In his book, The Right to Live, the Right to Die, published in 1980, former United States Surgeon General, Everett Koop speaks out on abortion and euthanasia. Concerning one of the reasons often advanced for allowing legal abortion, that it is needed to save the life or health of the mother in some cases, Dr. Koop quotes from Dr. Allan F. Guttmacher’s 1967 book on abortion:
“Today, it is possible for almost any patient to be brought through pregnancy alive, unless she suffers from a fatal illness such as cancer or leukemia , and if so, abortion would be unlikely to prolong much less save life.”
The late Dr. Alan Guttmacher, a staunch supporter of abortion, was president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the one responsible for involving Planned Parenthood (U.S.) in the abortion business.
Today a pregnant woman with leukemia or breast cancer can receive cancer treatments without harming her unborn child.
In 1951, Dr. Roy Heferman, of Tufts University, told the Congress of the American College of Surgeons:
“Anyone who performs a therapeutic abortion is either ignorant of modern methods of treating the complications of pregnancy or unwilling to take the time to use them. ”
Abortion is not necessary to treat complications in pregnancy.
