by Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
It's light years beyond ultrasound and will make you practically fall off your chair when you see it.
We at Priests for Life are now promoting and distributing to every sector of the Church and the pro-life movement the most vivid, powerful, and striking videography of the unborn child that exists. Obtained through a rarely used technique called embryoscopy, in which a video camera the size of a pen-point is inserted abdominally or cervically, this video footage has been incorporated into a 42-minute video called "The Biology of Prenatal Development," now available from Priests for Life.
You can see segments of this imagery at Priests for Life's special website www.Unborn.info.
It is widely known in the pro-life movement that ultrasound imagery changes peoples' minds and hearts. With this stunning, color imagery of the child from four to twelve weeks after fertilization, we expect even more radical conversions.
The DVD was produced by the Endowment for Human Development, written and researched by a medical doctor, and endorsed by numerous medical experts. The video has received 11 video awards for its excellence, and has even been distributed by National Geographic!
The video does not address the abortion issue, but certainly will inoculate anyone from pro-abortion arguments. The video is intended for a non-professional audience of ages 12 and higher, and yet does not oversimplify its subject matter. Hence, it is even useful for medical school audiences. Along with the embryoscopy method, five other medical imaging techologies are used in the video, with accompanying commentary on the scientific facts of the child's development. Some of those facts are outlined below.
Priests for Life intends to make this video available to every pregnancy center, every school, and every Church in America. You can help us to do that! Here are some steps you can take:
1. Sign up at www.unborn.info to keep informed about this project.
2. Purchase your own copy of the DVD from Priests for Life and an additional copy to give to a school principal or pastor in your community. Let us know that you are doing this so that we can keep track of what parishes and schools are covered.
3. Make a donation to cover the cost of sending the DVD to every parish or school in your community, diocese, or state!
4. Recruit others to support the project by showing the DVD at your pro-life group meeting, other meetings, or at gatherings you can host in your home.
Among the developmental facts documented in the DVD are the following:
*The heartbeat is observed three weeks and one day after fertilization, and the heart will beat 54 million times before birth!Find out more at www.unborn.info.*At 6 weeks the embryo begins making spontaneous movements. Touch his mouth and he will withdraw his head.
*At eight weeks, 90% of the anatomical structures found in adults are present - that's 4000 distinct anatomical structures!
*The child has unique fingerprints at 10 weeks - the same fingerprints he or she keeps throughout life.
This column can be found online here.
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Fr. Frank's columns are podcast. See www.PriestsForLife.org/Podcast
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