Coalition's declaration promotes life-affirming health care for both 'maternal and fetal' patients

WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- A coalition of medical and pro-life groups Oct. 22 launched what they called the Women's Healthcare Declaration, which they said calls on policymakers, medical boards and other health care entities to enact pro-life policies that enhance "the medical standard of care for pregnant women and women facing miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, an incomplete abortion or any other life-threatening condition related to pregnancy."

The declaration comes two years after the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision that reversed the court's previous abortion jurisprudence, returning the issue abortion to legislators, which led to some states implementing near-total bans on the procedure. Despite the changes to the legal landscape, some reports indicate the number of abortions in the United States has increased since Dobbs, and some polls suggest voters in states with ballot referendums on abortion are poised to reject similar laws.

Concerns about maternal mortality are prevalent, Dr. Christina Francis, board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, and CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told reporters. But she argued women and physicians "need to know that every state in the country allows physicians like me to intervene immediately to treat miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, post-abortion complications and other potentially life-threatening pregnancy complications at any point in pregnancy."

Francis added that appropriate treatment in those circumstances does not include "intentionally ending the life of our fetal patients."

The declaration defines life-affirming women's health care as "care that considers the healthcare needs of both of our patients -- maternal and fetal."

"Pregnant women need to be able to trust that their doctors will recommend what is best for both them and their preborn children, regardless of current political or cultural trends," it said.

In addition to AAPLOG, other signatories on the declaration were Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, American Academy of Medical Ethics, American Association of Christian Counselors, American College of Family Medicine, American College of Pediatricians, Catholic Health Care Leadership Alliance, Catholic Medical Association, Christ Medicus Foundation, Christian Medical & Dental Associations, Guiding Star Project, and North Carolina Physicians for Freedom.

The involvement of Catholic groups underscores the church's teaching that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and why the church opposes direct abortion as an act of violence that takes the life of the unborn child.

After the Dobbs decision, church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the church's concern for both mother and child, and called for strengthening available support for those living in poverty or other causes that can push women toward having an abortion.

In remarks to reporters, emergency room physician Dr. Cortney S. Draper said she recently treated a woman who "unfortunately had a tubal ectopic pregnancy," but said there was "no legal question about my ability to appropriately treat her emergency."

"In fact, this treatment is not legally restricted by any state's law," she said, arguing both policymakers and health care professionals have "a responsibility to bring clarity to difficult medical situations."

The declaration argued that "distorted explanations of life-affirming laws regarding induced abortion and women's healthcare actively endanger our patients," and said that "physicians are not receiving appropriate counseling and explanations of what their state laws allow."

The groups called on medical boards "to hold accountable hospitals and medical professionals who fail to provide life-saving care to women suffering from miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, complications following an induced abortion, or any other life-threatening emergency during pregnancy," and on all hospitals and hospital systems "to quickly and accurately educate their staff about their state laws to ensure that patients who present" with those issues "receive expeditious and life-saving care."