During the birth of my fourth child, in the words of my doctor, my uterus “exploded.”
After skillfully stitching me back together, my doctor suggested that I should not have any more children. But God had a different plan. Two years later, another healthy baby girl was born.
A huge blood clot and loss of blood were the life-threatening events that followed the birth of that daughter. In fact, extremely low blood counts led to blood transfusions with 4 of my 5 pregnancies. Thankfully, through the grace of God and with the help of my supportive family, I made it through all of these complications. God blessed me with a wonderful pro-life doctor and 4 healthy babies.
With all of my harrowing pregnancy and birth experiences, I could be a poster child for the so-called “Life of the Mother” exception. In addition to my many experiences of low-blood count, I have also experienced Chorioamnionitis and HELLP syndrome, both of which are considered “extreme medical emergencies that threaten the life of the mother,” according to the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Not just in spite of my experiences, but actually due to them, I adamantly maintain that abortion is never the answer.
Anna Marie
Let’s jump back in time, to the year 1996. I had already been on bed rest for 10 of my 20 weeks of pregnancy. Now, I had developed Chorioamnionitis, a rare bacterial infection in my uterus. This condition is treated with strong antibiotics, and often the doctor will recommend an early delivery.
But in 1996, 20 weeks would still be too early. The doctor said, “I’ll be back soon to discuss what we need to do.” We waited, not really understanding that he was likely planning to come back to pressure us to abort.
I was so sick I couldn’t think straight. I was scared and confused, but God was with me and took all the decisions out of my hands. Within a couple of hours, I went into labor naturally and my first baby, a little girl, was delivered. Sadly, she did not survive more than a few minutes.
I’m so thankful that I got to see and hold my little Anna Marie. I remember them asking if I wanted to hold her, and there was so much I did not know. I asked, “Does she look like a baby?” They told me, “Yes!” Anna Marie was born at 20-weeks’ gestation, and she fit in the palm of my hand, but she was perfectly formed. I had no idea. Just seeing what a baby looks like at that stage has stayed with me.
Another Baby, Another Complication
It was during that first pregnancy that we discovered that I had a bicornuate uterus, a condition where the uterus is shaped more like a heart with a wall down the center rather than a single hollow cavity. The doctors also found that I was born with only one kidney, so for these reasons each of my subsequent pregnancies was considered high-risk, and high-risk they were.
Two years later, in 1998, I gave birth to a healthy little girl, though not without difficulty. After her birth, I developed HELLP syndrome. HELLP syndrome is a severe form of pre-eclampsia that affects the mother’s blood and liver and usually occurs during the third trimester. Next came two sons, and finally, my miracle daughter who was born from my stitched-back-together womb.
Truthfully, I was near death many times, but with medical advancements and life-respecting doctors, abortion is never the answer. In fact, despite what the abortionists want you to believe, abortion never saves a mother’s life; it only kills her child.
Addressing the Life of the Mother Exception
We must end abortion and do so without exception. Often pro-life advocates don’t know how to address the issue of the life of the mother. Many pro-life advocates stumble over the question, “But what if there are medical complications, an ectopic pregnancy, or something else dangerous for the mother?” In order to terminate all abortions, we must learn how to address the life of the mother exception.
One common example used in the life of the mother argument is the case of an ectopic pregnancy. Sarah Cleveland, RDMS with a specialty in OB/GYN, clearly explains an ectopic pregnancy as a rare case of a pregnancy outside of the uterus, most often in the fallopian tubes: “By the time the ectopic is located, mostly before 7 weeks LMP, (dated from last menstrual period), the baby is already dead. There is nothing in the tubes to sustain a new life.”
The fallopian tube is often surgically removed along with the embryo, but this is not an abortion because unfortunately, the baby has already died. In the even more rare case when the baby is still living, the moral option is watchful waiting, “allowing the ectopic pregnancy to resolve itself naturally.”
Save Them Both
Without a doubt, there are serious medical conditions like HELLP syndrome, ectopic pregnancies, Chorioamnionitis, and uterine cancer, to name a few that require careful monitoring “to guard and preserve the lives of both mother and child.” But as The Project Rachel Ministry states: “Abortion is never medically necessary. It does not treat or solve any pregnancy-related complication.”
In each pregnancy there are two patients. The goal of every doctor in every pregnancy must be to protect the life of both the mother and the preborn child. Sadly, at times, the loss of the child may occur as the result of the medical treatment. However, this is very different than choosing to end the life of the child through an elective abortion in order to treat the mother.
I thank God that my doctor did not put my life above the lives of my preborn babies. I pray for an end to abortion without exception. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Jesus, I trust in You. Take care of everything.
Sources:
https://aaplog.org/what-is-aaplogs-position-on-abortion-to-save-the-life-of-the-mother-2/
https://www.usccb.org/resources/Women’s%20Healt%20Infographic.pdf
https://endabortionnow.com/answering-the-ectopic-pregnancy-argument/
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21637-hellp-syndrome
https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/bicornuate-uterus
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12309-chorioamnionitis
Joan Miller
Guest Opinion Columnist