Photo by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash
Dr. Joan Fleischman, cofounder of MYAbortion Network, attempts to downplay abortion through misleading pictures she took of the aftermath of abortion. Fleischman’s project, titled, “The Issue of Tissue” presents false information to reduce the shame her patients experience and increase her revenue. This article points out what is misleading in Fleischman’s project, and emphasizes the responsibility that members of society have to be truthful about abortion.
What is “The Issue of Tissue?”
You may have seen MYA Network’s “The Issue of Tissue” project headed by Dr. Joan Fleischman and other abortion activists, as featured in ‘The Guardian’ on October 19, 2022. The project? To promote abortion by claiming that “an abortion under 10 weeks is merely the removal of ‘pregnancy tissue.’” And the embryo? Fleischman claims you can’t see it with your naked eye. She promotes these assertions with pictures she took of the aftermath of abortion [#]. (Click the link and scroll down to see the pictures). The specimens were prepared by washing off blood and the menstrual lining. This left the translucent embryo indiscernible within the cloudy, white gestational sac.
Screenshot from “The Issue of Tissue” by the MYA Network
What Information is Misleading?
In a video discussing “The Issue of Tissue” project, Fleischman stated: “You might be surprised to learn that through 9 weeks of pregnancy there is no visible embryo.” Indeed, anyone with a basic knowledge of fetal development should be surprised by her claim, because at 8 weeks pregnant, an embryo measures half an inch long.* Fleischman’s photos show “no visible embryo” because, after the preparation method used on these specimens, there is no pigment left to differentiate the embryo from the gestational sac.
What a baby actually looks like 6 to 7 week gestation, 8 to 9 weeks LMP by Lennart Nilsson
Fleischman then proceeds to discount the amazing cardiac development which happens during early fetal development. “At 6-weeks of pregnancy, the so-called ‘heartbeat’ reflects electrical activity of cells before a heart organ is formed.” This too is a very surprising claim given the existing body of scientific knowledge on this point. Consider this from The National Library of Medicine..."
Week 5
“Your baby's brain, spinal cord, and heart begin to develop.”
Week 6
“Baby’s heart continues to grow and now beats at a regular rhythm. This can be seen by vaginal ultrasound.”
In addition, Baby Center states that at 9 weeks, “The four chambers of the heart are fully formed.”
Thus, we know that the embryo should be visible to the naked eye and that the heart is real and beating 6 weeks from the last menstrual period.
4 week embryo by Lennart Nilsson
What is in it for Dr. Fleischman?
Fleischman is the owner of “Early Options,” an abortion clinic in New York. Not only that, she invented an abortion technique called the “SofTouch Method” and claims that she was one of the first to research the abortion pill.
The abortion pill and SofTouch procedure cost “a flat fee of $2,100” according to one Google review for the Early Options clinic:
Dr. Fleishman's career and livelihood have been built on tens of thousands of abortions. By presenting half-truths to women in crisis, she is generating revenue.
Objections to MYA Network
MYA Network’s “Issue of Tissue” project is concerning in many ways:
The “Issue of Tissue” project misleads patients about what an early abortion looks like. Medical providers have an obligation to provide accurate information to their patients.
There is a clear conflict of interest: doctors who are performing (and profiting from) abortions are also those who are promoting it through misinformation.
MYA Network is trying to exploit those of low education by offering misinformation to promote an abortion.
MYA Network is trying to rewrite decades of scientific research and convince the general public that the body of scientific evidence currently available is false.
MYA Network is attempting to normalize abortion.
We Deserve the Truth–All of It
Those seeking abortions deserve the absolute truth. MYA Network is feeding misinformation to their clients. Perhaps this is in an attempt to reduce the shame patients experience from having an abortion; perhaps it is to increase the number of abortions and thus increase their revenue. Either is wrong. Many women who are led to believe that they will see a lump of amorphous pregnancy tissue after taking the abortion pill are shocked to find their baby with developed fingers, toes, and facial features. Sugar-coating the truth harms women. Those seeking abortions need to know the truth about the child they carry.
*For more information, watch this 2-minute video which documents the growth of the embryo during the first trimester. In addition, you may want to take a quick look at early fetal development information from The National Library of Medicine, WebMD, Mayo Clinic, What to Expect, the American Pregnancy Association, or Baby Center.
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