{"id":302977,"date":"2023-12-07T10:39:54","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T16:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=302977"},"modified":"2023-12-06T13:12:08","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T19:12:08","slug":"media-misleads-woman-life-saving-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/media-misleads-woman-life-saving-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Media misleads about woman allegedly denied a ‘life-saving abortion’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of the women at the center of a pro-abortion lawsuit against the state of Tennessee has announced she is running for the State House. Allie Phillips said she entered the race after she was denied an abortion due to state pro-life laws. The pro-abortion mainstream media is claiming Phillips was denied “a life-saving abortion” \u2014 yet this is inaccurate.<\/p>\n

Was Phillips denied a ‘life-saving abortion?’<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Independent headlined<\/a> an article about Phillips’ campaign, which was picked up by Yahoo. It reads, “Allie Phillips was denied a life-saving abortion. She’s now running for office in Tennessee.” In the article, the claim is made that Phillips’ life was at risk from the pregnancy, but Tennessee wouldn’t allow her to have the “life-saving” abortion she needed. Yet, Tennessee law states<\/a> that when a mother’s life is at risk, an abortion may be carried out.<\/p>\n

The state’s trigger law took effect after the fall of Roe v. Wade<\/em> in June of 2022. This law made abortion a felony but abortionists faced with prosecution could provide an \u201caffirmative defense\u201d that they had performed the abortion to prevent the death of or any harm to the mother<\/em>. Phillips learned she was pregnant that November, and at 19 weeks her daughter Miley received the diagnosis of holoprosencephaly (HPE). The baby girl also had a two-chambered heart and issues with her kidney and bladder.<\/p>\n

Doctors gave Phillips the choice of carrying to term or abortion but told her that she could not legally<\/em> have an abortion in Tennessee. This would indicate that there was no immediate risk to Phillips’ life or health.<\/em><\/p>\n

Still, The Independent, Yahoo News, Time Magazine<\/a>, AOL<\/a>, and more have reported that Phillips required a “medically necessary” and “life-saving abortion” and that she was forced<\/em> to travel out of state for an abortion. (When she reached the abortion business in New York, Miley had already died in utero.)<\/p>\n

Dr. Ingrid Skop, a board-certified OB\/GYN who has practiced in Texas for more than 25 years, told Live Action News:<\/p>\n

Yahoo News\u2019 description of Allie Phillips<\/span>\u2019 heartbreaking pregnancy complication misrepresents the truth. <\/em><\/p>\n

Every state with legal protections for unborn children, including Tennessee, contains<\/a> an exception permitting abortion if it is necessary to save a mother\u2019s life or prevent a serious risk to her health. Yet, based on their reporting (I have not seen Allie\u2019s medical records), she did not have a complication that presented a serious risk to her life or health. Her unborn child, Miley, had life-limiting fetal conditions, which ultimately resulted in her death before birth. <\/em><\/p>\n

An abortion was not necessary in this case. <\/em><\/p>\n

Allie\u2019s obstetrician could have continued to provide quality care, including providing perinatal palliative care, so that the family and child could be supported and loved in the brief time that Miley would live. <\/em><\/p>\n

Once her death was diagnosed, no law prevented medical care in that circumstance.<\/em><\/p>\n