It is often said that abortion is sometimes
medically necessary to protect the life or
health of the mother.
This is simply not true.
As a Neonatologist, I am regularly consulted
to advise mothers with high risk pregnancies,
and I routinely care for their babies.
I have also personally gone through two very
difficult pregnancies each requiring hospitalization.
So I have great empathy and respect for all
women who are pregnant, especially those with
difficult or high risk pregnancies.
What women deserve to know, however, is that
even in the most high-risk pregnancies, there
is no medical reason why the life of the child
must be directly and intentionally ended with
an abortion procedure.
In situations where the mother’s life is
truly in jeopardy, her pregnancy must end,
and the baby must be delivered.
These situations occur in cases of mothers
who develop dangerously high blood pressure,
have decompensating heart disease, life threatening
diabetes, cancer, or a number of other very
serious medical conditions.
Some babies do need to be delivered before
they are able to survive outside of the womb,
which occurs around 22 to 24 weeks of life.
These situations are considered a preterm
delivery, not an abortion.
These babies deserve to be treated with respect
and compassion, and parents should be given
the opportunity to honor their child's life.
The fact that every year, thousands of abortion
procedures are done on babies that are the
same gestational age as many of the babies
I routinely care for, is something that very
deeply and profoundly disturbs me as a physician.
These babies move, breathe, hear, can cry,
and feel pain.
The second trimester Dilation and Evacuation
procedure, or D and E, involves dismembering
the baby by tearing off his or her arms and
legs, and crushing their bodies and skulls
even while they are still alive.
The 3rd Trimester induction procedure involves
delivering a lethal injection with a large needle
into the baby's heart or head.
There are also serious safety concerns related
to late term abortions.
If a women’s life is imminently in danger,
a preterm delivery is a much safer option.
An emergency C-section can be completed in
less than an hour, while an abortion after
24 weeks, when the most common life-threatening
complications occur, takes 2-3 days to complete
due to the necessary dilation process, in
essence delaying treatment and significantly
increasing the risk of death and serious disability
to the mother.
In addition to early delivery as a means of
protecting the mother, there are also times
when it may be necessary to give a pregnant
mother medical treatments which may tragically
result in the loss of the baby.
It is important to understand that these treatments
are NOT abortions.
For example, if a pregnant mother has cancer
and chooses to undergo chemotherapy, that
treatment may result in a miscarriage.
However, the treatment given is very different
than abortion, as the purpose of the chemotherapy
is not to kill the child.
Some will also confuse the necessary treatment
for an ectopic pregnancy with an abortion.
An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the preborn
child implants in the mother’s fallopian
tubes or somewhere outside of the uterus.
When a preborn child implants outside the
uterus, it is a hostile environment for the
baby in which it cannot survive.
Sadly, removing the baby from the fallopian
tube or abdominal cavity is necessary, as
an ectopic pregnancy will inevitably end in
a miscarriage and may threaten the mother’s life.
These situations are devastating, however,
they are not considered abortions.
Abortion unnecessarily ends the lives of children
and may also result in serious medical and
psychological risks to women.
Physicians have an ethical duty to
deliver expert care,
for both patients, 
the mother and the child.
A mother’s life is always of paramount importance,
but abortion is never medically necessary
to protect her life or health.
