Washington, DC, October 22, 2012 (LifeSiteNews) – Congressman Joe Walsh, who has come under fire for calling into question whether abortion is ever medically necessary to save women’s lives, defended his statements in a press conference called on Friday to respond to the controversy.

Last Thursday, Walsh told reporters, “There is no such exception as life of the mother, and as far as health of the mother, same thing, with advances in science and technology. Health of the mother has become a tool for abortions anytime, for any reason.” 

Walsh’s rival, Democrat Tammy Duckworth, said she was “saddened” by his remarks and accused him of putting “women’s lives in real danger.”

On Friday, Walsh called a press conference to expand on and clarify his statement.  “Let me be very clear,” said Walsh, “that when I say I am pro-life, I mean that I am pro-life for the mother and I am pro-life for the unborn child. For me, there is no distinction between the two.”

“When it comes to having an abortion to save the life of the mother,” he said, “I will say again that outside of the very rare circumstances, such as ectopic pregnancies, during which both the mother and baby will die if the baby is not aborted, and other rare health issues and circumstances, the research is pretty clear that with the advances in modern medicine an invasive and traumatic procedure like abortion is often, thankfully, not necessary to save the life of a mother.”

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