Twenty-one year old Julie (not her real name) asked the attendant in the abortion clinic if she could have a few moments to herself before the abortion procedure began.

Tears streaming down her face, she reached over to the cup of water on the adjoining bedside table. Placing it over her abdomen, she then tipped the cup. As the cool water ran down her bare midriff, Julie became a surrogate priest, ministering both the sacrament of baptism and the last rites.

She sputtered out, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” For the baby in its first trimester in her womb, it was a baptism into death.

Julie is just one of the many Canadian woman who have gone this route since 1969 when abortions were legalized. Since that date, about 2.5 million babies here in Canada have lost their lives. Here in Canada, a baby’s life comes to an end in the first, second, or third trimester of pregnancy, approximately every five minutes of every day of the year.

Had Julie become pregnant in 2003, wise counsel may have directed her to get a 4-D sonogram. The 4-D sonogram (another name for an ultrasound) is the latest state of the art technology from General Electric, the company founded 125 years ago by Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. Distinct from the normal 2-D ultrasound that many mothers have had, GE’s latest innovation shows a mother a highly detailed coloured motion picture of the baby in her womb.

Typically, medical professionals minister ultrasounds after the 15th week of pregnancy. Most abortions are performed within the first 13 weeks. The new 4-D sonogram allows mothers to see and hear a beating heart at six weeks, and then at 10 weeks they can see with absolute clarity the baby sucking its thumb. The moving coloured images are unmistakably clear and distinct, like watching television. Pre-natal maternal bonding that normally occurs when an expectant mother first feels her baby moving within, around 15 weeks, occurs far sooner with GE’s latest technology. It’s this bonding within the early stages of the first trimester that has caused many women with an unwanted pregnancy to change their mind and opt for life.

Young women like 17-year-old Stephanie Monegro. The high school dropout was two months pregnant when she went to a Crisis Pregnancy Center. There she was asked if she would like to have a 4-D sonogram.

“When I saw my first sonogram of the baby and I burst into tears, I thought, why would I want to kill something that is living?” (Christianity Today, March 2003, “Saved By Sonogram”)

Indeed when women who are considering abortion see a sonogram and the indisputable scientific evidence of live action within the womb, Shari Richard, a pioneer in helping Pregnancy Centers with sonograms says, “Sixty percent of her patients choose not to have an abortion.” (Focus On The Family, January 2003, “A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words”)

Although General Electric did not develop the 4-D sonogram for the benefit of the pro-life movement, their state of the art technology has done just that. The commercial they air to promote their invention shows the face of a woman seeing her baby for the first time. While background music plays The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face, an announcer says, “When you see your baby for the first time on the new GE 4-D Ultrasound system, it really is a miracle.”

Many of us don’t need General Electric to tell us that what is conceived in the womb is a miracle. Truly it is.

One hundred and twenty-five years ago when Thomas Edison invented the incandescent light bulb, he brought light to the darkness.

Today his company is again bringing light to the darkness by helping pregnant women make informed decisions based on all the evidence and wise counsel available to them. Today, women in their first trimester of pregnancy can see with their own eyes sacred life within the womb.

Listen to the heartbeat. Look at the sucking thumb. Cast your eyes on that tiny little face, Mom. It’s the first time you’ve ever seen her. You can watch her develop throughout your pregnancy. You will never forget these moments.

She’s absolutely beautiful, isn’t she? Still in utero, but very, very much alive! Some day you’ll say to her as you hold her on your lap, “Honey, I’ll never forget the first time I ever saw your face!”

This article is reprinted with permission of the author and The Pembroke Daily Observer where it appeared on May 17, 2003.