Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Nationally recognized pro-life doctor visits LUCOM
Wed, 30 Mar 2016Shelley Andrews :: LUCOM Marketing and PR
“These stairs changed my life.”
The photo William Lile, D.O., pointed to on the projector screens at Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) March 21 wasn’t anything that would grab your attention right away – a set of blue, carpeted stairs in an unassuming, dimly lit stairwell.
Dr. Lile, an OB-GYN who currently practices in Pensecola, Fl., wanted student-doctors to clearly visualize the moment in his career’s history that changed everything.
Upon completing his residency, Dr. Lile took over a practice in Pensecola. Until then, he says the practice had been the number one provider of abortions in the area since the 1970s.
After immediately stopping all abortions and all abortion referrals, he had one more thing he had to do – go up those stairs and see what was at the top.
“That’s where all of these thousands of abortions had taken place for decades. I started climbing up. I don’t know if you’ve been someplace where it’s not just temperature cold, but there’s something just not good about the place. It was that type of cold,” said Dr. Lile. “I couldn’t help but think of the thousands of women who had gone up those stairs with a baby on the inside, were up there for a half hour and had a procedure done, then went down the other set of steps and no longer had a baby inside of them.”
Going further back in his past, Dr. Lile says he always believed abortion was wrong but didn’t quite have the personal connection until his wife had her first miscarriage during his residency.
“You have a heartbeat. You see the flicker on the ultrasound and figure out the due date. Then, you have bleeding and spotting, and you lose that pregnancy,” said Dr. Lile.
About six months later, she had another miscarriage. In the years that followed, the couple welcome two beautiful girls into the world but also experienced two more miscarriages.
It was a challenging time that actually helped Dr. Lile develop more sympathy for those who chose to have an abortion.
“That sense of loss that my wife and I had, the same thing happens when a woman or a couple has the elected termination of a pregnancy. They know there was life inside,” said Dr. Lile.
Dr. Lile used his personal experience but also science, math and even politics to talk about the effect of abortions.
“We keep saying, ‘We don’t have enough people contributing to Social Security.’ Why doesn’t the math work out? Because in 43 years we’ve taken the lives of 58,000,000 babies who would have probably gone on to have children of their own,” said Dr. Lile.
He also reviewed more statistics including the ratio of health care clinics to Planned Parenthood Clinics in the U.S.
“There are 13,000 health care clinics across the country. There are 665 Planned Parenthood clinics. Can we get by without these clinics? And what’s their primary business? It’s taking the lives of babies. It is not providing health care for women,” said Dr. Lile.
Dr. Lile also discussed what he believes is the most deadly weapon in the U.S. – a suction curette used to carry out an estimated 1.2 million abortions every year.
“I’ve got the most dangerous weapon in the United States in my pocket right now. It’s responsible for taking more lives in our country than anything else including heart disease. And you know what? They let me carry it through TSA screening at the airport,” said Dr. Lile.
Going back to that pivotal day in Pensecola, that suction tool was one of many instruments Dr. Lile found at the top of those stairs.
But instead of running from the scene, Dr. Lile decided to use the moment to propel himself into a new ministry. Since then, he has taken his pro-life message on the road.
“I looked at the instruments and said to myself, ‘There are very few people who know what goes on up here.’ So it’s those very machines and those same instruments I take with me when speaking around the country,” said Dr. Lile. “We’re taking the lives of 1.2 million babies every year. This is spiritual battle.
LUCOM-Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA) partnered with the Liberty University School of Law Students for Life organization for this event. It was sponsored by Medical Students for Life.