{"id":286404,"date":"2023-03-01T12:36:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T18:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=286404"},"modified":"2023-02-28T22:00:21","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T04:00:21","slug":"pro-life-obgyn-banned-conference-explanation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-life-obgyn-banned-conference-explanation\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-life OBGYN group speaks out after being banned from conference without explanation"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Dr. Christina Francis, a practicing OB-GYN and CEO-elect of the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs (AAPLOG), is speaking out after the organization was recently banned from participating in an annual educational conference hosted by the pro-abortion American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).<\/p>\n

In a video posted to Twitter, Francis said the group was told that AAPLOG had been banned from the conference \u2014 after they had already arrived in Maryland to attend. AAPLOG has previously attended the conference, the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) and Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) Annual Meeting, and has exhibited a booth without issue.<\/p>\n

Francis spoke to Live Action News about the situation, and why it was so important for AAPLOG to attend.<\/p>\n

AAPLOG has attended this OB\/GYN conference for years<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The conference is meant to be \u2014 which is why it was such a big deal \u2014 for those who are educating medical students and residents and OB\/GYNs,” Francis said. “So they are responsible, largely, for the education of the next generation of OB\/GYNs in this country. So it’s a really important conference, just because the things that are presented at this conference, and learned at this conference, then go out to all of these residency programs and medical school rotations across the country.”<\/p>\n

Though ACOG has long disagreed with AAPLOG’s position on abortion, the pro-life organization hadn’t experienced hostility when attending the conference in the past.<\/p>\n

“Certainly in the past, we have received comments from people attending the conference who don’t agree with our position, but never any hostility on the part of the organizers,” she said. “We’ve always been allowed to exhibit just like anyone else, and not face any pushback. Definitely there have been people who quietly agreed with us, and have thanked us for being there. They feel very vulnerable, to be vocal about their pro-life position at that conference, or at any ACOG conference, so oftentimes, people would go by and give a quiet thumbs-up, things like that, to express their support without being able to do so very publicly.”<\/p>\n

She added, “There have also been some good conversations with people who were thankful we were there, expressing this side of the abortion debate. And then, like any conference like this, there are dissenters as well. But from the conference leadership, this is the first time we have ever faced anything like this.”<\/p>\n

Nothing has changed in AAPLOG’s position since their previous years presenting at the conference, and they were able to successfully purchase an exhibit booth in April of 2022. They had already traveled to Maryland for this year’s conference, only to discover they would not be allowed to attend. Yet ACOG didn’t bother to notify them.<\/p>\n

“We found out not from the person who had made the decision, or even anybody from ACOG, but from their third-party vendor,” Francis said. “A vendor said he was instructed by ACOG to notify us that our booth was cancelled, and to refund us our money.”<\/p>\n

\n
\n

?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\u2019re telling our patients how harmful abortion is. pic.twitter.com\/gaImTwfEsm<\/a><\/p>\n

— AAPLOG (@aaplog) February 27, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n