Abortion advocates across major media outlets have been constantly repeating the falsity that pro-life laws prevent women from receiving appropriate miscarriage treatment, putting them at risk of dangerous infections. Some have even claimed that not providing an immediate D&C for a miscarriage is somehow negligent, and the fault of pro-life laws. Yet, according to OB/GYNs, there is no immediate risk of infection unless certain complications arise during the process of a miscarriage.
What is especially perplexing about these media claims is that during late abortions in which a feticide is injected to cause cardiac arrest, the deceased baby is often left in the woman’s uterus for up to three days without concern about infection — something that the abortion-friendly media has failed to ever raise concerns about.
Miscarriage care is not an abortion
First and foremost, miscarriage treatment is not considered an induced abortion because, though they often use the same types of treatment, induced abortion carries the intent to kill the preborn baby before removing him from his mother’s body, and miscarriage treatment carries the intent to remove a baby who died naturally in the mother’s body.
“It is only abortion if the baby is alive,” retired OB/GYN and former abortionist Dr. Kathi Aultman, who is now pro-life, told Live Action News.
Any doctor who denies miscarriage treatment based solely on a pro-life law is acting negligently. Read more on that here.
Miscarriage sometimes takes days
In the tragic event of a miscarriage, the hope is that it will progress naturally so the woman’s body can complete the process without the assistance of drugs or surgeries that can carry significant risks to the mother’s health (like the possible risk of uterine perforation with a D&C). Sometimes, in the case of an incomplete miscarriage, the woman’s body will require the assistance of medical professionals to complete the miscarriage. However, such treatment is not typically recommended immediately unless there is an urgent medical condition occurring.
OB/GYN Dr. John Bruchalski, a former abortionist who is now pro-life, told Live Action News, “What many women want is immediate delivery of miscarriages because of the emotional burden, depending on their temperament regarding carrying a child within that has died. Also, the inability to predict when or where the delivery of the miscarriage takes a toll. However, different temperaments, different desires.”
He explained that “too long to wait” in his medical practice to offer medical assistance with a miscarriage “is between 2-4 weeks usually.” He added, “By that period, most moms are ready to let go of their child who died, in a hospital setting with help. We also check a white blood cell count every week, and have mom take her daily, morning, and late afternoon temperatures, and if over 99.6 degrees we recommend delivery just in case an infection is brewing.”
Even Planned Parenthood notes that it can take several days, even up to two weeks, for a miscarriage to complete naturally.
Aultman told Live Action News that according to UpToDate — an evidence-based, physician-authored clinical knowledge system — during a stillbirth (miscarriage after 20 weeks), the woman’s body will begin the labor process naturally in most cases within one to two weeks of the baby’s death.
UpToDate’s medical guidelines for doctors in regard to stillbirth state, “The parent(s) do not have to be rushed into making any decisions about birth during a chaotic period in the absence of serious maternal medical concerns … When the parent(s) have accepted the diagnosis and are ready to discuss it further, a discussion about the timing of, and procedure for, birth can ensue.”
It continued, “Intervention should be guided by parental desires, as well as other considerations such as cervical status…
The “serious maternal medical concerns” that would require immediate treatment would include Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM) or cervical insufficiency (as Amanda Zurawski suffered), but induced abortion would not be used in these situations, either. The standard of care in this more serious situation depends on the woman’s specific medical conditions. In some cases, labor can be stopped. In other cases, the baby must be delivered prematurely, which is not the same as an induced abortion intended to kill the baby.
Late abortion procedures
For further evidence that miscarriage care does not need to take place immediately unless the woman is suffering specific medical issues, look to abortion procedures that are carried out late in pregnancy. During these procedures, the baby is killed on day one but is often not delivered for up to three additional days. Abortionists and abortion advocates in the media do not appear to be concerned about infection for these women.
Dr. LeRoy Carhart, who committed abortions late in pregnancy until he died in 2023, discussed how a woman undergoing an abortion at 26 weeks would carry her dead baby inside of her for three days.
Carhart: “Just, it’s [the baby], gets soft, like, mushy, so you, you push it through.”
Pregnant woman: “So what makes the baby mushy?”
Carhart: “The fact that it’s not alive for 2 or 3 days.”
Pregnant Woman: “So I’ll have a dead baby in me?“
Carhart: “For three days, yeah.”
Pregnant Woman: “Will it start to decay or something?”
Carhart: “No, it’s like putting meat in a Crock-Pot, OK? It doesn’t get, it doesn’t get broke, it gets softer. It doesn’t get infected, or you know…”
In a late induction abortion such as this, the preborn baby is injected with a feticide through the mother’s abdomen, in an effort to cause cardiac arrest and death. The mother is then sent home or to a hotel to wait for her cervix to dilate for up to three days before she returns to deliver her dead baby.
During a miscarriage, when there is bleeding or the mother’s water has broken, there is a risk of infection but no guarantee that an infection will occur, or that doctors must act quickly with drugs or surgery to force the miscarriage to complete. Even if the preborn baby has died, in most cases it is safe for the mother to wait for days or even two weeks for the miscarriage to complete naturally.
Some women may choose to take a drug such as misoprostol for an early pregnancy loss, but as Dr. Aultman and Dr. Bruchalski explained, miscarriage is not an emergency when it is absent of signs that might indicate infection or hemorrhage. It’s because of this that the standard of care is a watch-and-wait approach to miscarriage, followed by a course of treatment if there is cause for concern.
Pro-life laws do not prohibit miscarriage treatment, and miscarriage treatment by surgery or drug is not immediately necessary in most cases.
