{"id":267224,"date":"2022-05-03T08:40:36","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T13:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=267224"},"modified":"2022-05-02T22:19:56","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T03:19:56","slug":"buzzfeed-news-spreads-fake-news-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/buzzfeed-news-spreads-fake-news-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"BuzzFeed News spreads fake news about abortion and human development"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In a recent article<\/a> for BuzzFeed News, Pia Peterson misleads readers with blatantly false information about what abortion looks like. The title claims that “abortion images are misleading or manipulative” and that BuzzFeed’s “photos show the reality.” While it is uncertain whether this article is in response to the disturbing photos of the five babies\u00a0discovered<\/a> in Washington, D.C., who appear to have been aborted late in pregnancy, or to ‘heartbeat laws’ passed in various states, BuzzFeed appears to be trying to capitalize on the fact that “Most people don’t know what a fetus looks like.”<\/p>\n

Photographer Glenna Gordon says she documents abortions across the United States and claims that one of the hardest parts of photographing abortion is that “it’s not high drama.” But that’s likely because her photos are not of the actual abortions themselves or of the bodies of the preborn human beings that have been killed in the process.<\/p>\n

WARNING: Disturbing images below.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Misleading photos<\/strong><\/p>\n

“With all of these pictures, my goal as a photographer was always to show you something that you didn’t know,” she said. “Most people don’t know what a fetus looks like. Abortion takes place behind closed doors \u2014 for medical privacy and for safety \u2014 but I also believe something is gained by creating visuals for this process.”<\/p>\n

Her true goal, however, seems to be to hide the full, truthful story. She admitted to BuzzFeed that “it was hard to make dynamic pictures.” She said this is because it’s hard to access abortion businesses, and likely because she may not have been allowed in the operating room when the actual abortions took place. In fact, one abortion clinic she visited in Montgomery, Alabama — Reproductive Health Services — specifically states on its website that cameras are not allowed<\/a>. Yet, she was apparently allowed to snap photos of the women there.<\/p>\n

Most of Gordon’s photos show simply images of women traveling for an abortion, waiting for an abortion, walking with a nurse, preparing for an abortion, or recovering from an abortion. None of this truthfully shows what abortion is or does<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There is one photo, however, that does purport to show an aborted embryo at six to eight weeks gestation. But what it shows is questionable at best. A live ultrasound during this time is likely to show a beating heart, because by this age, the developing human being has a brain and a heart that is pumping blood. He or she has little arms and hands and fingers. Yet BuzzFeed’s image shows none of these things in an photo that was alleged to have been from a first-trimester D&C abortion.<\/p>\n

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Screenshot: BuzzFeed News<\/p><\/div>\n

The tagline under the picture \u2014 which, again, purports to show a human being anywhere from six to eight weeks gestation (four to six weeks after fertilization) \u2014 states, “Anti-abortion activists say this is a human, while doctors and scientists show it is cells before they have grown.” Scientists know that each new individual human life is created at the moment of fertilization. Abortions are not done to remove “cells before they have grown.” Abortions end pregnancies, which cannot exist without the presence of a newly-fertilized human being \u2014 a human being that actually signals his or her presence<\/a> almost immediately after fertilization. According to the Endowment for Human Development:<\/p>\n

As early as 24 to 48 hours after fertilization begins, pregnancy can be confirmed by detecting a hormone called\u00a0\u201cearly pregnancy factor<\/strong>\u201d or EPF<\/strong> in the mother\u2019s blood.\u00a0(The test for this hormone, however, is not widely available). This substance helps prevent the mother\u2019s immune system from rejecting the soon-to-be-implanted embryo and allows pregnancy to proceed.<\/em><\/p>\n

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