George's Story
She was just a 10 week old unborn fetus, weak, innocent, she couldn't even speak, yet before she was born she became an ambassador to the world, revealing the miraculous beauty of unborn life to others.
"George"
By Shari Richard, R.T., R.D.M.S.
Sonographer and Founder of Sound Wave Images
One evening, in 1989, while working as a Sonographer, I was asked to perform an ultrasound on a pregnant woman in order to determine the gestational age of the baby she was carrying. I began the ultrasound without receiving any additional information regarding her history. As I placed the gel and transducer on her abdomen, a clear image of a 10 week old baby appeared on the monitor. Most babies at 10 weeks are pretty active, but will sleep during at least the last part of the procedure so that I can obtain my measurements. Not this one! The baby I nicknamed "George" waved, jumped, turned somersaults and was very active during the whole exam. I watched as the mother's sad, discouraged face suddenly changed to a glowing beam of delight. "Is that my baby moving?"..."Look how developed it is!"... She couldn't believe that all this activity was going on inside of her while she couldn't feel a thing. We both laughed as I warned her that she was going to be a very busy mother.
On "George's" 1st birthday, I received a call from this mother thanking me for her daughter's birthday. She told me that she had been planning to terminate the pregnancy until she saw her unborn baby through ultrasound and that this baby was God's greatest blessing to her. Then she said, "Guess what? She hasn't slowed down a bit and is still as active as she was in the womb." I was disappointed that I had nicknamed the little girl "George" and although I tried to change it to "Georgette", "George" would always slip out.
"George's" mission began when I became her producer and chose her as the main character in the ultrasound videos entitled, Ultrasound: "A Window To The Womb" and "Eyewitness To The Earliest Days Of Life." These videos act as a stage permitting the voiceless unborn babies to show off their inherent beauty and humanity. Using high-frequency, trans-vaginal sonography, I demonstrate the fetal heart beat at just 24 days and observe the babies first movements as early as 7 weeks. For instance, Harry at 14 weeks can be seen climbing the uterine wall in an attempt to stand on his head. He falls down but doesn't give up and eventually succeeds. Other images show babies yawning, sucking their thumbs, breathing and even sticking out their tongues. Now just 6 years later, over 50,000 videos have been distributed "world-wide", translated into Korean, Spanish, French, Italian and Russian, through grass roots efforts. As a result of over 5,000 letters and other responses to these videos it became apparent that 90% of pregnant women considering termination, changed their minds after seeing their unborn babies through ultrasound.
In March of 1990, just one week following the completion of the ultrasound videos, I was invited to testify as a key witness on fetal development before the House subcommittee opposing the "Freedom Of Choice Act." This being my first speaking opportunity, I didn't feel very confident or thrilled about this engagement. I was assured that I could bring "George" and my other ultrasound images with me and allow them to speak for me. But "George" and the images of other unborn babies were not allowed to be shown, which led James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) to charge the committee with deliberate censorship and gagging a witness.
One week later, National Right To Life requested that I testify before the Senate subcommittee opposing the same bill. Again representatives of the opposing point of view tried to block my ultrasound videos from being shown, but this time I was permitted to show the ultrasound images. Senator Orin Hatch was quite impressed with the babies performance and commented, "that the video and testimony was the most powerful evidence brought before the government to date."
In August of 1993 "George" was selected by the DeMoss Foundation to be used in their national commercial campaign, "Life, What A Beautiful Choice" which has now been viewed by millions and is the "picture worth a thousand words". However, certain television stations refused to sell airtime for the ultrasound spot. A spokesperson for the New York television station WOR-TV said, "We thought it (George) was too graphic. It was a little harder edged than the commercials featuring already born children." A source at the firm in charge of placing ads, reportedly said that most stations were not running the ultrasound commercials because they felt it was really "hardcore" and represented "ideological extremism." Television stations, usually the great defenders of the First Amendment, run all kinds of trash ranging from vulgarity and profanity to semi-nudity. But little 'ol "George" was just a bit too graphic and hardcore.
In September of 1994, "George" and the ultrasound babies took off for the United Nations Conference on Population and Development in Cairo without my knowledge. When I listened to my phone messages it surprised me to find many calls thanking me for my work in Cairo. Wanda Franz, the National Right To Life President and Oliva Gans were at the conference in Cairo and informed me of the world-wide impact the babies made: "Many people from other parts of the world who don't have access to this technology where overwhelmed by the sight of the babies on the videotape," said Oliva Gans. "They would bring people back to the booth saying, 'Look at that!' We started recognizing people who made several trips to see the videotape, each time bringing someone else. The gentlemen brought local Islamic leaders to see the video which led to a serious discussion on how this new technology might change their religious view of the unborn."
I can only share with you bits and pieces of the trouble that "George" and these ultrasound images have caused in the past 5 years. Teachers have been suspended for showing the 'graphic' images in classrooms... sonographers have been suspended for not turning the ultrasound monitor away from the view of women considering abortion after being warned that "the moving image might influence her choice." Diagnostic ultrasound is scientific fact, not someone's opinion.
I have witnessed the beautiful miracle of unborn life revealed through the technology of ultrasound. I have shared the joy with women who have bonded with their unborn babies while still in the womb. But I have also seen the pain and tears of both men and women when confronted with the truth that 35 million babies have been lost in our country. One third of this generation has not survived.
Today, "George" is a typical 21 year old woman. The videos of her ultrasound images have been viewed around the world educating others on the beauty of unborn life.