{"id":313213,"date":"2024-06-03T12:43:43","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T17:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=313213"},"modified":"2024-09-20T12:45:11","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T17:45:11","slug":"buzzfeed-attempt-discredit-baby-olivia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/buzzfeed-attempt-discredit-baby-olivia\/","title":{"rendered":"BuzzFeed’s attempt to discredit ‘Baby Olivia’ prenatal development video is the weakest yet"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

BuzzFeed attempted to invalidate<\/a> Live Action’s “Meet Baby Olivia” video this week, claiming that there are six misleading or inaccurate statements made in the video about prenatal development. But the outlet’s arguments fall far short of debunking anything in the expert-endorsed animation.<\/p>\n

Live Action’s video depicts life in the womb using ground-breaking animation and expertise from medical doctors<\/a> as well as from the Endowment for Human Development (EHD), a self-described \u201cnonprofit organization dedicated to improving health science education and public health\u201d that is \u201c\u200b\u200bcommitted to neutrality<\/a> regarding all controversial bioethical issues.” EHD’s own award-winning prenatal development DVD \u2014 featuring the same milestones and timelines for prenatal development \u2014 is distributed by National Geographic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Let’s take these alleged “misleading” claims one by one:<\/p>\n

1. The moment when life begins<\/strong><\/p>\n

BuzzFeed claims that when life actually begins is “subjective,” and therefore, Live Action’s statement that life begins at fertilization is deemed by BuzzFeed to be “inaccurate.” BuzzFeed staff writer Natasha Jokic writes, “Many people do not agree that life begins at conception, even within religions. For example, the Talmud [a primary source of Jewish religious law] states that life begins at birth in Judaism.” But Jokic is wrong in two ways.<\/p>\n

First, it doesn’t matter what people “believe” about when life begins \u2014\u00a0it is scientifically proven<\/em> that a new, living human organism comes into being at fertilization. Scientific<\/a>\u00a0journals<\/a>,\u00a0textbooks<\/a>, and professionals are in agreement that the moment when a new, distinct human being begins to exist is the moment of fertilization<\/em> when sperm and egg unite. The Human Embryology & Teratology textbook states<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed. … The combination of 23 chromosomes present in each pronucleus results in 46 chromosomes in the zygote. Thus the diploid number is restored and the embryonic genome is formed. The embryo now exists as a genetic unity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Second, while Jokic claims that Judaism states life doesn’t begin until birth, Jewish experts say otherwise. Rabbi Yaakov Menken explained<\/a>, “The Jewish Bible\u2019s position on life is unambiguous \u2014 and emphatically ‘pro-life.’\u201d He added, “One who claims that fetal life is not precious to Judaism must not have read the Torah or Prophets, or studied our Oral Law.”<\/p>\n

In addition, Cecily Routman, MSW, president of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation, has said<\/a>, “Judaism is the original pro-life religion. It was the first religion in human history to sanctify human life from conception to natural death and to prohibit child sacrifice.” She continued, “The Jewish case against abortion comes directly from the Jewish bible, which commands us to protect innocent life wherever and whenever possible.”<\/p>\n

2. Age of the embryo<\/strong><\/p>\n

BuzzFeed also claims that Live Action’s “Meet Baby Olivia” video is “misleading” regarding “how old the embryo is.” Jokic writes, “This video marks the embryo’s growth from conception which is not how pregnancy is typically measured. Instead, it is usually tracked from the last known period. This is important to note because many of the markers used in this video are presented around two weeks earlier than they would be in medical terms.”<\/p>\n

But here’s the thing: “how old the embryo is” is exactly<\/em> what is shown in the video, which follows the child from the moment of fertilization onward. This is different from how the pregnancy<\/em> would be measured, which is an estimate<\/a> from the date of a woman’s last menstrual period (LMP). Dating the child’s age from fertilization is more precise than dating the embryo’s age from LMP when discussing prenatal development, because the date of a woman’s LMP occurs an estimated two weeks prior to fertilization \u2014 before the new life even exists<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Mayo Clinic notes on its website<\/a> (emphasis added), “It might seem strange, but you’re not actually pregnant the first week or two of the time allotted to your pregnancy<\/strong>. Yes, you read that correctly! Conception typically occurs about two weeks after your last period begins. To calculate your estimated due date, your health care provider will count ahead 40 weeks from the start of your last period. This means your period is counted as part of your pregnancy \u2014 even though you weren’t pregnant at the time<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

The Endowment for Human Development also<\/em> shows photos and videos of prenatal development based on weeks from fertilization, and it notes this on its website \u2014 just as “Baby Olivia” also makes clear. In fact, even EHD’s prenatal DVD distributed by National Geographic “explains the science and communicates the wonder of human development from fertilization through birth<\/strong><\/em>” (emphasis added).<\/p>\n

There is no inaccuracy regarding the age of the embryo when one is attempting to document the development of a new human organism from its biological beginning: fertilization<\/em>.<\/p>\n

3. The embryonic heartbeat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Live Action notes in the “Baby Olivia” video, “At three weeks and one day, just 22 days after fertilization, Olivia’s heartbeat can be detected.” BuzzFeed claims this, too, is “inaccurate,” writing, “At this time of gestation (in medical terms, around five or six weeks<\/a>), the\u00a0cells<\/a>\u00a0that can one day become a heart begin to emit electrical activity. This\u00a0cannot<\/a> be detected on a sonogram until some weeks later.”<\/p>\n

Jokic then quotes abortionist Jennifer Kerns. “What we’re really detecting is a grouping of cells that are initiating some electrical activity. In no way is this detecting a functional cardiovascular system or a functional heart,” Kerns told NPR in 2022. This is an inaccurate and calculated statement aimed at convincing women that there is no “heartbeat” because the embryo’s heart does not look like an adult heart. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t functioning.<\/p>\n

In fact, the human heart is the first organ to develop and the first to reach a functional state. Peter J. Ward, Professor of Anatomy, explained<\/a>, \u201cThe heart, to do its job,\u00a0has to be able to pump, and it starts pumping fairly early on \u2014 about day 23 of development<\/b>. \u2026 At this point, we\u2019ve got a nice flow of blood already set up through the heart.\u201d (emphasis added)<\/p>\n

Likewise, Dr. Mobeen Syed explained<\/a>, \u201c[The] heart is the very first organ that starts developing and it is the first organ that reaches a functional state. Can you imagine that\u00a0the heart reaches a functional state even before its own development completes<\/b>? When the heart is in the form of a tube,\u00a0even then it is pulsating and it is beating and it is pumping blood<\/b>.\u201d (emphasis added)<\/p>\n

And the cardiac activity (a.k.a “heartbeat”) of a preborn child can<\/em> be detected by ultrasound<\/a> at approximately four weeks after fertilization (which is six weeks gestation). Instead of falsely claiming that this cannot be detected “until some weeks later,” perhaps BuzzFeed should have checked YouTube to see videos<\/a> of women sharing<\/a> their six-week gestational ultrasounds, where the “heartbeat” of a two-chambered heart pumping blood through the embryo’s body can be heard.<\/p>\n

Take a look at this in-utero video footage from the Endowment for Human Development showing the beating heart pumping blood (in two chambers) at four weeks and four days after fertilization:<\/p>\n