Amidst an agenda-driven outcry among abortion zealots that abortion can be necessary to save the Life of a mother in some circumstances, Ireland stands as a pillar of uncompromising protection for the Lives of both mother and child in every circumstance. And that includes the hard cases of life-threatening cancer. Enter Audry McElligott, an Irish woman who was diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma while she was pregnant with her second child. Her cancer was aggressive – by the time her condition was diagnosed, the cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes, liver, and spleen.
McElligott’s case was extreme. Delaying treatment in order to wait for her child to reach term and be delivered was not an option. And in her country, killing her child in an abortion in order to begin treatment was also not an option. Ireland’s Life Institute shares McElligott’s inspiring story:
McElligott’s medical team treated her cancer while she was pregnant. In fact, McElligott received the most aggressive treatment available for her condition. She was diagnosed on a Friday, and by the following Tuesday she began chemotherapy. During her scans, McElligott’s team would cover her abdomen with a protective barrier to ensure that the baby was shielded as much as possible from the harmful side effects of the radiation. Abortion, she says, never even came up. Every single professional who cared for her was so competent that the idea of killing her child in order to treat her did not enter the equation. “Throughout the treatment,” McElligott says, “I knew that doctors had put a priority on me and on saving my life… there was no compromise in the treatment that I was given.”
Today, McElligott is cancer free and has a healthy seventeen-month-old son. She wants people all over the world to know that real healthcare saves Lives. “Abortion is not needed to treat cancer or any other condition of pregnancy,” she said. “My baby and I are living proof.”
Visit the Life Institute to learn more about the “Abortion never saves a life” project.