Ectopic Life: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Ectopic Pregnancy

by Bill Fortenberry

In 2012, Bill Fortenberry shocked the pro-life community by publishing his discovery of hundreds of cases of live births from ectopic pregnancies. Over the next decade, Fortenberry’s article was read by more than 500,000 people. It produced a major shift in the abortion debate and completely eroded the foundational argument in Roe v. Wade.

In this book, Fortenberry presents his original article along with a helpful fact sheet, text from one of his debates on the topic, and an encouraging article on finding freedom from the guilt of abortion. No one who reads this book will ever look at ectopic pregnancy the same way again.

About the Author

Bill Fortenberry joined the fight against abortion shortly after his son was born in 2006. He helped found Personhood Alabama, where he served on the board and eventually became president. He was also a charter member of the Personhood Allaiance, where his legal and ethical research were instrumental in shaping policy and drafting legislation across the nation.

Bill designed the legal argument behind the 2019 Baby Roe case which remains the only case in US history to win legal recognition of the personhood of an aborted child.

72 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 31, 2023

About the author

Bill Fortenberry is a Christian philosopher and historian in Birmingham, AL. Bill's work has been cited in multiple legal journals, and he has appeared as a guest on shows including The Dr. Gina Show, The Michael Hart Show, and Real Science Radio.

Reviews

[Cassidy Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who cares about people and injustice, the questions of modern bioethics matter to me, because they impact the lives of real people. So the question about how to handle preborn humans who develop in unideal parts of their mother’s body is one that has been close to my heart. There are cases of babies surviving ectopic pregnancies — particularly the abdominal ectopics. These children typically survive because the pregnancy is presumed to be intrauterine (and thus the medical establishment does not intervene), but then at delivery it is discovered the child is not in the uterus, and a surgical delivery is necessary. It is interesting that these survivals sometimes occur, and I think it does force us to ask if the mainstream pro-life response that all ectopic pregnancies must be terminated is accurate. It may also cause one to question why so little medical innovation has occurred in any attempts to find viable solutions for both mother and baby for these situations. Why isn’t any attempt made, in most cases, to see if there are any pioneering treatments available to give both mom and baby a fighting chance at life? I believe these are questions that need serious consideration from medical researchers. If we have enough medical research funding to study very niche issues that may not prevent any deaths, why do none of these funds go to attempting new innovation to help preborn babies who have implanted in the wrong place?

All that to say, these questions are part of what brought me to this book. The book itself, in my opinion, does not present data in a way that made sense to me. There are a few cases specifically discussed of ectopic babies surviving — which is encouraging and interesting to read about. But I think the way the information was presented is somewhat confusing. Note that, if you decide to read the book, most of it is a dialogue from a social media debate the author had with online users. I found this a bit of a strange use of book space. But I appreciate the author’s attempt to examine an important issue, however, I do not share some of his conclusions.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most people hear the word "ectopic" and immediately think someone will die, either the mother if nothing is done, or the child in an abortion. Such is not the case. Included in this book are stories and names of hundreds of babies born from ectopic pregnancies. This book looks at the facts, medical records, plain and simple. Who these children are that survived, and what their doctors did to ensure a safe delivery for the mothers. What a shock to learn that death by abortion doesn't have to be the only future facing babies who have implanted outside their mothers' wombs, nor death by bleeding out the mothers' futures.

[Erin Schanz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Fortenberry’s research brings light to an often complex and confusing issue.

[A S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fortenberry is a moron, with no actual medical training or experience, taking a few rare instances and trying to claim they apply to all ectopic pregnancies in an attempt to create shame when in fact any educated person would recognize it’s actually just him who should be ashamed of being this woefully stupid. The truth is that the vast majority of ectopics take place in the fallopian tubes where there is no potential for them to successfully implant and develop into a healthy full term pregnancy- literally 0% chance. Without removal they will eventually cause a fallopian tube rupture which causes internal bleeding for the pregnant woman and will kill her if not stopped. The unviable pregnancy will result in sepsis if not removed. How do I know this you ask? Because I nearly died because of an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured my left fallopian tube and left me internally hemorrhaging to death. My life was saved in an emergency room thanks for emergency surgery which removed the unviable pregnancy and tube remnants. How did I find out about Mr. Fortenberry and this idiotic book he wrote you may ask? He decided to attempt to shame me on social media after I talked about my experience by painting me as a "baby murderer" and claiming the salpingectomy which saved my life was unnecessary and barbaric based on his 0 years of obstetrics practice and he backed it up by quoting his own idiotic book where he misconstrued research of a doctor who had managed to do some studies on a few patients who had those rare instances of successful ectopic pregnancies (that doctor was btw, a very big supporter of choice but especially of aborting ectopics because he recognized that the risk to the pregnant women was too great and the chance of favorable outcomes for fetuses was extremely rare and poor. He’s dead but he would have hated the fact that Fortenberry has used his research in such a vile way that completely misconstrues what it was he stood for, studies and spent his life providing access to. Anyone ready this drivel and thinking it makes any sense is a person who can’t be bothered to research beyond the nonsense he’s trying to feed you and is only interested in what they want to see. When you are willing to try to advocate killing women in droves for unviable pregnancies, you’re a serious POS.