Ectopic Pregnancy: The Truth

by Klaus Vella Bardon 

In their increasingly aggressive campaign to promote abortion, Doctors for Choice again claimed that the criminal code has no provision for abortion under any circumstance, not even when a woman’s life is imminently at risk of death as a result of a pregnancy.

To prove their point, they stoop to any level and are now exploiting a relatively recent case of ectopic pregnancy.

An ectopic pregnancy is a non-viable pregnancy that occurs outside of the uterine cavity, most commonly in the fallopian tube.

As a pro-life activist, I checked the facts with the help of an expert of how this condition is treated in Malta

I was informed that there are basically three ways to deal with an ectopic pregnancy and that saving the mother is the top priority.

One either waits, or one treats the case medically, or, thirdly, as a last resort, it is removed surgically.

As in all sound medical practice, invasive treatment is kept to a minimum in the interest of the patient’s well-being.

Usually, unless otherwise indicated, the mother is kept under strict observation and, often, the body solves the problem on its own, unassisted medically.

The second line of treatment is the medical option where the drug methotrexate, that cuts short the pregnancy, is administered.

The use of methotrexate is also not so straightforward as its side effects and contraindications have to be taken into account. Yet, even here, one has to weigh the risks of taking methotrexate when the risk of surgery is higher.

Once the specialist treating the mother decides medically that the patient needs methotrexate, the decision is final.

There are formulary drugs and non-formulary drugs. Formulary are easily accessible, one just needs to prescribe them, like paracetamol or certain antibiotics.

Non-formulary are more difficult to access, not for ethical reasons but because of logistical and safety issues.

Being a dangerous non-formulary drug, methotrexate needs to be signed off by the specialist/consultant and head of department, then sent to the pharmacy where the drug is prepared and finally forwarded for its administration. The whole process takes time and some delay is inevitable as the use of drugs that carry certain grave risks must be controlled.

It is about time that the pro-abortion lobbyists make a serious attempt to respect the facts. We all have a very serious obligation to ensure that the public is given the truth, especially about such life and death matters.

Sadly, again and again, ethics is not the forte of the so called ‘pro-choice’ brigade.

It is profoundly unjust and dishonest that they grasp and manipulate any extreme case they can find in order to justify their false claim that anti-abortion laws place pregnant women at risk.

Klaus Vella Bardon – Balzan

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It is disingenuous and entirely wrong for the self-styled “doctors for choice” to use the case of an unfortunate woman who suffered the traumas of an ectopic pregnancy as a “trojan horse” attempt at changing Malta’s abortion laws.

This poor lady (assuming the account in the Times of Malta is accurate) appears to have suffered additional distress as a result of what appears to have been bureaucratic delay in being given the correct treatment for her serious and potentially life-threatening problem, which is always to end the pregnancy. This case, in itself, establishes the fact that Malta’s abortion laws have nothing to do with the difficulties encountered and I cannot fathom how anyone could claim otherwise.

It should be evident that the solution to prevention of a similar future occurrence of this most regrettable incident must surely lie in modifying or speeding up the procedures already in place to ensure expeditious delivery of necessary treatment. I fail to see why the laborious process of parliamentary legislation should be required to achieve this desirable outcome.

There has never been any controversy about the need to terminate ectopic pregnancies. No pro-life institution, government or Church has ever challenged this fact.

Abortion, on the other hand, almost invariably involves the deliberate ending of a healthy, viable pregnancy. It is rarely carried out for what might be termed ‘good medical reasons’, the usual situations being ‘domestic arrangements’ or ‘economic hardship’. The minority associated with abuse/assault/foetal abnormality create tremendous difficulty all round as they are, inevitably, tragic situations to which there is no ‘happy or easy’ solution.

Malta’s would-be abortionists might like to ask themselves to explain the schizophrenic approach like-minded clinicians adopt towards pregnancy. If the baby is wanted, the foetus is happily referred to as ‘your baby/little boy/little girl’; on the other hand, if unwanted, it remains an ‘it’ and is treated like an unwanted wart, to be disposed of expeditiously.

Whither the Hippocratic oath, which, for thousands of years, included the line “I will not administer a pessary to a woman to induce an abortion”, until the evermore utilitarian approach the human race has adopted towards life led to its removal in around 1970?

Anton Borg – Gloucestershire, UK

This is a www.timesofmalta.com opinion piece

Ref: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/letters-to-the-editor-december-10-2020.837920

‘Covid-19 saved a lot of babies’: Women’s shelter

During the months when the Coronavirus pandemic was at its peak, Dar T’ghanniqa T’Omm (Mother’s Embrace Home) received a number of calls from both local and foreign women, overwhelmed and panicked when they found out they were pregnant.

To contain the spread of the pandemic, flights were suspended from 21 March up until 1 July, leaving women who found themselves in an unwanted pregnancy feeling concerned, panicked and alone.

During that period, the women’s shelter received nearly 80 calls from women coming from different backgrounds and situations needing support and reassurance. “We received all kinds of calls; including mothers who gave birth but had no more money because they had been made redundant, so we would provide them with food and support. There were also women who had unplanned pregnancies and were not sure what the next steps were,” said Christie.

She explained that, during COVID-19, many mothers felt stressed and in a state of shock when they found out they were pregnant. “We were there for these mothers every step of the way. We supported them, accompanied them to any appointments they had, we just wanted to make sure that the mothers felt safe.”

The helpline also received calls from women who were considering an abortion. “We always leave the decision up to the mother; we never tell them what to do or judge them. Our councillors speak to these women to see what they need and how we can help, but at the end it is always up to the mother to decide.”

She explained that some women, and also men, call the helpline after the abortion has taken place. “We have received calls from men, some of whom felt guilty for pushing their partner to have an abortion, or who needed support themselves after their partner had an abortion. Whatever the case, we support them, and our councillors help them to grieve and come to terms with their guilt.”

We go through the whole journey with these mothers

The shelter, which was set up back in 2018, is run by Life Network Malta, a pro-life NGO, which welcomes women and mothers experiencing crisis pregnancies. The shelter currently hosts five mothers.

Christie explained that the Foundation began receiving a number of calls from mothers who needed help and that at the time there was no specific shelter which helped homeless pregnant women who are more likely to have an abortion. “We had mothers who would want to carry out their pregnancy but were scared of losing their accommodation, or else mothers who were kicked out by their parents who disapproved of the pregnancy. We are there to help them and provide the support they and their child need.”

She said that mothers who come to the shelter not only find a roof over their head but also are provided with the support and information they need as new mothers. She explained that she, volunteers and councillors work together to provide the mothers with a caring support system. “We become a family, we help the mothers throughout their journey and the shelter is run in a household manner.”

The volunteers and councillors provide the mothers with the necessary life skills, such as time and money management. “We even help them send CVs … whatever we can do we help them as much as possible.”

Christie recalls how, during COVID-19, the mothers had to remain inside the shelter and how one mother had to go into labour on her own in the hospital. “Unfortunately, we had to cut down the amount of volunteers coming in but we continued counselling sessions online or over the phone; we never stopped.” She said that she kept going to the shelter because she realised that the mothers felt lonely at times and the staff came up with different activities to do inside during that time.

The shelter also donated to 38 families in need. It provided food, baby milk, nappies, clothes and other items which mothers might need.

Anti-human rights? We support a mother to give birth to her child

In recent news, Voice for Choice, a pro-choice NGO working for reproductive rights have expressed its disappointment that the government donated €130,000 to Dar Tghannieqa T’Omm. “By providing funds to LifeNetwork Malta, the government is supporting an anti-human rights agenda, and this is completely unacceptable,” it said.

When asked for her opinion on the comment, Christie asked how a Foundation which is supporting a mother can be anti-human rights. “All I can say is how am I, or the Foundation, who are supporting a mother to give birth to her child, anti-human rights? If that child is not born, then they are not obliged to any of the rights we keep fighting for.”

Christie highlighted that the extra funding donated by the government will help pay for care workers to come and stay at the home during the week. Funding will also help with keeping up maintenance of the house, and providing a better programme for the mothers.

This is a independent.com.mt opinion piece

Ref: https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2020-07-12/local-news/Covid-19-saved-a-lot-of-babies-Women-s-shelter-6736225085

Treatment ‘delay’ is under review

Head of obstetrics at Mater Dei Hospital says pregnant woman’s life never at risk

The head of obstetrics and gynaecology at Mater Dei Hospital is looking into a woman’s claim that her life was “needlessly put at risk” because it took two days for her to receive authorization to use a medicine that would end her ectopic pregnancy, which can be fatal.

“The delay is not normal and the case is being looked into,” Yves Muscat Baron said. “The patient’s life was never put at risk as she was kept under continuous surveillance. We will, however, take the opportunity to look into how the system can be improved.” He said about one to two per cent of pregnancies are ectopic, amounting to 25-35 per year. These cases are treated either surgically, by removing the fallopian tube, or medically by administering a medicine called methotrexate, which has been available at Mater Dei since 2018.

The use of methotrexate is still not common. There have been about four cases this year, Muscat Baron said. “Surgical interventions impact fertility,” he said. There is no guarantee that methotrexate works. It may have to be repeated and, in some cases, surgery may still have to be resorted to as medical treatment may not be sufficient.”

“She was kept under continuous surveillance”

Muscat Baron stressed that the stage at which a patient goes to hospital is key in deciding on the type of treatment to administer.

The decision depends on the condition of the patient. “The decision-making process involves the specialist on call and the firm caring for the patient,” he said. The woman’s story was last week made available to the media by the NGO Doctors for Choice in Break the Taboo, a pro-choice collection of abortion experiences from Malta. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when an egg implants itself outside of the womb, usually in a fallopian tube.

Doctors for Choice have long insisted that the management of ectopic pregnancies is compromised by the country’s total legal ban on abortion. Methotrexate is technically illegal because the law criminalises all ways of inducing a miscarriage. The anonymous woman claimed it took two and a half days for methotrexate to be approved in her case, putting her life and fertility at risk. She said the scan and bloods showed she was a good candidate for the relatively new treatment without the need for surgery. Asked about the delay last week, the health ministry explained that, once the case fits the criteria, a request form for methotrexate medicine is signed by the consultant or a delegate and countersigned by the chairman or a delegate of the obstetrics and gynaecology department, in a procedure which “usually takes few hours”. Doctors for Life have pointed to the excellent track record of the hospital: no pregnant mother had lost her life in the last 10 years.

This is a timesofmalta.com article written by Claudia Calleja