Dr. William Lile, the ProLife Doc, speaks at events all over the country to educate the public as well as medical students about many pro-life issues from a medical standpoint, including important strides being made in the field of prenatal healthcare.
As an obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Lile has always operated his practice by understanding that when a pregnant woman comes to him for healthcare, he actually has two patients: the mother and her baby. It is his responsibility to treat his patients in such a way that they are both healthy. If his pregnant patient has an illness, it would be immoral and irresponsible – and probably legally actionable – if Dr. Lile prescribed a medication to her that he knew would harm her baby, even if it would help her. If so, then how can it be okay to kill that baby on purpose through abortion? The answer is simple: it isn’t. A doctor has a responsibility to promote the health of all of his patients.
Recently, Dr. Lile had the opportunity to make this point in a personal letter. As he has emphasized repeatedly: a patient is a person, no matter how small.
Here is a message Dr. Lile received recently in an email from a pro-life student who had to write an essay for one of her classes. The following is Dr. Lile’s exchange with her:
Hello, Dr. Lile
My name is L**. I am a pre-med student, and I am writing you in regard to an essay I have to do. I am writing on how abortion is murder. I would like your assistance. Thank you!
L**
Dear L**,
Murder is the taking the life of an innocent human being. I would emphasize patients’ rights: “A Patient is a person entitled to respect and bodily integrity.” We are genetically unique from the moment of conception – genetically distinct from the other 7 billion people on the planet and genetically unique from our mothers and our fathers. Often, we can even have different blood types than our mothers. That is the reason why we often need to perform blood transfusions in the womb to save a baby’s life. (PUBS: Peri Umbilical Blood Sampling and Transfusion).
The field of Fetal Medicine is expanding every month. We have done fetal blood transfusions at my hospital as early as 18 weeks gestation. The Cleveland Clinic performed open heart surgery to remove a teratoma from the baby’s heart at 27 weeks gestation two years ago. Not only did they have over 30 individuals involved in the surgery, but even a separate pediatric anesthesiologist that started an IV in the baby’s right hand, and the baby was given both Fentanyl for pain and Norcuron as a paralytic throughout the procedure. The tumor was removed, the womb was closed, and the baby was delivered ten weeks later at 37 weeks gestation via Cesarean Section. The baby is doing very well!
We routinely perform laser vascular surgery on the placentas to prevent twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) in the womb. We send all our patients to Texas Children’s Hospital for this procedure.
Fetal Spina Bifida corrective surgery is now in its third generation.
Three months ago, Children’s Hospital in Boston performed fetal cerebral vascular surgery and repaired a Galen malformation in a baby’s brain while it was still in the womb. The baby is named Denver and is doing well.
Clearly, if the Pre-Born are patients, then they are persons. And the taking of an innocent person’s life is murder.
You can also include the discussion of informed consent. Informed consent requires that we review the risks, benefits, indications, and alternatives with the patient first. When that patient is either medically unable to give informed consent or mentally unable to give informed consent, bioethics requires that we do what is in the best interest of that patient; “What would the patient want?” We don’t perform surgery on patients unless there is a benefit.
Are there risks to the mother when we perform fetal surgery? Yes. There is the risk of bleeding, infection, and possibly C-section complications at the time of delivery. What are the benefits to the mother when performing fetal surgery? None. Well then, if there are no benefits to the mother, and if we do not perform surgery unless a patient benefits, then who is the benefiting patient? The patient receiving all of the benefits is the baby in the womb. Patients have rights, and more than half of the states now have specific Patients’ Bills of Rights.
We have dozens of videos linked to our website on both YouTube, Facebook, and Tik Tok. Please feel free to use this resource in your discussion.
Blessings on you as you pursue your career in medicine. It is an exciting and honorable profession. It is important to be a voice for all your patients, including those still in the womb.
In His Service,
Dr. William Lile, D.O., FACOG
ProLifeDoc, Inc.
For Dr. Lile, it is gratifying to see a young pro-life student who wants to be a doctor. No matter what you read in the media, the reality is that many people are pro-life, and more and more young people are not being convinced by pro-abortion arguments.
Thank you to this student for defending the pre-born in her school assignment. To help even more students, Dr. Lile is developing a curriculum for students to teach them about pro-life issues, giving them the tools to promote and defend their positions from both moral and science-based convictions. To learn more about this curriculum or ProLife Doc’s ministry, contact ProLife Doc today.
