Showing posts with label fetal surgery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fetal surgery. Show all posts

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Fetal hand

This photo has been circulating for over ten years. As a result, many urban legends have sprung up surrounding it, most originating from the pro-life crowd. And with good reason. It's one of the most remarkable pictures ever taken.

For those unfamiliar with this picture, it shows a groundbreaking medical procedure to correct a spina bifida condition in utero. The doctor removed the uterus from the mother, operated on the fetus, and re-inserted the uterus back in the mother. The surgery was successful.

In the midst of the surgery, the baby's hand reflexively grasped the doctor's finger.

Whatever your views of abortion, I think you'll agree the hand grasping the doctor's finger is NOT a blob of protoplasm, as the pro-abortion proponents would have us believe. Blobs of protoplasm don't grasp fingers. It is a living human being in there, not yet ready to face life. It's easy to see why the pro-lifers adopted this picture to rally for their cause.

Here's some additional information on the surprising controversy surrounding the photo.