Pro-life doctors call for dignified ‘life-affirming’ pregnancy care for women, children

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 22, 2024 / 17:45 pm

A coalition of doctors has launched a petition calling for medical professionals, leaders, associations, and agencies across the political spectrum to unite in promoting a life-affirming “program of dignified health care for women” as debates over abortion misinformation continue to intensify around the United States.

Christina Francis, the CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) announced the Women’s Health Declaration at a press conference on Oct. 22 in Washington, D.C., stating: “Women and their preborn children deserve the best health care possible, and they deserve accurate information about their health care as well as the laws that impact that care. All of us can agree on that.”

The declaration seeks to address two particular concerns — the increased use of chemical abortion drugs following the FDA’s controversial move to deregulate those drugs, and the spread of misinformation about crisis pregnancies among health care professionals and their patients.

In its call to action, the text urges legislators to enact laws that protect women from the risks posed by abortions, both surgical and chemical, and to ensure accurate data collection and reporting about related casualties.

It also calls on medical professionals to provide accurate information about crisis pregnancies and abortions, and for hospitals to educate their staff on state laws and to hold them accountable in providing treatment for patients who present with miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy, or other life-threatening conditions.

“Life-affirming women’s health care is defined as care that considers the health care needs of both of our patients — maternal and fetal,” the declaration reads. 

“Pregnant women need to be able to trust that their doctors will recommend what is best for both them and their preborn children, regardless of current political or cultural trends.”

During the press conference, Francis pointed out that despite having higher risks of complications, the majority of abortions in the U.S. are now induced through drugs such as mifepristone.

In addition, she noted, despite claims that women are being denied treatment on account of pro-life laws, no laws in any state prevent doctors from treating patients experiencing crisis-pregnancy-related emergencies. 

Francis and AAPLOG are among the pro-life doctors and organizations named in the recently rejected Supreme Court bid to reinstate the original FDA safety precautions on the abortion drug mifepristone. 

As CNA reported this week, three states have since moved to revive the case in a lower court after the Supreme Court determined the original plaintiffs lacked standing. 

“The women I have cared for who experienced complications like heavy bleeding, infection, and retained tissue deserved better, and they deserved to know about these risks,” Francis said. 

“Women and physicians across this country also need to know that every state in the country allows physicians like me to intervene immediately to treat miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, post-abortion complications, and other potentially life-threatening pregnancy complications at any point in pregnancy.”

Emergency medicine physician Cortney Draper also echoed this sentiment at the press event, stating that “treatment of pregnant women with medical emergencies should not be falsely equated with the desire to expand access for induced elective abortion.”

“For example,” she noted, “just last week, I treated a woman who unfortunately had a tubal ectopic pregnancy. There was no legal question about my ability to appropriately treat her emergency. In fact, this treatment is not legally restricted by any state’s law.” 

The declaration is co-sponsored by 11 other organizations in addition to AAPLOG, including the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the American Academy of Medical Ethics, the American Association of Christian Counselors, the American College of Family Medicine, and several other groups.