Live Action’s founder and president, Lila Rose, appeared on Jubilee’s “Surrounded” debate this past weekend, where she discussed some abortion-related claims with 25 pro-abortion activists. During the nearly-two hour debate, Rose argued that abortion leaves lifelong scars on women, that abortion can never be justified, and that every preborn child has the right to life.
In one specific interaction, Rose debated with Maryam, an abortion supporter who relayed a story about her best friend’s mother, who allegedly needed a medically necessary abortion. According to Maryam, the woman was told her baby would not be able to live more than one hour past birth, and that if she gave birth to that child, she would never be able to have children again.
“I’m so glad she was able to get an abortion, because my best friend wouldn’t be alive if her mother wasn’t able to have an abortion before she was even born,” Maryam said.
No details on the medical condition were given, so it’s impossible to determine how much of Maryam’s story is accurate. But as Rose pointed out, this is far more often an instance of medical malpractice than legitimate medical care.
Rose: I’ve heard so many stories of medical professionals who tell the woman, you have to have an abortion –
Maryam: – Do you have a medical degree?
Rose: – and then I talk to many other medical professionals – if I can finish, I talk to many other medical professionals who say, if you have a high-risk pregnancy or there’s a disability that the baby has, there is health care for you to protect both your life and the baby’s life. That’s what women deserve. Dr. Anthony Levatino, he worked with tens of thousands of high-risk pregnancies. He said the number of pregnancies where we had to do an abortion was zero. Sometimes we would have to do an early delivery, but we would never have to kill, intentionally kill the baby in utero, which is what an abortion does –
Maryam: – I don’t understand how you can sit here across the table, though, and tell me what –
Rose: – There are thousands of medical professionals who fight for both the life of the baby and the mother.
Maryam: You can’t tell me what my best friend’s mother could have had done better.
Rose: She deserved better medical care than what she was told. It was unfair and wrong what she was told.
Maryam: She deserves to be able to have a choice.
Rose: And she wasn’t given a choice! ‘You have to have this abortion.’ That’s what they told her. What is the difference between a late-term abortion where you remove the baby dead, and an early delivery where you can remove the baby alive? One is an abortion, and one is a life-saving act. There’s thousands of medical professionals who say you can care for both mother and baby.
At this point, Maryam appeared to give up on the debate.
The Women’s Healthcare Declaration was signed in October of last year by 12 medical and health policy organizations, who called on state and federal policy makers to “enact changes to restore the medical standard of care for women,” which does not include abortion. As Dr. Christina Francis, a board-certified OB/GYN and CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) said in the press conference, the majority of OB/GYNs do not commit abortions. Francis also noted that abortion can actually make maternal outcomes worse.
“Elective induced abortion, which intends the death of a preborn child, does not improve women’s health and many times actively worsens it,” Francis said. “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.”
Francis added, “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.”
Tell President Trump, RFK, Jr., Elon, and Vivek:
Stop killing America’s future. Defund Planned Parenthood NOW!
