{"id":30400,"date":"2024-02-22T21:50:20","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T21:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?p=30400"},"modified":"2024-03-01T18:21:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T18:21:53","slug":"what-percentage-of-abortions-are-medically-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/what-percentage-of-abortions-are-medically-necessary\/","title":{"rendered":"What Percentage of Abortions Are Medically Necessary?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Human Life International Staff, Updated February 15, 2024<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Common Are Life-Threatening Pregnancies?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Medical science has progressed to the point where an abortion is never<\/em> necessary to preserve the life or the health of the mother. This has been true for more than half a century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abortions performed to preserve the life or the health of the mother are so rare that they do not register statistically, according to Alan Guttmacher of Planned Parenthood, who did more to promote and spread abortion on demand throughout the world than any other individual. In 1967 he commented, \u201cToday it is possible for almost any patient to be brought through pregnancy alive, unless she suffers from a fatal disease such as cancer or leukemia, and if so, abortion would be unlikely to prolong, much less save the life.\u201d1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n

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In any case where both the mother and child are ill, both should be treated, and every effort should be made to save both mother and child. The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG<\/a>) states that the term \u201cabortion to save the life of the mother\u201d is deliberately misleading terminology, and that no abortion saves the life of the mother; rather, doctors should treat both patients. For instance, prematurely delivering the baby may be an option if the mother is gravely ill, though AAPLOG acknowledges that in some cases, the baby may be too premature to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, the percentage of abortions allegedly performed to save the life or health of the mother will vary somewhat based on country, but we can see from the testimony of doctors and researchers that these cases are exceedingly rare. Even abortionists testify that if there is a medical emergency, the course of action is to deliver the baby prematurely, because to go through the stages required by a\u00a0surgical abortion<\/a>\u00a0(laminaria, stretching the cervix, etc.) would cause more, not less danger to the mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far back as 1981, former Surgeon General of the United States Dr. C. Everett Koop said \u201cThe fact of the matter is that abortion as a necessity to save the life of the mother is so rare as to be nonexistent.\u201d2<\/sup>\u00a0He was backed up by reformed abortionist Bernard Nathanson, who said not long after, \u201cThe situation where the mother\u2019s life is at stake were she to continue a pregnancy is no longer a clinical reality. Given the state of modern medicine,\u00a0we can now manage any pregnant woman with any medical affliction successfully, to the natural conclusion of the pregnancy: The birth of a healthy child<\/strong>.\u201d3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n

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In 1974, the \u201cFather of Fetology,\u201d Hymie Gordon, M.D., Director of Medical Genetics at the Mayo Clinic, stated, \u201cIn more than 25 years now of medical practice, I have come to learn that if a woman is healthy enough to become pregnant, she is healthy enough to complete the term \u2015 in spite of heart disease, liver disease, almost any disease. As far as I\u2019m concerned, there are no medical indications for terminating a pregnancy<\/strong>.\u201d4<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1981, Dr. Jasper Williams, Jr., of the Bernard Hospital in Chicago, Past President of the National Medical Association, said, \u201cSince 1953,\u00a0I have never seen a patient die because she needed an abortion\u00a0<\/strong>and it could not be performed. Doctors now have the tools and the knowledge with which to work so that they can handle almost any disease a patient may have, whether that patient is pregnant or not, and without interrupting the pregnancy.\u201d5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data from six reporting states over the period of 24 years found that only\u00a01.14% of abortions were performed for the mother\u2019s life<\/a>\u00a0or physical health. Even the tiny percentage of 1.14% of abortions performed ostensibly for the women\u2019s health are unnecessary, as there are alternative ways to save the mother without committing an abortion. This makes abortion obsolete, even in the most extreme circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several conditions that pose a threat to the mother\u2019s physical and mental health which may arise during pregnancy. These are often presented as \u201cnecessitating\u201d an abortion when they do not. As former abortionist\u00a0Dr. Anthony Levatino<\/a>\u00a0has affirmed: \u201cDuring my time at Albany Medical Center I managed hundreds of such cases by \u2018terminating\u2019 pregnancies to save mother\u2019s lives. In all those cases, the number of unborn children that I had to deliberately kill was zero.\u201d\u00a0 Dr. Levatino in these cases \u201cterminated\u201d the pregnancies he managed by delivering the babies early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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