Pro-life advocates are working to debunk allegations that post-Dobbs state abortion laws directly result in ectopic pregnancies going untreated.
In an August 23 WORLD report, The National Right to Life Council and Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America pushed back against claims that doctors are refusing to treat ectopic pregnancies out of fear of being prosecuted under state laws that prohibit abortion.
Two Texas women recently filed complaints against two hospitals in the state, alleging medical professionals had refused to treat their ectopic pregnancies, putting their lives in danger.
The Center for Reproductive Rights has reportedly asked the women’s behalf for the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the medical facilities to determine whether their alleged refusal had violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.
One of the hospitals has denied the allegations, according to WORLD, while the other did not respond to requests for comments.
“While unborn babies in ectopic pregnancies are still human beings, they have a 100 percent chance of dying before they’re born,” Texas Right to Life spokesman John Seago stated in the report, adding: “Ectopic pregnancies are tragedies much like miscarriages, and the only life doctors can save is the mother’s.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, the fertilized egg in a normal pregnancy attaches itself to the lining of the uterus, while ectopic pregnancies occur when a fertilized egg implants somewhere outside of the main cavity in the uterus, such as the fallopian tube or other areas in the body.
The fertilized egg in an ectopic pregnancy cannot survive. If left untreated, ectopic pregnancies can cause the fallopian tube to burst, leading to life-threatening internal bleeding.
As Seago explained in the report, “pro-life states have always clarified that ectopic pregnancies qualify as situations where medical intervention is acceptable.”
Vice President and Director of Medical Affairs at Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research wing of Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, Dr Ingrid Skop noted in her comments for WORLD that “even Planned Parenthood has acknowledged that procedures for ectopic pregnancies are not normal abortions.”
Saego went on to explain that doctors in Texas “rarely refuse to treat ectopic pregnancies.” These doctors, he added, have most likely “received poor advice from lawyers or ethical boards.”
He stated that refusing to provide surgery to a woman experiencing an ectopic pregnancy “would qualify as medical malpractice.”
LifeNews Note: Madalaine Elhabbal writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
The post Every Abortion Ban Allows Treatment for Ectopic Pregnancies appeared first on LifeNews.com.
