VATICAN, December 22, 2003 The Vatican has announced that Pope John Paul II will declare Gianna Beretta Molla a saint. Gianna who lived from 1922-1962 was a medical doctor and mother of a family in Italy.
A website in Gianna's honor relates: "In September of 1961, at the age of 39, Blessed Gianna was pregnant with her fourth child when physicians diagnosed a large ovarian cyst which required surgery. The surgeon suggested that Gianna undergo an abortion in order to save her own life. Gianna's decision was prompt and decisive: 'I shall accept whatever they will do to me provided they save the child.' She underwent the surgery but her fate was sealed. The following year, on Good Friday, Gianna was admitted to Monza Maternity Hospital. Her daughter, Gianna Emanuela, was born the next day but Blessed Gianna expired seven days later, on April 28, 1962."
Related pro-life quotes by Gianna include: "If you must choose between me and the baby, no hesitation: choose - and I demand it - the baby, save him!" and "Look at the mothers who truly love their children: how many sacrifices they make for them. They are ready for everything, even to give their own blood so that their babies grow up good, healthy and strong."
Gianna Beretta, Who Died for Her Unborn Child, to Be Canonized
4 to Be Canonized, 7 Beatified