Bristol, Tenn.—May 13, 2022— The 16,000-member Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), which is the nation’s largest faith-based professional healthcare association, today praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case that strikes down the precedents set in both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, effectively ending the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.

“This is a much-needed victory for life. It is a much-needed victory for healthcare. And, it is a much-needed victory for the dignity of our patients, most importantly, the unborn babies,” said CMDA Senior Vice President of Bioethics and Public Policy Jeff Barrows, DO, MA (Ethics), who is an OB/Gyn physician.

In the nearly 50 years since the Supreme Court wrongly decided Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, medical science has progressed significantly and has increasingly supported the pro-life position. The science of embryology supports life beginning at conception. Second, recent research has shown that pre-born babies can feel pain as early as 12 weeks’ gestation. Third, research documents that abortion is associated with an increased risk of pre-term birth and breast cancer in the mother.

CMDA CEO Mike Chupp, MD, FACS, said, “The science is clear. At the moment of fertilization, a new distinct, living and whole human being comes into existence. Abortion, which is an action whose sole intent is to end this life, clearly violates the basic tenets of medical ethics. Today’s decision from the Court shows what we have known for a long time—abortion is not healthcare. When we care for pregnant women, we are caring for two distinct patients. Our duty is to protect and preserve the lives of all our patients whom we care for. Our patients place their trust in us to recommend what is best for them, regardless of current political or cultural trends.”

Dr. Barrows continued, “We represent thousands of healthcare professionals across the United States who believe all women deserve access to the highest level of medical care. I stood on the steps of the Supreme Court during the oral arguments in this case last December to boldly defend the lives of all our patients, and I applaud the decision of the court for hearing our voices and agreeing that women and their children deserve our support, not the destruction of life that comes with abortion.”

“Now the work begins to ensure that our patients—including the preborn—are protected from the barbaric methods of abortion in all 50 states,” Dr. Barrows said.

CMDA submitted an Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) brief in this case arguing that the primary ethical duty of all healthcare professionals within Hippocratic medicine is to “First, do no harm.” To access that brief, click here. CMDA affirms that life begins at conception in our position statement on abortion. Therefore, all elective abortions inflict harm on the unborn child and terminate the life of that child.

In 2021, CMDA joined with the other members of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine in a joint statement about the dangers of abortion and how it violates the basic tenets of medical ethics. To access the full joint statement, click here. CMDA is joined in the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine by the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Pediatricians, the Catholic Medical Association and the Coptic Medical Association of North America.

For more information about CMDA, visit www.cmda.org.

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