{"id":236395,"date":"2020-12-16T07:39:01","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T13:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=236395"},"modified":"2020-12-16T15:53:29","modified_gmt":"2020-12-16T21:53:29","slug":"vice-preborn-powerful-icons-reveal-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/vice-preborn-powerful-icons-reveal-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes, VICE, preborn children are ‘powerful icons.’ They reveal the truth without speaking a word."},"content":{"rendered":"
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A recent article published by VICE bemoans how images of preborn children are effectively used by the pro-life movement as “powerful icons.” Originally written by Amarens Eggeraat for VICE Netherlands<\/a>, Eggeraat detailed how groundbreaking work in photography allowed images of babies still in their mothers’ wombs to be seen for the very first time. This, combined with the advent of ultrasound technology, made a huge difference in how the public sees pregnancy and, by extension, preborn human beings.<\/p>\n

It is true that the pro-life movement does not shy away from using medically accurate images of preborn children. While Eggeraat doesn’t acknowledge this, the reason for this is often to dispel the inaccurate claims of pro-abortion advocates. Even notable people in the spotlight like Whoopi Goldberg<\/a>, Melissa Harris-Perry<\/a>, and former Planned Parenthood president and CEO Cecile Richards<\/a>\u00a0frequently deny the science of preborn human life. Abortion advocates dehumanize preborn children as “clumps of cells” or “products of conception,” and ignore scientifically accurate information about fetal development during pregnancy. Yet none of this is mentioned by Eggeraat, who instead complains that pro-lifers dishonestly display photos featuring babies at later gestational ages, when most abortions take place early in pregnancy.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0How one photo of a preborn baby helped to make future generations pro-life<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Besides being morally loaded,” she claims, “the visual association between these tiny babies and abortion is also scientifically incorrect, since the vast majority of procedures are carried before 13 weeks.” She adds, “Before ultrasound technology, anti-abortion activists often relied on religious or moral arguments against safe access to abortions. But the powerful imagery of prenatal scans helped them strengthen their cause \u2013 triggering people\u2019s protective instincts towards what looked like a tiny unborn child.”<\/p>\n

Eggeraat complains that the fetus is a “powerful icon” which doesn’t have a comparable match in the pro-abortion movement. But an image of a preborn child would not be powerful if it depicted nothing more than the formless shape of dead cells. The human embryo and fetus “look[] like a tiny unborn child” because\u00a0that is what they are<\/em>. Images of preborn children are powerful precisely because<\/em> they make the humanity of these children evident.<\/p>\n

Despite Eggeraat’s claims, pro-lifers have<\/em> displayed powerful images of preborn children before 13 weeks for a very, very long time, countering the “clump of cells” propaganda. An iconic photo of a preborn child’s feet at 10 weeks, today best known as the “Precious Feet,”<\/a> was taken by Dr. Russell Sacco in the 1970s, and was later publicized by well-known pro-life stalwart Dr. John C. Willke. It became one of the most well-known photos of an aborted child, and was even\u00a0turned into a lapel pin.<\/p>\n