Typically pro-abortion mainstream media outlets used terms like “children” and “baby” while describing the in utero impacts of air pollution this month.
According to Today, researchers reported that “black carbon” particles were found for the first time in the brains and lungs of unborn children. The outlet used the term “fetuses’” in the headline but started the article by describing how “particles inhaled by pregnant mothers can make their way into the tissues and organs of developing fetuses.”
Presumably, Today is using the term “mother” in reference to the relationship to the preborn child rather than those that are born. The outlet later quoted researcher and professor Tim Nawrot saying: “Now, we have proof of direct exposure before the child even leaves the womb and breathes in air pollution.” And last month, the Today show broadcast a segment on how preborn children may visibly react to the flavors of different foods.
These images from researchers show that babies in the womb can possibly react to flavor. pic.twitter.com/RVB7DsXNoc
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 22, 2022
The pro-abortion outlet Salon similarly ran a headline on Oct. 13 declaring that “For the first time, researchers find that air pollution is making its way into unborn babies.”
One of the article’s paragraphs described the impact on “unborn infants” and how “even before drawing their first breath, babies are being exposed to air pollution.”
Forbes, meanwhile, published a contributor article with a headline that warned about particles entering “fetus brains, lungs, livers.” It ended by warning that air pollution can potentially affect the health of “your unborn child.”
The articles come amid a broader debate about the humanity of preborn children and how that impacts abortion policy. Media outlets have used language that overlooks or ignores that the “fetuses” being aborted are preborn children. In 2020, CNN notably used the phrase, “fetus that was born” to describe a baby who survived an abortion.
The recent coverage of pollution largely focused on the brains and livers of preborn children. According to the National Library of Medicine (NLM), babies’ brains and spinal cords begin to develop at just five weeks of gestation. Between 11 and 18 weeks, the liver begins producing red blood cells, and the liver and pancreas produce secretions. The lungs start forming at just eight (8) weeks with lower airways developing at 23-25 weeks. By week 26, the baby’s air sacs are forming and rhythmic breathing movements occur between weeks 31-34.
This story regarding potential environmental dangers to preborn children came amid pro-abortion questions about the heart’s existence early in pregnancy, with at least one political figure arguing that heartbeats are “manufactured” at six weeks in order to oppress women. These comments prompted swift backlash from doctors and scientists who refuted the claims made about the technology of ultrasound.
A baby’s heartbeat or cardiac activity can be detected around six weeks’ gestation via transvaginal ultrasound.
