This week a story emerged which claims to prove that abortion bans put women’s lives in danger. They cite the case of a Georgia woman who was admitted to an ER after having severe complications from a chemical abortion. The hospital delayed performing a medical procedure, called D&C (dilation and curettage) for over 20 hours. By the time this procedure was performed the woman died on the operating table because of a severe infection. This was the result of an incomplete chemical abortion for a set of twins. Because D&C is also used for intentional abortions, the claim is that the Georgia Heartbeat law prevented her from getting timely medical care. We will hear this claim repeated throughout the remaining election cycle.

However, the claim is false. Georgia, and the 20 other states with abortion bans and restrictions, do not criminalize the D&C procedure for addressing incomplete abortions or miscarriage management. D&C is in fact the standard procedure that any OB/GYN would use to address removing the remains of an unborn child causing a severe infection. What this case is actually an example of is medical negligence for not treating the cause of the severe infection immediately. As a board-certified OB/GYN stated “even a 1st year resident would have known to immediately perform a D&C procedure and start antibiotics”. It is tragic that a mother of unborn twins died under these circumstances, but we should not be misled by this example as a reason for removing abortion bans. See this link for more details of this case and the misleading assertions made by the pro abortion media. There is an estimated 12,000 women per year who have to be admitted to an ER to address infection complications from a chemical abortion; so, this is not a rare occurrence.

Other Upcoming Events:

•    October 3 – First Thursday Holy Hour for Life, beginning at 7:00 pm in the Divine Mercy Chapel.
•    October 4 -- The Ohio March for Life. The Ohio March will start with 9:00 am Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral, followed by the 10:00 am pre-rally concert, 11:00 am  speakers, and the March at 12:00 pm. Details are at this link.  
•    October 5 – First Saturday prayer vigil at the Planned Parenthood building on 3255 E. Main St. at 10:30 am.
•    October 18 -- the St. Matthew parish day for 40 Days for Life. The prayer vigil will be held at the Planned Parenthood building on 3255 E. Main St. We are looking to cover the hours from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm using this Sign Up Genius link.

Sign up for 40 Days of Life here

If you are interested in learning more about St. Matthew’s Pro-Life group, please contact Jeff Solinger at [email protected] or (614) 506-2382.