Fox News medical contributor just admitted Stacey Abrams was right, there is no fetal “heartbeat” at six weeks
After railing against Abrams, Dr. Marc Siegel then explained: “There's no heart there, there's no valves, but you are seeing a fluttering, a flickering of electrical activity”
Published
Citation From the September 23, 2022, edition of Fox News’ America’s Newsroom
DANA PERINO (CO-ANCHOR): I have a different topic to get to, want to go down to the governor's race in Georgia, with Stacey Abrams stirring up some controversy with comments about fetal heartbeats. Watch here.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
STACEY ABRAMS (GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE): There is no such thing as a heartbeat at six weeks. It is a manufactured sound, designed to convince people that men have the right to take control of a woman’s body.
(VIDEO ENDS)
PERINO: We reached out for comment. Her campaign said that “Stacey Abrams has already stated her support for limits in line with Roe and Casey” — those, of course, those famous lawsuits — and “doctors have been clear that the so-called heartbeat law is not medically accurate.” Doctor, over to you. Is a heartbeat able to — can you hear a heartbeat at six weeks into pregnancy?
DR. MARC SIEGEL (FOX NEWS MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR): First of all, before I answer that, her comments are outrageous. You know, the fetal ultrasound was invented in 1958, by Dr. Ian Donald in Scotland, an obstetrician who said women may see in vitro, they may see a forming fetus and decide not have an abortion. What’s wrong with that, if they decide that? Also, the great medical advances of fetal ultrasound have saved so many lives. It’s led to being able to operate in vitro — in utero — it’s allowed surgeons to go in there and operate. It’s such a lifesaving thing. It’s so ridiculous that she said that.
Now, to your question about six weeks, Dana, I’ve got to tell you, you can see at six weeks that a fetus is forming. There's no heart there, there's no valves, but you are seeing a fluttering, a flickering of electrical activity. That’s the beginning of a heart. So, you could debate all day when an actual heart occurs, but that is the beginning of flickering, of fluttering of life there, where the heart is going to be.