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Dr Anthony Levatino is a gynaecologist and obstetrician and former abortionist. During an approximately five-year period early in his medical career, he performed over 1,200 abortions. About 10% or approximately 120 of these were second-trimester abortions.

In an interview with Lila Rose from Live Action, he reveals his journey to becoming a leading pro-life advocate.

Beginning His Medical Career

Dr Levatino graduated from medical school in 1976. After further training, he began practising full-time obstetrics and gynaecology in 1980. As a part of his specialised medical training, he learnt to do abortions.

If you’d asked Dr Levatino at that time what he thought about abortion, he wouldn’t have hesitated for a minute to tell you that [he] was pro-choice. This was a choice between a doctor and that family patient. And no one – including the baby’s father – really had anything to say about it.

His first doubts about abortion began early, during his residency training. Levatino was doing first-trimester suction D & C abortions and late-term saline abortions (this was a technology used at that time).

Anthony met Cecelia, and they soon married. They desired to have children, but after a couple of years of marriage found out that they had an infertility problem. After visiting the best fertility specialist, having children looked impossible.

The couple turned to adoption, but found out the process was extraordinarily difficult. It was during this time that doubts first surfaced. “They were strictly selfish ones, but they were there.” He felt an inner conflict between the desire to adopt a child and ending a baby’s life that could be adopted. Abortion was preventing childless couples from access to adoption. Anthony recalls the thoughts,

My gosh, I’m throwing this kid in the garbage. Here I am trying to adopt a baby, yet I’m throwing them away.

Baby Heather

Anthony had personal access to 45 obstetricians in his area, so he decided to tell everyone he could that he and his wife were looking for a baby for private adoption.

About four months later he was given this message: “Call Marsha as soon as you’re done.” Anthony knew instantly what the note meant. Martha was head of social services at his practice and was one of the people he had talked to.

Anthony was told there was a 15-year-old girl in the labour/delivery room that wanted to give her baby up for adoption. In August 1978, they adopted their beautiful baby girl and named her Heather.

Heather and Shaun Levatino

Amazingly, the very next month Cecelia became pregnant — the very thing the medical books said couldn’t happen! His wife gave birth to a son in July 1979 — ten months after adopting Heather.

Heather’s Tragic Death

Now the delighted father of two children, Anthony continued doing abortions on a regular basis. But on 23 June 1984, the Levatinos experienced the inexpressibly tragic death of five-year-old Heather.

Friends had come over and the kids were playing together in the backyard. During the evening, they heard the screech of brakes out the front of the house. The kids had wandered into the front yard and onto the road. Heather was tragically hit, and Anthony and Cecelia held her in their arms as she died in the back of an ambulance.

I guarantee you, if you haven’t been through that, you have no idea what that feels like. I pray you never do.

Trying to Return to Work

Anthony can’t remember exactly how long after Heather died that he returned to work and did his first D & E abortion. As was his routine, he started the abortion, put in the sopher clamp, pulled out an arm or leg (about 8cm), looked at it — and became sick.

You can’t stop. You have to keep inventory and make sure that you get all the pieces. Otherwise, your patient will come back infected, bleeding, or dead. So I finished that abortion.

But I looked. For the first time in my career really looked at that pile of baby parts sitting on the table. I didn’t see all those things that had sustained me all those years. I didn’t see what a wonderful doctor I was helping her with her problem. I didn’t see her wonderful right to choose. I didn’t see the $800 I had made in 15 minutes. All I could see was somebody’s son or daughter.

And suddenly this was looking really different to me. For the first time in my life, it hit me very powerfully that this woman had come to me figuratively and said, ‘Here’s $800, kill my baby.’ And I was the kind of person who would look back at her perfectly calmly and say, ‘Sure, I’ll do that.’

Anthony did a couple more abortions thinking that he would just get over it. But he couldn’t. So, he announced to his partners that he’d no longer do second-trimester D & E abortions. He’d only do first-trimester suction D & C abortions.

This occurred for another couple of months until he could no longer do any abortions at all.

When you finally figure out [in your heart] that killing a baby 20cm long is wrong, then it doesn’t take you too long to figure out it doesn’t matter how long the baby is; it’s all the same.

A New Pro-Life Life

Dr Levatino has been extensively involved in educating others on the medical practices involved in abortion (see his breakdown of different abortion procedures below).

One of his most cherished privileges is his role in the movie Unplanned. Being a part of the film “was an incredible experience for us.” He used his extensive knowledge and experience to help portray the medical procedures and medical facilities accurately.

He states without hesitation that being on a film set was the last place he found himself. In his words,

I have absolutely no acting experience… I am not a movie person! It’s funny, my family is giving endless talks about having my autograph now.

Dr Levatino has an important role in the movie. He plays the doctor who performs the abortion where the lead character, Abby Johnson, is called in to help with the ultrasound. It’s this very difficult scene, where Abby changes her mind, that forms the central place in the narrative.

About Unplanned he states, “It’s a powerful movie. It’s a medically accurate movie.”

Advice for Pro-Lifers

Dr Levatino very vividly remembers a particular time when a woman came in for a regular appointment. Towards the end of their time, she asked, “Can I talk to you.” He professionally looked at her and said, “How can I help you?” She answered:

I’ve been sent here to give you a message that Jesus loves you. He cares about you. This is not what he intended your life, to be an abortionist. Please stop.

He also recalls three personal greeting cards sent to him after this experience. As well as a time when a plate of brownies was given to his office, with a message tied to the brownies. Dr Levatino now calls it “adopting an abortionist”.

He gives this advice:

If you’re going to convince somebody that maybe the path they are walking is wrong, you need a relationship with that person of some sort to start that dialogue.

This lady was very clever. She became my patient. Believe me, doctors listen to their patients.

As the experience from Dr Levatino shows, anyone can change. Perhaps it’s time to “adopt an abortionist”.

Abortion Practices

The following videos produced by Live Action educate on abortion procedures used at different periods of gestation. Warning: viewers may find these abortion procedures disturbing. Viewer discretion is encouraged.

1st Trimester Surgical and Medical Abortion Procedures

Suction (aspiration) dilatation and curettage (D & C) is a surgical abortion procedure performed during the first trimester (typically used between 5–13 weeks gestation).

The abortion pill is a medical abortion administered during the first trimester.

2nd Trimester Surgical Abortion Procedure

Dilation and evacuation (D & E), is a surgical abortion procedure. It is performed during the second trimester (13–24 weeks gestation).

3rd Trimester Surgical Abortion Procedure

Induction is a surgical abortion procedure involving a lethal injection and stillbirth, performed from 25 weeks to full-term.