Pregnancy means that a human grows up in another human. It takes a while before you can recognize what is growing there as a human being – and longer than most people know. The romantic image of the miniature baby has settled in people’s minds and not that of the shapeless clump of cells that only slowly takes shape after many weeks. How far the common idea of the embryo in the abdomen deviates from reality, especially in the early stages, is shown by photographs taken by the American MYA Network now shared. The network of doctors, activists and patients works to ensure that early abortion is integrated into regular health care in the United States.
In June, the US Supreme Court overturned the right to terminate a pregnancy. Until then, abortions were legal throughout the country at least until the fetus was viable. Completely different now. Abortion is now either illegal or restricted in 14 US states, 13 of which prohibit abortion even in the earliest stages of pregnancy.
Physician Joan Fleischman, of MYA, believes attitudes towards abortion are influenced by misrepresentations. As she worked, she realized “how much imagery on the internet and on billboards — showing human-like characteristics at this early stage of development — has permeated culture,” she told The Guardian. These images led to patients expecting “to see a small fetus with hands – a miniature developing baby” from an early stage in their pregnancy, i.e. after just a few weeks. What they see instead: cellular tissue.
Abortions continue to be punishable
In Germany, too, abortion is still a criminal offense according to the Criminal Code. Although pregnant women in this country can decide for themselves whether they want to have the child or not. As a rule, an abortion is possible up to the twelfth week after conception. If there is no medical or criminological reason for the abortion, the pregnant woman must seek advice in advance in what is known as a pregnancy conflict talk, in accordance with the counseling rule.
After all, doctors in Germany are now allowed to publicly and extensively provide information about abortions, after the German Bundestag removed the controversial paragraph 219a from the penal code without replacement at the end of June. Doctors had previously had to reckon with criminal charges and prosecution. Alicia Baier from “Doctors for Choice Germany” called the deletion in the star-Interview a great success. But he also said: “Abortion will continue to be taboo and stigmatized, and the deletion of paragraph 219a will not change anything.”
Sources: MYA Network, The Guardians,Federal Office of Statistics, Federal Ministry of Family Affairs