Several years ago, Cynthia Gorney published a piece in Harpers magazine about the use of images of the fetus in the battle over abortion.   The focus of her article was, in part, the pen and ink drawings by Jenny Westberg depicting partial birth abortion   and which were effectively mobilized to pass the ban that the Supreme Court just upheld. More recently, Time magazine did a cover story on a new and more pastoral approach among prolife advocates to discourage abortions. The cover of this issue (February 26, 2007), displayed the image of a human hand in which rested four, scale models of fetuses at different stages of development. 

Images of embryos and fetuses have, of course, been ubiquitous in public debates about abortion. Mostly these images have been deployed to induce fear or guilt, but, as the Time magazine story made clear, sometimes images are used to different ends.

Whether the use of images among prolife advocates has been positive or negative, the images themselves have been intended to depict the embryo, from conception on, as a tiny person.

It is worth noting, however, that embryos have been depicted in other ways.  Consider, for example, the work of the British artist Helen Chadwick. Her interest in images of the embryo grew out of her (art) residency at the Kings College Hospital reproductive technology clinic in London.  Chadwick was struck by the fact that when the physicians decided which IVF embryos to place into a womans uterus, they had no scientific criteria for choosing.  Instead, they used aesthetic criteria that were reminiscent of the language of jewelers.   They talked, for example, about the clarity and the color of the cells.  With this in mind, she began to photograph embryos and to arrange the photographs into pieces of jewelry.

Or consider Hans Danusers photographs of frozen embryos.

Many will find these unfamiliar images of the embryo troubling, but it is important to know that, like everything else in the abortion debate, the iconic status of embryos is deeply contested.

Many will find these unfamiliar images of the embryo troubling, but it is important to know that, like everything else in the abortion debate, the iconic status of embryos is deeply contested.