Coalition of medical professionals combats lies with Women’s Healthcare Declaration

A declaration calling for women to be given accurate information about abortion and life-saving medical treatment has been released, with the support of a coalition of doctors and medical organizations.

The Women’s Healthcare Declaration was announced on October 22, and a press release from WomensHealthMatters.org states that the Declaration “calls for accurate information about abortion to be given to patients as well as urging medical leaders, medical associations, and agencies to communicate accurately about pregnancy, pregnancy complications, and state laws.” It also “calls on state and federal policy makers and legislators, professional medical organizations, state health agencies, medical boards, hospitals and hospital systems, obstetricians, and the FDA to enact changes to restore the medical standard of care for women” which does not include induced abortion — the intentional and direct killing of a preborn human being.

Twelve medical and health policy organizations signed the declaration: the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM), American Academy of Medical Ethics (AAME), American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC), American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs (AAPLOG). American College of Family Medicine (ACFM), American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds), Catholic Health Care Leadership Alliance (CHCLA), Catholic Medical Association (CMA), Christ Medicus Foundation, Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), Guiding Star Project, and North Carolina Physicians for Freedom (NCPFF).

A press conference was held Tuesday introducing the declaration, with Dr. Christina Francis speaking first. Francis is a board-certified OB/GYN, and CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Women's Healthcare Declaration Press Conference, 10/22/24

“As a physician who has delivered thousands of babies and cared for even more mothers during my nearly two-decade career, I love the challenge of taking care of two patients at once. AAPLOG signed on to the Women’s Health Care Declaration because 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,” she said.

“Elective induced abortion, which intends the death of a preborn child, does not improve women’s health and many times actively worsens it,” Francis continued. “In fact, induced abortion negatively impacts mental health, causing an up to seven times increased risk of suicide, as well as an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse, even when compared to women who carry an unintended pregnancy to term. Surgical abortions also cause an increased risk of preterm birth in future pregnancies. Maternal mortality, particularly amongst women of color, is unacceptably high in this country. Induced abortion does not reduce these risks. In fact, the way abortions are delivered in this country contributes to worsening maternal outcomes.”

Francis pointed out that the overwhelming majority of OB/GYNs are not willing to commit abortions, and so despite the media narrative, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, did not affect most practices.

“We continue to provide the same care we have always provided. We can continue to walk with our patients through the best and the worst times of their lives,” she said. “The only people’s practices who needed to change in states with pro-life laws were those providing elective induced abortions. Intentionally ending the life of our fetal patients is not health care. Pregnancy is not a disease.”

Following Dr. Francis was Dr. Cortney S. Draper, an emergency medicine physician from South Carolina who hit back against claims that doctors cannot treat pregnant women without committing induced abortions that intentionally kill preborn children.

“There are those who are spreading deceptive and inaccurate information about state-level laws that prohibit intentionally causing the death of an unborn child. They claim that without a highly permissive approach to induced elective abortion, it is impossible for physicians to treat women facing serious or even life-threatening pregnancy complications. Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said.

Dr. Draper’s remarks also referenced the summary views contained in AAPLOG’s own guide on maternal-fetal separation (which is not part of the Declaration), stating, “Every life-affirming physician is prepared to intervene to save the life of their pregnant patient, including situations that require separating mom and baby when we face a choice between saving mom but losing baby and losing both.” She clarified that intervening in an attempt to save life is “not the same as induced abortion, as the intent is not to end the life of the preborn child,” noting that state laws “allow[] physicians to treat patients facing miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and all other medical emergencies.”

Dr. Draper also noted that she recently treated a woman with an ectopic pregnancy, and “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.”

Dr. Robin Pierucci, board-certified neonatologist and Co-Chair of the Pro-Life Committee for the American College of Pediatricians, countered the idea that women need induced abortions for prenatal diagnoses of life-limiting conditions.

“Today, prenatal testing is common and expected. It is often ordered as part of a normal routine without question or done to discover if the baby is a boy or a girl, which means parents are usually caught completely off guard by news of a fetal abnormality and it is traumatizing,” she said. “Then, in this state of crisis, they are immediately and repeatedly asked about terminating their baby’s life.” After giving numerous stories of women who chose life under these circumstances, she pointed out that when parents receive these diagnoses, it is “traumatizing” because they are not connected “with specialists who care for these children” and instead are urged to abort, which she called a “choice… of despair and death.”

“Prenatal diagnoses do not adequately describe postnatal prognoses,” she emphasized. “We do not know until after birth exactly how much or how little any child will be affected by what was diagnosed before they were born…. [I]t remains our duty to care and not prematurely abandon a little one or their mother or family. And I have never met a mother who regretted meeting her baby, no matter what the diagnosis.”

Louis Brown, Executive Director of the Christ Medicus Foundation, and Founding Board Member and Vice President of Public Policy for the Catholic Health Care Leadership Alliance, spoke based on his 16-year as an attorney, largely specializing in health care law and policy.

“Tragically, the abortion industry and pro-abortion elected officials are lying about state pro-life laws, they’re lying about life-affirming medical care, and lying about the dangerous reality of abortion,” he said, detailing this campaign of deceit. He said that abortion advocates are “wrongly conflating abortion procedures with miscarriage and other pregnancy challenges” when “pro-life medical professionals and health entities successfully care for hundreds of thousands of pregnant moms annually in the face of challenging circumstances without ever having to intentionally kill an unborn child.” He added that the abortion industry is “gaslighting” women about “what truly endangers pregnant mothers,” pointing out that “it is chemical abortions and surgical abortions that have devastating effects on the physical, emotional, and mental health of patients. In reality, chemical abortion drugs and surgical abortion procedures seriously risk the life and health of pregnant mothers and not state pro-life laws.” Finally, he noted that “the intentional killing of a[]… preborn child is never medically necessary.”

The press conference closed by stating action items within the declaration:

Women should be assured that they will not be prosecuted by any pro-life laws or for seeking care while facing abortion complications.

We call on all professional medical organizations to give accurate guidance, free from political influence on abortion-related laws, as well as to join with us… in seeking evidence-based solutions to improve the care of pregnant women, especially African-American women, Hispanic women, and other women from historically underserved communities across the US.

We call on all hospital systems in states with pro-life laws to quickly and accurately educate their staff about their laws to ensure that women who present with a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, complications following an induced abortion, or any other potentially life-threatening emergency in pregnancy receive expeditious and life-saving care.

We call on the FDA to instate strict safety protocols on abortion drugs in order to ensure that women have adequate screening and ongoing care if they do choose to take these high-risk drugs.

We call on state and federal legislators to enact policies that will ensure accurate and de-identified data collection on the numbers of and complications related to induced abortions, as well as policies that will ensure fully informed consent for women about the risks of induced abortions.

We call on all obstetricians to provide improved informed consent before prenatal testing. If a suspected fetal anomaly is found, the inherent value of the unborn child remains intact. …

Medical professionals can sign the declaration and join the call for better and truthful medical care for women and babies here.

Editor’s Note, 10/25/24: A clarification regarding an AAPLOG guide has been made to this article.

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