"Show the Truth" Shows Scientific and Medically Inaccurate Photos

by Cathy Orlando

On Wednesday, July 13th an anti-choice demonstration took place at the corner of Brady and Paris in Sudbury by the American-based organization "Show the Truth".
As someone with a Masters Degree in reproductive biology, as well as having many friends whom are medical doctors, I was interested in the scientific and medical accuracy of their photos  because their claim is they are showing the truth.
Their picture of an alleged 10 week old aborted embryo  with the American dime beside its head was not accurate in its size or body shape. Go to  http://www.showthetruth.ca/ and scroll to see their pictures. The embryo in that picture was at least five to six times the size of their American dime in the picture. This size  would be about 4-5 inches in length. An embryo's length at 10 weeks would be about 1.2 inches or less than the size of two dimes. Additionally, its body shape in their picture was strikingly proportional to a skinny newborn baby with a skinny neck and relatively long arms. At 10 weeks, an embryo does not have an neck at that stage of development and it has much shorter arms proportional to the body than what is depicted.  For more information about the true body shape of a 10 week old embryo please go here: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prenatal-care/PR00112
"Show the Truth" also displays picture of beheaded aborted fetus from the third trimester. I read their description on their pamphlets and on the boards they were carrying. They said the fetus in the picture was from the third trimester (24-26 weeks) abortion and there was no anesthetic. Firstly, the third trimester starts at 28 weeks, thus if this really is an abortion from 24-26, the truth is, it would have been from a second trimester abortion. Additionally they said there was no anesthetic in their description in the picture. No anesthetic would most likely have killed the mother. Women must go under anesthetic for late abortions or they risk bleeding to death. And if the mother is anaesthetized, so is the fetus.
At the end of the day, one of the leaders in their group was adamant that God wants us to know the truth. I agree. Thus, they should show the truth and they are not.
As a prolife and prochoice person and a Christian, I pray that we can work together to create a world where a lot less women have to make that very difficult and personal decision to have an abortion. I feel that this American-based group, by sharing their inaccurate photos serves to stir emotions and spread lies and is impeding progress towards reducing the number of abortions in Canada.
Yes, they are an American group. They do have an American dime on their picture afterall.