Steps from the Lincoln, Dr. Susan Bane and Dr. Christina Francis stood holding a sign reading, “I’m a pro-life OB-GYN. Ask me Anything.” Women in pink hats and holding pro-abortion signs filed by during Saturday’s Women’s March, which was rebranded to the “People’s March.”
Most marchers walked past seemingly unsure what a “pro-life” OB-GYN meant, or uninterested, but others were curious.
The march “highlighted for me that we have to just keep, as doctors, telling the truth, telling our experiences as OB-GYNs, and be present in settings like this, Bane said, adding that as a doctor, “relationships matter to me. And today, I got to have conversations with people who maybe we wouldn’t have ever talked [to] before.”
Bane and Francis, both board members of the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs, said they felt a sense of sadness at the number of people who view abortion as favorable or necessary for women.
“So many people have been deceived into thinking an induced abortion is a good for women and that it is essential health care,” Francis said, adding, “I also saw that the presence of physicians speaking up for life definitely gets people to stop and think.”
In a lively exchange during the march, Dr. Leonard Yang, a retired Virginia emergency medicine doctor, pressed Francis on her pro-life views.
“You cherry pick those things that are favorable to your opinion,” he said.
“Did you know that there’s more than 160 studies that show that surgical abortion increases a woman’s risk of preterm birth in future pregnancies,” Francis responded. “And that the National Institute of Medicine actually said that previous abortions are an immutable risk factor for future preterm births.”
The march brought together a large crowd of pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ, and pro-Palestine activists just two days before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.