S.C. Cornell S.C. Cornell is a writer based in Mexico City.

Fetal Rites | What We Can Learn from Fifty Years of Anti-Abortion Propaganda

S.C. Cornell

The strongest argument against abortion is not an argument at all. It’s the image of the fetus — tiny feet, perky nose, pre-melanin skin — and of its often grisly death. The persuasive potential has been clear for over a century; Progressive-era anti-abortion doctors toured the country with glass slides featuring embryos and fetuses at various stages of development. In 1910, a Missouri gynecologist expressed his hope that an enlarged...