If something is hidden from our eyes, does that make it less real?
Lennart Nilsson may have used a powerful camera to capture this photo of an embryo at approximately 6-8 wks post-fertilization but does that mean we should disregard what this image has to teach us? 1/
As my daughter said: Isn't it somehow more amazing that this little being, just over 1/2 inch long, is so obviously human, that he or she has hands, feet, eyes, and a heart?! That we can even see a developing spine: 2/
A fertilized egg is microscopic, but with the proper tools we can witness the fusing of the male and female nuclei.
Because our eyes cannot see something so small, does that mean it's less important? Or less human? 3/
The Sars-Cov-2 virus is also microscopic, roughly 1/100th the size of an average human cell, and even smaller in size compared to a human zygote.
Yet I don't see any pro-choice activists denouncing the virus's significance. 4/ hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/…
Something else we know through scientific research and through Nilsson's work, is how rapidly humans develop. As early as 22 days after fertilization, the newly formed, two chamber heart begins to contract.
Perhaps this should be cause for wonder rather than disregard. 5/
In just a few short weeks, the developing human changes from a fertilized egg into a highly organized embryo with a visible liver and heart. 6/
In this photo of an 8 wk embryo, we see similarities to images in a recent Guardian article, except here the embryo is visible, rather than hidden inside the gestational sac as it was in the article.
Look at those little hands and feet! 7/
Just two weeks later, the embryo is now considered a fetus, though it has been human at every stage.
Below are pictures of fetuses at 10 wks and 12/13 wks post-fertilization. At this stage a fetus is about the size of a lime or nectarine. 8/
Below is a photo of Baby Nelson, miscarried at 11 wks. While uncomfortable to look at, the image reveals not only his humanity, but also how traumatic it could be for a mother to see a fetus at this stage of development expelled from her body during a chemical abortion. 9/
After the first trimester, the fetus is settled in - the risk of miscarriage much lower at this point - and he or she is growing fast. Below are photos of fetuses at 15 and 19 wks post-fertilization: 10/
One of my favorite photos by Nilsson is of a fetus at 18 wks and it appeared on the cover of Life Magazine in 1965. At the time, Nilsson's photos were a groundbreaking look into the unseen world of embryonic and fetal development. They were met with awe and wonder. 11/
Unless otherwise noted, all the photos I've shared here are from the book A Child is Born (ACIB) by Lennart Nilsson. Most of the images use a measurement of post-fertilization, not gestational weeks. These leaves about a 10-14 days difference. 12/
In ACIB, not every photo is week-specific, e.g. the first photo in this thread is from a section about human development in weeks 6-8. I tried my best to use a variety of photos to represent development truthfully.
By 2TM fetuses are already preparing for the next generation! 13/
While these photos are awe-inspiring, informative, and helpful, the question remains: If we don't see something, does that make it less real?
More specifically, does the size, location, or visibility of a human make it any less human?
The answer to both is: of course not! 14/
What I hope this thread illustrates is that
regardless of how big the embryo is or which day the heart begins to beat or which week we can count 10 tiny toes
human development in the womb is rapid, continuous, extraordinary and alive
whether we can see it or not!
26 wks👇🏼15/15
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Just a reminder that I had an abortion at age 15 with zero opposition to abortion. I believed it was just tissue and I was exercising my right as a woman. I was not raised in a Christian home or culture and no one told me it was wrong.
…of people like the aptly named “cage” I couldn’t place the pain.
For years, I believed the lie that abortion doesn’t harm women, and so for years, I tried to blame my struggles on anything else.
So many of the people recovering from abortion wounds tell a similar story….
Like all trauma, abortion trauma is commonly repressed for a time.
It can be decades before something brings it to the surface - the birth or loss of a child, the “empty nest,” the sound of a dentist’s drill, a fetal ultrasound image, bumping into the father/mother…
Abortion coercion is so effective because it takes only a little drop to poison the whole well:
Humans are social creatures. We require community for survival. Rejection is the near-equivalent to a death sentence for social creatures.
1/
When a woman is pregnant she is at her most vulnerable and she knows it on an instinctual level. She is keenly aware that she needs her community to survive.
So when her community abandons her or threatens to do so (overtly or by implication), she slips into survival mode.
2/
That community includes her partner, parents, siblings, friends, employers, coworkers, doctors, mentors, etc - anyone on whom she relies for her physical, emotional, social, or financial survival.
If any one them pressures her to abort, she will likely feel threatened.
3/
THREAD: PROBLEMS WITH THE TURNAWAY STUDY
This is a resource for you to save and use later. But also it was a ton of work, so maybe read it at least once. Because you love me!
OK here we goooooo!!!!
1/
CONDUCTED BY THE PRO-ABORTION ADVOCACY GROUP, Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH). Although this does not automatically discredit the Turnaway Study, it's worth noting that they have a clear interest in a certain outcome.
2/
While ANSIRH's website uses disarming euphemisms like "reproductive well-being," a quick perusal reveals that the organization is staunchly proabortion. They also rely on the Turnaway Study for many of their claims.
3/
I have had it with proaborts still using the dishonest Guardian photos. So here we go: 1) This is NOT what a miscarriage or an abortion looks like. This tissue has been rinsed of all blood in a fine sieve and the EMBRYO IS EITHER MISSING OR HIDDEN. We'll come back to this!
2a) At no point in development is a human strictly microscopic. Here are screen shots of an embryologist's video of human eggs next to a dime. The videos were taken with only his phone. L: 10 human eggs R: 1 human egg
I am increasingly convinced that many of the problems we face today are a result of divorcing ourselves from our own humanity.
When people say “I didn’t consent to a baby being in my body” or “abortion just ends a pregnancy” or "what I do to myself doesn't affect you" /1
they are ignoring the reality that we are biological beings.
More specifically, we are highly advanced mammals with sophisticated physical, social, and emotional needs that must be met in order for us to thrive. /2
As human beings, we come into existence without any say. Our physical attributes are predetermined. We breathe, circulate, digest, metabolize, excrete, all apart from our will. We grow, change, get sick, get well, reproduce, give birth, often whether we want to or not. /3