“Abortion is never medically necessary to save the life of the mother,” read a widely shared Facebook post from an anti-abortion nonprofit.
“There are maternal health emergencies that require the mother and child to be separated through natural delivery, c-section, or the removal of a child in an ectopic pregnancy situation,” another widely shared post read. “And sometimes the child is sadly too young to survive. But this is not an abortion because every effort is made by doctors to preserve the lives of BOTH patients - mother & child.”
But doctors told The Associated Press that there are many circumstances in which abortion — meaning the termination of a pregnancy — can be medically necessary.
“Without question, abortion can be medically necessary,” The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a 2019
statement after similar claims spread online. “There are situations where pregnancy termination in the form of an abortion is the only medical intervention that can preserve a patient’s health or save their life.”