Seeing the Truth in an Unborn Baby's Smile.(use of 4-D ultrasound technique to view fetuses, United Kingdom)

A new controversy in Britain involves seemingly innocuous images - - babies smiling, yawning, blinking. But these babies are still in their mothers' wombs, shown through a four-dimensional ultrasound procedure developed by Professor Stuart Campbell. The publication of some of these images has sparked a debate over what impact the technology might have on the acceptability of abortion and the view of the humanity of unborn children.

Four-dimensional ultrasound, which combines many three-dimensional pictures of unborn babies to show movement in real time, is a relatively new technology in Britain. Campbell uses it in his Create Health clinic in London.

Parents who see their babies through this technology said they felt extraordinary joy in seeing their unborn babies so clearly. "When the professor was scanning me, we started to call the baby's name and it was amazing, he started to smile back at us. It was lovely," Theresa Kirton told the Sunday Herald Sun.

Her husband Trevor said that he was amazed to see a family resemblance in his unborn son. "He knew we were there and was smiling for us," Mr. Kirton said. "We had spent a long time playing him classical music and talking to him in the womb, but to see his response was astonishing. He also appeared to be concentrating at one point, and was pulling exactly the same face as I do when I am thinking hard."

Professor Campbell said that the unborn babies' facial expressions can be clearly seen, even if he cannot know exactly what is causing them. "What's behind the smile, of course, I can't say," Campbell told the Chicago Sun-Times. "But the corners turn up, and the cheeks bulge... . I think it must be some indication of contentment in a stress-free environment."

Pro-lifers point to the four-dimensional images to show that the child in the womb is a human being, with the same actions and expressions as any newborn baby. "The images show the delightful reality of the humanity of the unborn baby," Pro-Life Party spokeswoman Julia Millington told BBC News. "We cannot believe that anybody could continue supporting abortion when they see these extraordinary ...