Well, hello everyone, and welcome to Family Talk. I'm your host, James Dobson, and I have a very special presentation to share with you. Last October, our organization, The James Dobson Family Institute, hosted a memorable event called The Gathering. We invited many accomplished individuals to participate, including political leaders, public servants, patriots, and esteemed professionals to share their perspectives on faith, family, and Christianity in America. One of the presenters was Dr. William Lile, a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist, who has a passion to protect and treat pre-born babies
Now it's very appropriate that we air this recorded message today and tomorrow because January here in the United States is Sanctity of Human Life Month, and speaking of tomorrow, the annual March for Life will be taking place in Washington DC. These marches began in 1974, just one year after the tragic Supreme Court decisions known as Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton were handed down. You may have heard differently, but these ruling legalized abortion on demand through nine months of pregnancy for any reason, or for no reason at all. And to date, 63 million babies have been aborted. Every year since the Supreme Court ruling, supporters of life have gathered in DC to remember the tragedy and to defend the rights to life of those still in the womb. Over the past several years, the March for Life has grown in size. President Donald Trump, as you may recall, became the first and only US president in history to appear and speak at the event.
Well, let me tell you a little more about our guest speaker on today's broadcast. In 1999, Dr. Lile bought and took ownership of a practice that had been the largest provider of abortion services in Pensacola, Florida. All abortions were stopped that day. And the abortion equipment that was there is now used to demonstrate the brutality of abortions in all three primaries. Dr. Lile earned his medical training from The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. And he completed his OB/GYN residency program through The University of Florida College of Medicine. He has been married to Leslie for 25 years, and they have two children. And he is my friend. I hope you'll be as inspired and invigorated to fight for life as I am when you hear this message. Here is Dr. Lile.
Dr. William Lile: I am so excited to be here this weekend. This has been a thrilling weekend with worship and speakers, and welcome to church this morning. We've already worshiped in song. And I might get a little preachy this morning if that's okay with you because this is an issue that is just so dear to my heart. I get so excited when I have a group like this that I know there are things that you walked in not knowing, but you're going to walk out with new knowledge, new tools in your toolbox that you can use to defend God's pre-born and to share the healing message of the gospel. And that is an exciting opportunity for me.
Dr. Dobson has been part of my life since I was a little kid. My life was really from 1965 until 1970, then my parents bought a book called The New Dare to Discipline. Well, my parents took up that dare and they invoked discipline. But that doesn't mean spanking and hitting your kid. It means training them in the way they should go. It means: How can you use your life and your career for kingdom service? How do I apply this in my kingdom service to my Lord and Savior? And I'm amazed after 50 years of faithful service, when I travel around the country, I did two radio programs with Dr. Dobson in 2019. Continuously, I will have people who will reference those. They might recognize my voice and they might say, "I think I know you."
I was actually up in Washington state at an apple farm picking up some honey crisp apples. And they said, "Why are you wearing a suit?" I said, "Because I'm going to go over and speak at the pregnancy center across the valley." They go, "We support that pregnancy center. We've been supporting it for over a year now." I said, "That's great." And I said, "Well, when did you start supporting it?" "Well, we were back in the barn. We were listening to Dr. Dobson. And he had this doctor who was on the show." I said, "Do you remember that doctor's name?" "I don't know, but he treats the pre-born as patients, and he was talking about abortion." He says, "We never thought that abortion was for us, but we didn't want to tell somebody else what abortion was." He said, "We made a change in our lives and we have supported that ministry. And we now know that abortion is wrong."
And I said, "Well, do you remember that guy's name?" He goes, "No." He said, "I'd remember that name if I heard it." I said, "Was it Bill Lile?" He goes, "That's the guy's name." I said, "That's cool. Nice to meet you. I'm Bill Lile." He goes, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." So next thing I know, I have 40 pounds of honey crisp apples in the back of my car, and I can only carry so many pounds of apples with me on the plane. But then my wife and I were in Oregon just two weeks again. And when we were in Oregon, a guy came up at the center. He goes, "I've got to meet you." He said, "I don't know the people here at this center, but I heard you speak on Dr. Dobson's show two years ago and I had to come and meet you."
No matter where you go, you saw Brian put up the picture of all the radio stations and affiliates that Dr. Dobson is broadcast through. And there is that kind of impact that last for years, that changes minds, hearts and behaviors, and kingdom service throughout the country and throughout the world. This morning's topic is going to be patients' rights. I was recently over at The University of Florida College of Medicine, and that's my alma mater. And we were discussing patients' rights. There's The University of Florida. And I asked them, I said, "If I have a patient in my office that was not born in the United States, but they need a blood transfusion or else they will die, do I have a moral and legal obligation to find access to a blood transfusion for them?" And they said, "It doesn't matter if they were born in the United States. They're a patient and they need to be treated as such."
I said, "Okay. Well, what if it's something more expensive? What if it is laser vascular surgery, but this patient was not born in the United States? Do I have an obligation to treat them?" They said, "Yes." I said, "What if it's even more expensive? What if it's heart surgery? They need valvuloplasty, septoplasty, but they were not born in the United States." Finally, a very outspoken young man said, "Dr. Lile, it doesn't matter if they were born in the United States. We've been taught that a patient is a person, is entitled to respect and bodily integrity." I said, "I agree with you. But there's one more detail that I left out. These are all my real patients, but the reason they weren't born in the United States is because they have not been born yet. They are still in their mother's womb." The jaw dropped.
He had been painted into a corner, acknowledging patients' rights, but he had never thought about the patients being in the womb. And it's a very effective tool that I want you guys to employ as well. After we finished our 45 minute talk, the young man came up to me and he said, "I don't believe that there's a God." He says, "I'm an atheist." He said, "But I'm a huge advocate for patients' rights." He said, "I walked in here, it's a woman's right to choose no matter what gestational age, for any reason. And we have no reason and no right to interfere with her choice." He says, "But I never thought about the baby in the womb as being a patient." He goes, "You can't call me the big pro-life guy," but he said, "You just changed my mindset as far as if they're a patient, they are a person. And if they are a person, then they deserve protection." To take 45 minutes of a lecture and then to change the heart and mind of somebody who doesn't see God and doesn't see Scripture as an authoritative source, I will take that as a win for our side.
So how do we treat the babies as patients on the inside? Didn't you say blood transfusions? Yeah. Even at my hospital, we have done blood transfusions to the babies in the womb as early as 18 weeks gestation. They won't even survive on the outside for another two months. Well, it's not just that you can do it. Why would you need to do it? Because at the moment of conception, the baby is a whole different person from the mom, not only half the time do they have a different gender, and guess how many there are. Not only are they a different gender, but they can have different blood types on the inside of the womb. And there are conditions where the mom will have antibodies, and these antibodies can cross the placenta and start to attack the baby's blood. Well, the baby's blood count is dropping, and if we don't do something, that baby will die in the womb.
So, what do we do? We give the baby a blood transfusion. We get donated blood, just like you gave at the Red Cross or One Blood. Maybe you had a blood drive. We take that blood. We guide a needle through the skin, through the wall of the uterus, and directly into the umbilical cord of the baby, and we give the baby a blood transfusion. We might have to do this every four or five weeks for the rest of the pregnancy because the mom keeps attacking this different person that is inside the womb. If you're giving them a blood transfusion, does that qualify them as a patient? It sure does. And if they're a patient, they are a person.
Laser surgery. Anybody have twins? Anybody have children? You all have children. That whole focus on the family does not work unless we're having children. That is just such a huge impact as far as treating the families and training them in Biblical principles. And that's what Dobson has done so well. When it comes to twins, sometimes children and twins don't share all their toys real well. Correct? Well, guess what, sometimes babies in the womb don't even share their blood supply well. In the inside, sometimes they are sharing a placenta. These are two identical twins conceived at the same moment in time. And then before day 13, that one fertilized egg divides up into identical copies.
If you look here, you can see that one baby is really big and one baby is very small because they are not sharing equally. I'm going to call this one Arnold and this one Danny. Why? Because you remember the '80s. You remember the movie. Now you know what was going on with twins. You know? But the key is we treat them and we teach them to share. This is a surgery that is being done, and if you see this targeting laser, and you can look right where my laser is pointing, we just cauterized. This blood vessel was taking too much nutrition to the big baby. So what do we do? We teach them to share inside of the womb. If we can teach children to share in the womb, is that treating them as patients? It sure is. And if they are a patient, they are a person.
Is this a person? Could this be a patient of mine? Well, probably not in the gynecology office, but it's a different world. But look at him, he's a young, smiling, strapping young man. Is that a person? Is that a patient? Yep, sure is. Guess what else, how about this picture. This was taken, a picture by a friend of mine named Michael Clancy. Well, guess what, that is a patient who was having spina bifida corrective surgery. But you know what, that patient here in the womb is the same as this patient who came to visit me at Georgia Right to Life, is the same as this patient. That is Samuel Armass. There is no difference between this person and this person inside of the womb. They are a patient. They are a person no matter how small. And I'll steal that from Dr. Seuss, who was not one of my professors.
When it comes to laparoscopic surgery, used to be if you had your gallbladder out, you got a real big incision in your belly. You spent eight, 10 days in the hospital. Now you have to have your gallbladder out, you go in, you get four Band-Aids and you're in the Chick-Fil-A drive through on the way home. The world has changed. Well, we're now doing laparoscopic surgery on babies on the inside of the womb. We're treating them as patients on the inside for defects that are in their spine. And I know you just had breakfast, so we're not going to go into a lot of detail. But I want you to see the imaging. This is the uterus. This is the womb. The baby is there on the inside. A couple of cameras are being placed inside, a couple of instruments. And now you're going to see the baby inside of the womb.
And you'll see. Well, where's all that fluid the baby floats around? Well, that fluid has been removed. Is this a blob? This is not a blob. This is a baby created in the image of God at the moment of conception. And its having spina bifida surgery there, and to treat this patient and improve the quality of life for the rest of this baby's life. In fact, January of this year, we know that we can do things, but just because science and medicine can do something doesn't mean that they should do something.
We had our first definitive information after 10 years of data of doing the surgery on the babies on the inside of the womb. And what did we find out? When we took the initiative and we operated on the babies on the inside of the womb rather than waiting until after they were delivered, the babies that were operated on the inside of the womb could walk up stairs faster, down stairs faster. They had better duration. They had better control of their bladders and their bowels. We are operating and treating them as patients in the womb, and we are improving their quality of life for the rest of their lives.
Can medicine cure all diseases? No, but our goal is to improve quality of life. So by treating them as a patient in the womb, we have improved their quality of life for the rest of their lives. That is treating them as a patient, and a patient is a person, no matter how small. But we are now doing heart surgery on babies inside the womb. 22 weeks gestation, we are now doing valvuloplasty, septoplasty on the babies on the inside. I mean, the baby's heart at 22 weeks is the size of a grape and it's beating 140 beats per minutes. Babies have aortic stenosis, which means that the valve of the aorta is closed down so much that instead of the blood going through, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, it's going through, whee, whee, whee.
Well, if you're an adult like my mom, you get a new valve put in. Guess what, we can do valvuloplasty on the babies at 22 weeks on the inside of the womb. We feed a tiny little needle with a balloon on the end, goes through the skin, through the wall of the uterus, goes right to the baby's chest, goes through the left ventricle, float it out through the aortic valve, and then we blow up the little balloon. Within 60 seconds, you see improvements to that baby's circulation, which goes from whee, whee, whee, to whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. If we are doing heart surgery on these babies in the womb, they are patients. And again, if they are a patient, they are a person. If they are a person, they need to be protected.
Who created life? I've delivered 4000 babies, triplets, quadruplets. Did I create any of that life? No, not at all. Who created life? Genesis 1:26 says, "And God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.'" This is in Genesis 1:26. Genesis 1:1, when God created the Heavens and the earth. Well, what did that mean? That means all of the 200 billion stars just in our galaxy, the Hubble Telescope says there's 500 billion galaxies that are out there. And after all the mountains, all the streams, all the birds, all the fish, and the beauty behind this hotel, after God's created all that, He's like, "All right. You all think that is impressive. Now let me really show you something impressive." He says, "Now for the first time, we're going to create something in my image," and that is all of us.
When it comes to if somebody hates the United States, why do they burn the American flag? They burn the American flag because it represents the image of the United States. Why does somebody commit an abortion? Because God himself said that we are created in the image of God. If you hate God, you're going to want to attack that image of God. Abortion is an attack against that image of God that God himself said, "I'm going to create man in my image." That's why this is a spiritual battle. It is an attack against the image of God. Well, when does science say life begins? Whenever science and the Bible don't quite seem to agree, guess what, science has fallen behind. And you just give it enough time, and science will catch up to where the Bible says because the Bible is always going to be correct. Science even says that we are not new life at the moment of delivery. We are new life at the moment of conception. And that has been proven out, and it's an amazing process.
I mean, ladies, y'all are really efficient. Y'all produce one egg. You go, "Boop," and it goes, it gets picked up by the fallopian tube. Guys, one won't do it for us. We're always competitive in everything. So we line up our 300 million Michael Phelps, and they are all lined up. The gun goes off and they are all looking for the egg. Off they go. And they go through the cervix, up through the uterus, and then it's like, "Do I go right or do I go left?" We're guys, we don't ask for directions. Half of them go the wrong way, and they're just like, "There's no egg over here." And the other ones go, "We found an egg." But it's not a matter of who touches the wall first. It's a matter of who gets ... It's just like a Spartan race. Just because you got to the cargo net doesn't mean you won. You've got to go up and over.
So, when it comes to the first sperm that gets on the inside, all right, now we've done the swimming part of this biathlon. Now we got to get through the wall on the outside. And they start digging through with enzymes to get to the inside to bring the genetic material from the dad to the genetic material of the mom. And once that happens, there's no silver medal. There is no bronze medal in this race. There is a gold medal only. Well, how do you keep 300 million other swimmers from getting on the inside? Shields up, God created a shield called the zona pellucida. And the zona pellucida, as soon as you have Michael Phelps getting there on the inside, it just goes, "Doot, doot, doot, doot, doot," just like on Star Trek, shields up.
And I'm going to show you what happens. When that happens, there's an amazing depolarization of zinc ions. Ions go in. Ions go out to make that shield. And there is actually, if you look with the right frequency of light, there is a flash of light at that moment of conception with mammalian cells. So when somebody says, "Well, we really don't know when life begins," you've got a flash of light going on there. What more do you need than, bup, you've got a flash?
That is the meaning of life, that is when. And it's not just life, this is new life because the egg was alive and the sperm was alive. This is new life on the inside at that moment of conception. And then you have one cell, but then two, four, eight, 16, 32, but they're all identical copies. Then one cell says, "You know what, I don't want to be just like y'all. I'm going to start the whole circulatory system." And another cell says, "Oh, that's cool. I'm going to start the whole skeletal system." And another one says, "I'm going to start the whole nervous system. I'm going to start the whole vascular system."
It's like you get the exact same blueprints, and then all of a sudden, these individuals say, "You know what, I think that I'm going to do just the roofing. I'm going to do the structural engineering. I'm going to do the plumbing. I'm going to do the electrical work on this house." It's called cell differentiation. We know what happens tomorrow, but we have no idea how these cells know what to do tomorrow. When you have that kind of design, you had to have a designer. That kind of architecture and plan, there had to be an architect. What does everybody want when they get to my office? Do they say, "Hallelujah, I get to get eight tubes of blood drawn"?
No, everybody wants an ultrasound. Ultrasound is an amazing view into ... I mean, it's a womb with a view. All right. So y'all had some really good rooms with a view, but this is a womb with a view. And when you look ... I mean, remember Olan Mills, our families would take us to go get those pictures. We now have in strip malls, places like Peek a Boo, Show Me, where you can get ultrasound images. You can find out what the gender. You can see, "Oh, gosh, it's got your nose," that kind of stuff. To get images of your baby, it's 30 bucks. You have a Groupon, it's $25. I mean, it is just amazing how you can see the life on the inside of the womb. This is my daughter. My daughter was supposed to get married yesterday. But when she picked this date because it was a full moon, I said, "We're going to be out at The Gathering. Either I'm not going to be there, or you're going to have to pick another date."
So, she's getting married in six days out in Florida. But this is my daughter. She's this big. You can see the top of her head. She's 12 weeks along. You can see her butt. You can see her heart beating. This is my wife's uterus. I mean, she's sitting right here. But now you got the inside view. But there's no Wi-Fi, there's no Bluetooth, so you jump and you slide there on the inside. At that gestational age, she could be aborted at any abortion clinic in my city of Pensacola. Cute baby, huh? You want to see that baby two months earlier? Same pose, there's no difference but a geographic location and address between this baby on the outside and this baby on the inside. MRI, we do 2D, 3D, 4D. We show fetoscopic images.
I want to show you this MRI. This MRI is absolutely amazing. This was actually done at an office, and there was a baseball game going on. And they're playing the baseball game, and then it was the National Anthem that was coming. And so they're doing this imaging of this baby on the inside. And this baby hears, "Oh say can you see." And this baby's like, "I am not a kneeler. I will not sit. I will stand for our National Anthem." So this baby is adjusting itself, moving its hands, moving its arms, and says, "I will stand for the Anthem," and push, push. And all of a sudden, this baby stands up for the National Anthem. This baby could teach the NFL a whole lot of stuff as far as respecting the National Anthem.
But I could see, you don't know who this kid is. But you're all pulling for him. Come on, kid. Come on. Stand up. Stand up. This is the life, not just the person. And this is the personality on the inside of the womb because the key is a patient is a person no matter how small. And if they are a person, they have rights.
Roger Marsh: Well, you've just heard part one of a passionate, informative presentation given by Dr. Bill Lile here on Family Talk. Dr. Lile made the presentation at an event that Family Talk hosted in Colorado Springs this past year. Everyone in the audience on that Sunday morning when Bill spoke was absolutely enthralled with this presentation. I love how Dr. Lile shares the truth, but in an approachable, loving way that isn't off putting. As an OB/GYN himself, he is passionate about the lives of his patients, both those in the womb, as well as those outside. Make sure you listen again tomorrow to hear the conclusion of that presentation right here on Family Talk.
Now before we leave the air for today, I'd like to remind you that the month of January is Sanctity of Human Life Month here at the JDFI. And we have produced a resource for you just for the occasion. It's a three track audio CD featuring conversations with pro-life leaders Kristan Hawkins and Dr. Robert and Carlotta Jackson. You'll hear three thoughtful, encouraging programs when you request our special "Standing Strong for Life" three track CD. Just go to drjamesdobson.org/standforlife to request your copy today. That's D-R James Dobson dot O-R-G, forward slash, the word stand, the word for, and the word life.
Well, thanks again for listening to Family Talk today. I'm Roger Marsh. And from all of us here at The Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, God's richest blessings to you and your family.
Announcer: This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
Dr. Tim Clinton: Hi everyone. This is Dr. Tim Clinton for Family Talk. Where do you go to receive support and advice for your family? We interact with thousands of people every day through our Facebook page. There, you're going to find inspiring advice on what matters most to you, whether it's marriage, or parenting, you can be sure our profile will keep you updated with how your family can succeed. Visit us at Facebook.com/drjamesdobsonsfamilytalk. Each day, you're going to find our latest broadcast, helpful resources, inspirational pictures and quotes. Nowhere else are you going to be able to start your day with a thought from Dr. Dobson, as well as a special message before you go to sleep. Remember you can be sure that every post on our page is created with you and your family in mind. Take time to visit us and become a part of our online community on Facebook. Will you? Simply go to Facebook.com/drjamesdobsonsfamilytalk.
Dr. James Dobson: This is James Dobson again. As we close today's program, I just want to thank so many of you out there who make this broadcast possible with your contributions. And I want to tell you how much your generosity is appreciated.