Doctors never need to kill unborn babies to save their mothers’ lives, a former abortionist and Virginia OB-GYN explained this week in a column at The Federalist.
Dr. John Bruchalski, the founder of Tepeyac OB/GYN in Fairfax, Virginia, wrote to correct the prevalent lie that state abortion bans are somehow endangering women’s health. And as a former abortionist himself, Bruchalski said he believes money, not sincere care for women’s health, is behind it.
“There are no advantages for a mother to end her pregnancy by an elective abortion, even in the most life-threatening circumstances,” he explained. “Elective abortions become more dangerous the further along in pregnancy, and that’s when the majority of these health complications arise.”
Bruchalski said the goal of every good doctor should be to care for both patients: the mother and her unborn baby, and killing a baby in the womb does not help either one.
Sometimes, he said an early induction is necessary to save the mother’s life, such as in the case of an infection, and her baby is too premature to survive. There also are times when pregnant mothers need chemotherapy to treat cancer and her unborn baby dies, but neither scenario involves intentionally killing the baby; the intent is to save a life, not to end one, Bruchalski continued.
“As an obstetrician-gynecologist who used to provide abortions early in my training, I know that intentional feticide is never necessary even in the worst-case scenarios,” he said.
Bruchalski also spoke with another OB-GYN, Dr. Byron Calhoun who treats mothers with high-risk pregnancies in West Virginia. He agreed.
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“The baby may be delivered prematurely and die from that but it is never necessary to kill the baby to save the mother’s life,” Calhoun said.
For example, “the severe preeclamptic may be observed until the mother’s medical condition requires delivery,” Calhoun continued. “Unless the mother is bleeding to death, severe heart failure, or septic; there is usually time to wait and see if the baby will make it to resuscitation age at 22+ weeks.”
The doctors explained that most life-threatening pregnancy complications occur later in pregnancy when abortions are more dangerous for the mother. Inducing labor not only gives her unborn baby a chance to survive, it also is quicker.
“If the mother’s life is in immediate danger, a C-section takes one hour. A direct abortion after 24 weeks can take two to three days,” Bruchalski explained.
Despite the facts, the lie persists that abortion bans are putting women’s lives at risk. Bruchalski said he believes one reason is that 50 years of legalized abortion on demand under Roe v. Wade made aborting unborn babies seem acceptable in the medical community.
The other is money. “Unfortunately, many pro-abortion medical professionals are intentionally creating confusion over medical definitions to justify abortion on demand and to scare voters. I believe they want to reserve the right to perform elective abortions in any circumstance because they worship the cash cow that stems from their patients’ ability to choose death,” he said.
Many doctors, lawyers and researchers also have confirmed that state abortion bans protect women as well as unborn babies. An extensive analysis of state abortion laws by Mary E. Harned, J.D., and Dr. Ingrid Skop, F.A.C.O.G., found that they do not restrict doctors from providing miscarriage care, treating ectopic pregnancies or saving women’s lives even in cases where her unborn baby may die.
A short video from the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs also dispels the myth that banning abortions prevents doctors from providing life-saving care to women who suffer miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies.
