THINK ABOUT THIS: 12 Facts About a 15-Week-Old Unborn Baby You May Not Know

Nine justices of the Supreme Court heard oral arguments today on the Mississippi law that begins limiting elective abortions at the 15th week of pregnancy. America is one of only a handful of nations that allow elective abortions after the 15th week.

The 15th week is an important point in the development of the unborn child, as demonstrated by the following dozen facts compiled by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, based on peer-reviewed, fact-based research:

  • By 15 weeks of pregnancy, every major organ has grown and most are functional.
    • The heart pumps 26 quarts of blood per day.
    • Intestines have started the lifelong contractions that propel food through the digestive system.
    • The kidneys already filter toxins.
  • The unborn baby prefers sucking his right or left thumb.
    • By studying ultrasounds, scientists have determined that 85% of unborn babies prefer moving their right hand over their left hand. About 85% of adults prefer their right hand, too.
    • If a twin, the unborn baby moves more gently when reaching toward her twin’s face.
  • The baby responds to taste.
    • Flavors from the mother’s food seep into the amniotic fluid, peaking after about 45 minutes.
    • If the amniotic fluid tastes sweet because of an injection of saccharin, the baby swallows more fluid. If the amniotic fluid tastes bitter, the baby swallows less.
  • The baby’s heart has already beat approximately 15,800,000 times.
    • A baby’s heart starts beating about 22 days after fertilization.
    • In total, a baby’s heart beats about 54 million times between conception and birth.
  • The baby’s body responds to both touch and pain.
    • The baby responds to light touches over most of the body.
    • If something touches the palm of the baby’s hand, the baby will bend his or her fingers as if to grasp the object.
    • Neurotransmitters specific to pain processing appear between 10 and 14 weeks’ gestation. The spinal nerves needed to transmit pain to the thalamus have formed by 15 weeks’ gestation.

And here’s fact number 13: In the decades since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, an estimated 62 million unborn Americans — most of them being Black or Hispanic — have been slaughtered in their mothers’ wombs.


 

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3 Comments

  1. David Justus on December 1, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    I don’t see how your fact 13 is a fact about 15 week fetuses.

  2. Sean on December 1, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    Pray, oh pray, pray, pray. Pray, people. Pray, children; pray, you unborn. Cry out, dead and dying. Cry out, ground and sky. Stop this terrible scourge. And pray that if God demands that every drop of blood shed by abortion is repaid by lashing of the faithful, that we will bear the cost.

  3. […] But the unborn child is not always asleep: […]

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