Doctors spell it out: abortion is never medically necessary

In the wake of the European Court of Human Rights ruling in the ABC case, leading pro-life doctors have reiterated that abortion is never medically necessary. The Life Institute also said that it was crucial that the public was made aware that the most senior obstetricians and gynaecologists in the country has confirmed that medical treatment for conditions such as ectopic pregnancy and pre-eclampsia were not, nor had ever been, considered abortion.

"Since the ECHR ruling many completely incorrect assertions have been made by commentators in the media about treatment offered for pregnant women with life-threatening illnesses in Ireland," said Life Institute. "If we cut through the deliberate misinformation, two facts are immediately clear: one is that abortion is never medically necessary - and that's a fact that has been confirmed by our leading experts. The second fact is that, without abortion, Ireland is the safest place in the world for a woman to have a baby."

The Life Institute co-producer of the recent joint initiative by Youth Defence and Life Institute which spelled out these facts in a compelling newspaper ad, which can be seen here

Dr John Kehoe, writing in the Irish Times pointed out that studies have shown that abortion is not needed to treat cancer in pregnancy.

He wrote:

"The incidence of women who develop cancer while pregnant is, internationally, increasing. This is partly because more women are having their first baby in their late 30s, but also because the incidence of cancer is rising. Here in Ireland, for example, the number of women under 50 who developed cancer of the breast increased from 451 in 2000 to 600 in 2007. If one accepts international statistics, one would expect 60-70 women to develop cancer while pregnant every year in Ireland.

Anyone who has been through treatment for cancer or has a relative who has been through it, knows how gruelling that is. When one adds the burden of pregnancy and the added anxiety of the outcome for the baby it becomes well nigh unbearable. Small wonder then, that, in countries where abortion is freely available, some oncologists will refuse to treat a pregnant woman before she has had an abortion.

This, however, is not medically necessary. Recent studies in other countries have shown that women who continue their pregnancy while undergoing treatment for cancer do as well as non-pregnant women or women who opt for abortion.

Two small studies even found that they did better than women who opted for abortion. By observing certain precautions – avoiding some drugs altogether, chemotherapy in the first trimester and radiation in the last trimester in the case of cancer of the breast – the babies also did well. In these circumstances, the babies did not have an increase in congenital abnormalities – it is thought that chemotherapy does not easily pass through the placenta.

However, the incidence of low birth weight was found to be increased. In 2001, a long-term evaluation of 84 mothers who had received chemotherapy for cancer of the blood while pregnant in the 1970s found no evidence of congenital abnormalities or cancer in either the children or the grandchildren.

The last thing a pregnant woman needs is pressure on her to have an abortion. She needs the best possible treatment for herself and her unborn baby from an obstetrician trained in oncology. Or from an oncologist in collaboration with an obstetrician who is concerned for the welfare of her unborn baby. Whether this is to be in a specially designated maternity or general hospital needs to be decided.

She also needs support from one of the many cancer support groups. The setting up a National Register of such women is also to be recommended.

The last thing the country needs is another expensive and divisive referendum where those who want the X-case judgment overturned are forced to vote in favour of abolishing the 1861 "chilling" ban on abortion and vice versa. Strange that the Labour Party did not legislate for the X case when it was in government with Fianna Fáil in 1993."