Phil Gingrey: “I practiced medicine, and not just as a medical doctor, but as an OB/GYN specialist. In that specialty for 26 years, I…”

“I practiced medicine, and not just as a medical doctor, but as an OB/GYN specialist. In that specialty for 26 years, I delivered over 5,200 babies during that time. I am very proud to say that I performed no abortions. But I think it is important for our colleagues... to understand how this Roe v. Wade came about 35 years ago in 1973. Prior to that, abortion in many States was illegal. It could not be performed. In some instances, yes, it was true that women would have what is known as a criminal abortion done, and sometimes with very devastating consequences to the woman. If the abortion was done by a doctor with skills, surgical skills, there probably were no complications, other than destroying that human life, that little human life. But if the abortion was performed in an unprofessional, botched manner, then the life not only of the fetus but also of the woman was at stake. When I was an intern at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, back in those days in the late 1960s, 1969, 1970, yes, there occasionally was a patient on the ward suffering from septic shock.”