Testimony of Steve Calvin, M.D., specialist in maternal – fetal medicine, before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism, and Property Rights, Senate Judiciary Committee, Hearing on “The 25th Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade: Has It Stood the Test of Time?” January 21st, 1998:
“… At the time of the Roe V Wade decision, ultrasound during pregnancy was largely experimental. During the 70s and 80s the beneficial uses of ultrasound in pregnancy multiplied…
Current ultrasound imaging techniques reveal the marvelous complexity of prenatal growth and development… However, the use of this wonderful window on the womb has become increasingly disconcerting for some who would rather view the fetus as pregnancy tissue or the product of conception.
…
We are clearly in a new era of obstetrics because of ultrasound and the expanding concept of treatment of the fetus as a patient. Yet there is an inescapable schizophrenia when modern medicine works under ethical rules which say that a fetus is a patient only when the mother has conferred the status.”
Ultrasound has been a powerful pro-life tool. It is not surprising that pro-choice groups have sought to prevent mothers from seeing their unborn babies on ultrasound when they are considering abortions. Read quotes about ultrasounds here.
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