Don’t Believe Pro-Abortion Misinformation: What To Know About Ectopic Pregnancy, Miscarriage, And More

Disinformation about health care has ripped across social media in the wake of the Supreme Court’s abortion decision last week.

One of the most prominent claims is that newly implemented abortion bans in various states will hamper life-saving treatment for ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages. But that’s not true. You won’t be denied the necessary care for either condition under any state abortion ban.

And what about “medically necessary” abortion in the first place? We’ll dissect that claim, too. 

Here’s what you need to know.

Ectopic pregnancy treatment is not illegal, and not considered an abortion by medical professionals 

In an ectopic pregnancy, a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the uterus, usually in one of the fallopian tubes. Ectopic pregnancies are never viable and always put the mother’s life at risk because a growing fetus can burst the fallopian tube causing major internal bleeding.

Necessary treatment includes medication or surgery to remove the pregnancy and sometimes the fallopian tube.

Not a single pro-life law denies this care because the treatment is understood to be different than an abortion, morally and medically.

As highlighted by LiveAction, WebMD, Mayo Clinic, and even admitted by abortion mill Planned Parenthood, the treatment is not an abortion.

“Treating an ectopic pregnancy isn’t the same thing as getting an abortion,” Planned Parenthood says on its website. “Ectopic pregnancies are unsafely outside of your uterus (usually in the fallopian tubes), and are removed with a medicine called methotrexate or through a laparoscopic surgical procedure. The medical procedures for abortions are not the same as the medical procedures for an ectopic pregnancy.”

Dr. Christina Francis, M.D., a board-certified OB/GYN and associate scholar at Charlotte Lozier Institute, explained the same.

“My heart is breaking that women are being made to feel fearful by the misinformation that’s out there,” she said. “Treating ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages or other life-threatening conditions in pregnancy is not the same thing as an abortion.”

“Chemical abortions, which are being heavily promoted by the abortion industry and its allies, cannot treat an ectopic pregnancy according to the FDA,” Dr. Francis said. “The treatments for ectopic pregnancy are not the same procedures used by induced abortions, which even Planned Parenthood admits.”

“As a pro-life OB/GYN who’s practiced my entire career in hospitals that do not allow abortions, I have never been prevented from safely treating an ectopic pregnancy,” she added.

Notably, 13 states have “trigger” abortion bans that went into effect after Roe was overturned or are slated to take effect soon.

The language of all 13 new state abortion bans specifies that the bans do not apply in cases where the mother’s life is at risk. Some of the new abortion bans even specifically mention ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages.

Georgia’s new abortion ban, for example, which could take effect soon, prohibits abortion except in the case of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk. Abortion was previously legal in Georgia for up to 20 weeks.

“Any such act shall not be considered an abortion if the act is performed with the purpose of removing a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion or removing an ectopic pregnancy,” the Georgia bill states.

Miscarriages are not illegal 

Miscarriages, where a baby tragically dies in a woman’s womb, are not illegal. And there is no pro-life legislation seeking to criminalize women who suffer natural miscarriages.

Misinformation around this has spread online, since post-miscarriage, some women need a procedure also used in first-term abortions. Of course, in this case, the doctor is not ending the unborn child’s life first.

A dilation and curettage, known as a D&C, is often a traumatic procedure for mothers, where doctors have to remove the deceased baby from inside the uterus. 

In some abortions, doctors intentionally poison and dismember the unborn baby before removing it in a D&C.

These situations are not the same, and doctors know this. It will not be criminalized to receive treatment for a miscarriage. 

Other medically necessary treatments that could result in an unborn child’s death will not be banned

Pro-abortion activists and left-wing politicians were quick to spread ambiguous fear-posts about abortion and health care. 

For example, some claimed you would be denied life-saving care if you have cancer because the treatment could kill your baby. There is not a single pro-life law that seeks to criminalize this because it’s not an abortion.

Necessary early delivery, too, where the baby has no chance of surviving, is not an abortion and is not banned under any pro-life law. The baby is not preemptively and directly killed, as in an abortion.

What seems to be happening on the Left and with abortion doctors are games of semantics. Just because some care tragically results in an unborn child’s death or uses similar medical procedures does not mean it’s the direct and intentional killing of the unborn, which is how abortion is almost always widely understood. And these professionals and politicians know this. 

Are abortions ever “medically necessary”

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases