We live in a time when advanced technology abounds. One of the most amazing of these technologies is the ultrasound, which allows us to see into the womb. We can see what previous generations never saw. Things that were previously hidden from view are now brought to light. We can see the sex of the baby and watch him sucking his thumb or grabbing his foot.
I can remember accompanying my wife to the ultrasound of our daughter, Skylar. It was amazing. We were able to see her little fingers and hands, her arms and legs, head and feet. We could even hear her heartbeat. I can still remember the nurse saying, “Dad, you’ve got a new girlfriend.” I wish that every woman considering an abortion would at least get an ultrasound at a regular doctor’s office (not at the abortion clinic) before making a final decision. If they could see their precious child moving around joyously, they would probably choose life.
Neela Banerjee wrote an article in The New York Times entitled “Church Groups Turn to Sonogram to Turn Women From Abortions,” which highlights the effectiveness of ultrasound machines in changing the minds of women seeking an abortion. Below is an excerpt of the article.
Sixteen months ago, Andrea Brown, 24 years old and unmarried, was desperate for an abortion, fearing the disappointment of her parents and the humiliation she might face.
While frantically searching the telephone book one day, she came across the Bowie Crofton Pregnancy Center and Medical Clinic, a church-financed organization that provides counseling and education about sexual abstinence. The receptionist told Ms. Brown that the clinic did not perform abortions or make referrals but that she could come in for an ultrasound to make sure her six-and-a-half-week pregnancy was viable. When she did, everything changed.
“When I had the sonogram and heard the heartbeat – and for me a heartbeat symbolizes life – after that there was no way I could do it,” Ms. Brown said recently as she revisited the clinic and watched her daughter, Elora, now 9 months old, play at her feet.”
Here was a woman who wanted an abortion. Yet an ultrasound changed her mind and saved a life. The article says that a survey by Heidi Group “found that those using counseling alone reported persuading 70 percent of women considering abortion to abandon the idea. In centers with ultrasound machines, that number jumped to 90 percent.”
An article entitled “Effects Of Experience On Fetal Voice Recognition” published in Psychological Science, states that a fetus can recognize its mother’s voice in the womb and can distinguish her voice from other female voices. This implies hearing, learning, and memory. Dr. Barbara Kisilevsky, a professor at Queen’s University, along with a team of psychologists and obstetricians found that fetuses responded to their own mother’s voice with heart rate acceleration. The heart rate decelerated at the sound of a stranger’s voice. Obviously a non-living clump of tissue could not do that. Hopefully such reports will help people to see that the unborn are very much alive!