because she supports the killing of innocent preborn human beings,” I told her.

During the 5-minute conversation that ensued, the caller tried every tactic to bring me over to the Kamala-Walz camp. But when she brought up women dying “due to abortion bans,” I knew that I had to write to you, dear readers. The call, by the way, ended abruptly when she realized I really would never vote for Kamala because of her 100% pro-death agenda.

News outlets have been claiming that abortion bans are killing women,* and there has been an uptick in these stories in this week before the election. The stories are tragic; women dying during pregnancy from completely treatable and preventable causes like infections, including sepsis, and miscarriages. The writers claim that the strict abortion bans in places like Texas are the reason that doctors didn’t treat these women properly, resulting in their deaths.

But abortion bans didn’t kill these women. A lack of medical ethics and common sense did.

When a woman’s life is in danger during pregnancy, she has every right to protect her own right to life. But what about when her baby’s life would be endangered in the effort to protect and save her own life? Could doctors in a place like Texas with strict abortion bans actually intervene to save the woman’s life when her baby might die as an unintended result of treatment of her condition?

The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), has this to say about a woman’s right to treatment that would save her life, even if the preborn child may unintentionally die as a result of such treatment:

Abortion is the purposeful killing of the unborn in the termination of a pregnancy. AAPLOG opposes abortion. When extreme medical emergencies that threaten the life of the mother arise (chorioamnionitis or HELLP syndrome could be examples), AAPLOG believes in “treatment to save the mother’s life,” including premature delivery if that is indicated — obviously with the patient’s informed consent. This is NOT “abortion to save the mother’s life.” We are treating two patients, the mother and the baby, and every reasonable attempt to save the baby’s life would also be a part of our medical intervention. We acknowledge that, in some such instances, the baby would be too premature to survive.**

Note that abortion, legally defined as the intentional killing of a preborn child, is never morally permissible and never medically necessary to save the life of the mother or improve her health.

If a pregnant woman is at risk, the child can be delivered, even prematurely. Moreover, both lives will likely be lost if a pregnant woman dies. In saving the life of the mother and unintentionally losing the life of her child, doctors do not commit an abortion and therefore are not in violation of an abortion ban!

The media and pro-abortion advocates are sowing fear this election with the claim that abortion bans kill women. Let’s get the facts straight about protecting women’s lives during pregnancy and be armed with the facts when we go to the polls. For more information, see these other resources below:

• Harned, Mary E., M.D. and Ingrid Skop, M.D., FACOG. “Pro-Life Laws Protect Mom and Baby: Pregnant Women’s Lives Are Protected in All States.” Charlotte Lozier Institute, March 6, 2024. https://lozierinstitute.org/pro-life-laws-protect-mom-and-baby-pregnant-womens-lives-are-protected-in-all-states/.

• Live Action. “‘Abortion Can Be Medically Necessary.’” LiveAction.org. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://prolifereplies.liveaction.org/medically-necessary/. (note: this video debunks this claim)

• Sande, Matt. “Debunking The Myth That Abortion Is ‘Medically Necessary.’” Pro-
  Life Wisconsin, November 1, 2024. https://www.ProLifeWI.org/debunking-abortion-myth.

• Skop, Ingrid, M.D.. “ACOG Peddles Disinformation about Pro-Life Laws, Plays Politics with Women’s Lives.” Town Hall, October 11, 2024. https://townhall.com/columnists/ingridskop/2024/10/11/acog-peddles-disinformation-about-pro-life-laws-plays-politics-with-womens-lives-n2646033.

• “Can There Be Exceptions? – Pro-Life Wisconsin.” Pro-Life Wisconsin. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.prolifewi.org/can-there-be-exceptions.   

Sources:

*ProPublica. “A Woman Died After Being Told It Would Be a “Crime” to Intervene in Her Miscarriage at a Texas Hospital.” ProPublica.org. https://www.propublica.org/article/josseli-barnica-death-miscarriage-texas-abortion-ban Oct. 30, 2024

**American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “What Is AAPLOG’s Position on ‘Abortion to Save the Life of the Mother?’?” AAPLOG, September 25, 2019. https://aaplog.org/what-is-aaplogs-position-on-abortion-to-save-the-life-of-the-mother-2/.