Serious health conditions of a pregnant woman – such as cancer at the last stages – do not justify in any circumstances the killing of her preborn offspring. To save the life of the mother, abortion is never necessary because the child inside of her does not contribute in any way to the aggravation of her medical condition. The fetus or embryo is not a disease-causing agent that grows inside of the womb without control causing the illness to spread, but a separate human being with its own organic system. Thus, abortion as medical care and as an effective tool for healing a disease has no scientifically and ethically valid arguments.
This statement is supported by the “Dublin Declaration on Maternal Health Care”*. The document was signed by pro-life obstetrics and gynecologists in 2012. The declaration makes a clear distinction between abortion and necessary medical treatments for the sick mother. Unlike many physicians who highly recommend an abortion as a way to cure a serious illness, the declaration states that the prohibition of abortion would not harm the health of the mother in any way.