On September 24, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on abortion in which AAPLOG CEO Dr. Christina Francis was a minority witness. The hearing was given the not-so-subtly biased title of “Chaos and Control: How Trump Criminalized Women’s Healthcare.” Other witnesses included:
- Heather Hacker, a Texas attorney and former Assistant Solicitor General for the Texas Attorney General’s office;
- Louisiana resident Kaitlyn Joshua, who shared her story of getting delayed care for a miscarriage, an experience which she attributed to her state’s abortion law;
- Dr. Amelia Huntsberger, an OB-GYN who left her Idaho practice to work in Eugene, Oregon, due to feeling that Idaho’s abortion law negatively impacted her work; and
- Michelle Goodwin, a pro-abortion law professor at Georgetown University
In her opening comments, Dr. Francis emphasized that pro-life state laws allow physicians to provide excellent, life-saving care to patients facing obstetric emergencies, whether they be miscarriages, complications of chemical abortion, or pregnancy complications such as premature rupture of membranes. These laws do not require physicians to wait until a woman is in immediate danger of death to intervene. Her full written testimony is here.
As Dr. Francis argues,
The only cause of confusion is dangerous political rhetoric.
This rhetoric:
- falsely tells women they could be prosecuted if they go to the hospital for complications after an abortion when in fact prolife laws hold women harmless;
- falsely tells doctors D&Cs are banned, when in fact D&Cs for every indication other than to induce an abortion are not prohibited;
- falsely tells doctors they can’t provide miscarriage care or treat ectopic pregnancy, when they actually can and should;
- falsely tells doctors they can’t act until women are actively dying when no state laws require this;
- falsely tells women abortion drugs are safer than Tylenol when we have clear evidence they are dangerous and can be deadly.
It is not the laws to blame but rather the pro-abortion politicians and the media who have created deadly confusion as well as the professional associations who have failed to inform and train physicians and other hospital staff accurately.
Heather Hacker supported Dr. Francis’s points from a legal perspective, stating that there has not been a single instance of a physician being prosecuted under a pro-life state law for intervening when a patient was facing a medical emergency. For a thorough legal explanation of how all state pro-life laws clearly allow for physicians to intervene, see her full testimony here.
We are also thankful for the support of several pro-life Senators, such as Ranking Member Mike Crapo of Idaho and Oklahoma Senator James Lankford, who spoke on the importance of legal protections for babies born alive after attempted induced abortions.
The clear and accurate information that was conveyed by Dr. Francis in this hearing proved why it is essential that AAPLOG exist right now. Lies about state prolife laws not only affect physicians and their practices across the country, but they are actively harming women. We will continue to stand boldly for BOTH our patients, guaranteeing that women and their children receive the care they need. And we will fill the educational gap left by other medical organizations in helping medical professionals understand what their state laws actually say.
