The Facts of Life

A popular pro-life bumper sticker proclaims: "Abortion Stops a Beating Heart." That is certainly true. But what about the baby — or "fetus" or "embryo" — in an RU-486 chemical abortion? What is his or her developing status during the early weeks of pregnancy? The following is taken from The Facts of Life: An Authoritative Guide to Life and Family Issues by Brian Clowes, Ph.D.

3 weeks: Your early forming baby has a beating heart.

4 weeks: He has developing muscles, and his arm and leg buds are visible. His first neocortal cells appear. He has grown in size by a factor of 10,000 [since fertilization]. Blood flows in his veins, separate from your blood.

5 weeks: Her pituitary gland is forming, and her mouth, ears, and nose are taking shape.

6 weeks: His cartilage skeleton is completely formed and ossification begins. His umbilical cord has developed. His brain coordinates movement of muscles and the involuntary movement of organs. Reflex responses are present. At 43 days, his brain waves can be recorded.

7 weeks: Your early forming baby girl has lips that are sensitive to touch, and her ears resemble her family’s pattern. The first fully developed neurons (nerve cells) appear on the top of the spinal cord, beginning construction of the brain stem.

8 weeks: He is well proportioned, about 11/2 inches long. All his organs are present, complete and functioning (except the lungs). His fingerprints have been engraved.

9 weeks: She will bend her fingers around an object placed in her palm. Her fingernails are forming, and she sucks her thumb.