In a recent column for Vice, a pro-abortion writer complained that the pro-life movement’s use of ultrasound imagery has “hijacked” and “politicized” abortion. “Today, feminist movements across the world are going up against imagery that associates abortions with baby-killing,” writes Amarans Eggeraat, noting that the abortion movement has yet to find an equally powerful image to support their movement. The abortion industry is not “associated” with baby-killing because of the imagery used by the pro-life movement; the abortion industry kills babies. Ultrasound technology makes it impossible to argue that abortion is nothing more than the removal of a “blob of tissue.” By giving us a glimpse into the womb, it draws attention to the horror of abortion. Eggeraat is right that the abortion industry has never found an equally compelling image. This is not because the pro-life movement is being “unfair,” but because there is no image and no argument that justifies intentionally taking the life of an innocent child.
It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and this has proven true when it comes to abortion. Images of babies in the womb are a stunning, silent rebuke of the abortion industry, forcing us to see the devastating loss of human life that has taken place in the US since Roe v. Wade. The tragic reality is that our society tolerates and even celebrates the brutal murder of unborn children.
Eggeraat complains that images of unborn babies are misleading, showing babies at a later stage in development than when most abortions occur. But one of the most famous images of abortion, the “precious feet” photograph shows a baby who was aborted at just ten weeks. A child in the womb does not simply look like a tiny unborn child, as Eggeraat claims. He or she is a tiny unborn child. If we are unmoved by images of unborn children who are at risk of being aborted, then we have lost our humanity.
There is a reason that so many abortion-minded women change their minds when they see ultrasound images of their babies, and it’s telling that the abortion industry is so hostile to ultrasound laws. Ultrasound imagery is not only a rebuke of the abortion industry and our society’s callousness toward life in the womb, it is also life-saving.
Pictures of preborn are not “misleading,” they are revealing, showing the undeniable humanity of children in the womb. Ultrasound imagery has shown us the beating hearts, the tiny hands and feet, and the faces of children whose humanity is denied by the abortion industry, reminding all of us of the urgency of putting an end to abortion.
Image: Lifebeat Center
