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Abortion And 4-D Ultrasound
by Darnell Clayton
Originally posted to BNN 3/8/2005
If only more Americans could see this abortion might cease to exist in this nation. This technology allows parents/doctors to view "fetuses" (aka as babies) in the womb showing movements early on in the first trimester.
Photo from National Geopgraphic.com
"We see the earliest movements at 8 weeks," Campbell said. "By 12 weeks or so they are seen yawning and performing individual finger movements that are often more complex than you'll see in a newborn," he said. "It may be due to the effects of gravity after birth."
As this technology develops even further, abortion may become a harder issue to defend.
The images reveal facial expressions, like smiling, at 20 weeks. Beyond 24 weeks fetuses may suck their thumbs, stick their tongues out (perhaps using newly developed taste buds to sample amniotic fluid imbued with the flavors of the mother's food), and make apparently emotional faces.
Many of the reflexes seem designed to help the fetus with tasks it will need after birth, such as opening its eyes and sucking.
Campbell believes that ever improving imagery—particularly the 4-D scans, which are inching ever closer to displaying real-time movement—represents the tip of the iceberg for fetal-behavior study.
The technology is being used for other methods such as early detection of cerebral palsy (which Professor Stuart Campbell believes may develop in the uterus). He is pushing for better technology for the first trimester which would show more detail of the "fetus." As this technology improves it will become quite clear to all (well, everyone open minded towards the abortion debate) whether or not this is indeed a child or just merely "tissue." Selah.
Hat Tip: Blogs for Bush
Source: National Geographic
Darnell Clayton blogs at Hidden Nook.
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