The statement of the Republican congressman that the development of science and technology means the impossibility of threatening the life and health of women from pregnancy does not withstand the slightest scientific criticism.

In fact, the life of a pregnant woman is threatened by various conditions, from an ectopic pregnancy, when the embryo is implanted outside the uterus, to pre-eclampsia, causing blood pressure jumps, and capable of leading to stroke and epilepsy.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), preeclampsia, and pregnancy-related increased blood pressure, occur in 6-8 percent of pregnancies in the United States.

Although these conditions are common, many individual cases can also lead to complications, says Alison Cahill, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the School of Medicine, University of Washington, in St. Louis.

"As a midwife who deals with high-risk cases, I observe many women who, in addition to these conditions, have other disorders. Therefore, other diseases, or medical problems, may well make their pregnancy very dangerous, "says Cahill.

Congressman Joe Walsh (a Republican from Illinois), told reporters that he was an opponent of all abortions without exception. He does not make exceptions for rape, incest, or a threat to the life and health of the mother, Radio Chicago reported. His position on the exceptions related to life and health, he argued as follows: "This argument, resorted to by supporters of abortion, for us looks unreasonable. There is no threat to the life or health of the mother during pregnancy, given the development of science and technology. The mother's health becomes the usual tool of abortion advocates for controversy at any time, and under any circumstances ".

But statistics speak quite different. In fact, although the number of diseases associated with pregnancy in the 20th century has significantly decreased, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), since 1987, the number of such diseases has increased. In 1987, there were 7 registered for 100,000 births. 2 deaths. By 2003, this indicator had reached 14. According to the CDC, this increase may be due to more careful management of medical records, but an increase in the number of chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity can also cause an increased risk of complications.

Despite Walsh's claims, complications of pregnancy can not always be eliminated by modern technology. For example, according to an article published in February 2000 in the journal American Family Physician, an ectopic pregnancy takes place in 19. 7 out of every thousand pregnant women in North America. In these cases, the embryo is almost always implanted in the fallopian tubes that connect the ovaries and uterus. Fallopian tubes are not able to provide pregnancy, since a growing embryo can tear them, which will cause uncontrolled bleeding. Today there is no technology that can keep pregnancy in such cases.

Some ectopic pregnancies are interrupted by themselves, but in most cases surgical intervention (abortion) is required in order to prevent these life-threatening breaks.

Another pregnancy-related condition that modern medicine can not cope with is pre-eclampsia (late toxicosis). This condition usually develops after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The reasons for its occurrence are not completely clear. The only known treatment is childbirth.

Published in 2003 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, an article in the list of the main causes of fatalities associated with pregnancy also indicates embolism (blood clot blocking), bleeding, and worsening of pre-pregnancy conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. This study also showed that complications of pregnancy are not "equal opportunity killers". Black women are almost four times more likely than white women to die due to pregnancy. Also, a higher risk of death due to pregnancy is observed in adolescents, and women aged forty and older.

Pregnancy can also turn chronic diseases into life-threatening diseases. During pregnancy, Cahill says, cardiovascular disorders such as pulmonary hypertension and vascular abnormalities can worsen. The lives of expectant mothers may also be threatened by the liver and kidney disease they have before they start pregnancy.

"I wish modern science and modern medicine to cure all this, but, unfortunately, it is not so," says Cahill.

Congressman Walsh joins those politicians who embellish the scientific fact to achieve their ideological goals. In August, Congressman Todd Akin (Republican from Missouri) said that the woman's body "has the means to completely block all of this," referring to pregnancy as a result of rape. (He withdrew his statement after public protests). Not so long ago, Congressman Paul Brown (a Republican from Georgia), a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology, said he believed the Earth was 9,000 years old, calling evolution, the Big Bang theory and embryology "lies , coming from the very hell ".

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