(LifeSiteNews) — A group of pro-life doctors was recently stripped of an opportunity to participate in an educational conference because their views on protecting the unborn stand in opposition to the host organization.
Earlier this week, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) was barred from participating in the annual CREOG (Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology) and APGO (Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics) that took place in National Harbor, Maryland.
The event, hosted by the pro-abortion American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), aims to connect practitioners with medical students and residents pursuing the same field.
“We’ve exhibited at this conference for the past 15 years,” AAPLOG CEO Dr. Christina Francis announced in a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday. “However, just a few days ago, after having already traveled to this area, we were informed that our exhibit booth had been canceled by ACOG.”
“Despite multiple requests for an explanation as to why, the only explanation we’ve received is a vague explanation that we disagree with ACOG, presumably on the issue of abortion.”
🚨PRO-LIFE DOCTORS SILENCED: AAPLOG was *banned* from attending the annual CREOG OB/GYN medical education conference this morning. Why? @acog_org is upset that we’re telling our patients how harmful abortion is. pic.twitter.com/gaImTwfEsm
— AAPLOG (@aaplog) February 27, 2023
Francis noted that it is “very interesting” to have been rejected at the conference as the event’s theme was “Building Bridges: Creating Connection in Medical Education.” AAPLOG had reserved its booth last year.
“ACOG is showing yet again that they have no desire to build bridges with those of us who disagree even a little bit with them on their position on abortion,” the pro-life doctor continued. “This is especially dangerous for medical students and residents as it normalizes intentional feticide as part of women’s healthcare, which we know that it is not.”
Francis also pointed out that preventing opposing viewpoints from being offered to students and practitioners “suppresses scholarly debate” and inhibits “scientific advancement.” She said that this can only be accomplished “through critically looking at both sides of an issue and deciding which the evidence better supports.”
“However, ACOG obviously is afraid, for students and residents and for their medical educators, to be exposed to any other position on abortion other than their radical position.”
“And so, as the incoming CEO of the American Association of OB-GYNs, I’d like to openly invite Dr. Maureen Phipps, CEO of ACOG, to a scholarly debate on the impact of elective abortion on the health of women,” Francis concluded in the video. “I will meet her anytime, anyplace, so that we can present both sides of this issue and allow not only the general public, but also the next generation of physicians to decide for themselves what the evidence supports.”
A spokesperson for ACOG told The Federalist that the organization “welcomes exhibitors that align with ACOG’s and APGO’s shared commitment to the advancement of evidence-based, scientific information.” She also confirmed that AAPLOG was not allowed to participate in the event “because ACOG does not believe its pro-life views fit that commitment.”
However, the pro-life medical group has consistently defended the unborn through scientific evidence, emphasizing the value of the lives of both the mother and baby. In 2018, the organization published an in-depth research paper addressing various myths about abortion, including claims that it is “safer” than giving birth and that abortion is a “necessary” part of women’s health care.
The research highlighted that numerous and potentially life-threatening side effects follow any abortion, including hemorrhage, infection, damage to reproductive organs, and cardiac complications. “Studies suggest that the immediate physical complication rate of induced abortion may be as high as 11 percent,” the paper states.
Additionally, the research outlines data showing serious mental health issues women experience after undergoing an abortion. The paper discussed a comprehensive study that found “an 81 percent overall increased risk of mental health problems after abortion.” Of this percentage, there was “110 percent increased alcohol abuse, 230 percent increased marijuana abuse, and 155 percent increased suicidal behavior.”
Addressing another common argument that the child cannot feel pain during an abortion, the paper states that “the part of the central nervous system leading from the peripheral nerves to the brain starts developing in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord at 13 weeks.” Between 14 and 20 weeks, the connection is made to the thalamus in the brain, and by the second trimester the baby “reacts to stimuli that would be recognized as painful if applied to an adult human.”
A dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion, which comprise up to 95 percent of unborn murders, is committed once the baby is “fully formed” and “cannot be completely removed solely with suction,” beginning at roughly 14 weeks’ gestation.
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