1. Embryos don’t have hearts. They have groups of pulsing cells where the heart will eventually form. The embryonic period is defined as the first stage of the pregnancy up to 11 weeks gestation. The embryonic heart–including atria, ventricles, and related structures–is present by 6 weeks gestation. We have collected multiple scientific and medical sources […]
On December 6, 2021, The Linacre Quarterly published Dr. Bridget Thill’s dissertation “Fetal Pain in the First Trimester.” The article is written for a medical audience, with over 100 references to research in medical journals published from 1936 through 2021. If you can read the entire article, do, but for those who aren’t able to, […]
I originally wrote this article for TownHall. Reprinted here with permission. [Esta publicación está disponible en español aquí.] On December 1 the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case debating the constitutionality of Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, which many believe may lead to the Supreme Court weakening or […]
I’ve long wanted four children. I have a 6-year-old daughter, a 4-year-old daughter, and a 2-year-old son. My son was originally a twin, but we lost his sibling in the first trimester. I grieved (and still grieve), but I also knew that pregnancies with multiples often have problems, and I was not afraid to try […]
On September 7, 2021, Ms. Magazine published a piece by Carrie Baker titled “Media Repeat Junk Science Behind Abortion Ban Laws: Check the Science — There is No Heartbeat at Six Weeks.” Baker’s not-really-a-heartbeat piece followed the same general format as the many others before it: cite nothing but interviews and replace arguments with ambiguity. […]
On Sept 3 (2021) NPR published the article “The Texas Abortion Ban Hinges On ‘Fetal Heartbeat.’ Doctors Call That Misleading” by Selena Simmons-Duffin. In NPR’s tweet of the article, the description said “What an ultrasound detects in an embryo at 6 weeks is electrical activity from cells – not a heart.” Here I will explain […]
Today during the Rehumanize International Conference, SPL Executive Director Monica Snyder is giving her presentation “Deconstructing Three Pro-Choice Myths.” Below are all the sources she used for today’s version of the presentation. Myth #1: Biologically, we don’t know when human life begins. Articles: “Republicans Need to Be Countered on False Claims About Embryos,” Scott F. Gilbert, […]
[Esta publicación está disponible en español aquí.] Through Secular Pro-life I frequently post content about how the human zygote is the first stage of a human being’s life cycle. Often when I point this fact out, people will suggest I’m strawmanning the pro-choice view. They assert that no one really denies the basic biology; the […]
If you haven’t already, you should really read Biologists’ Consensus on ‘When Life Begins’, a dissertation by Steve Jacobs out of the University of Chicago. This blog post is going to be long, so here’s the summary: Most Americans think “When does human life begin?” is an important question that people deserve to know the answer […]
Image: Competing protest signs. One reads “Keep abortion safe and legal.” The other reads “Face it… abortion kills a person.” [This article originally appeared at The Fetal Position and is reprinted here with permission.] Occasionally a pro-choice person will give me a link to an article attempting to refute the idea that a new human organism begins […]
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