On May 25, Irish voters repealed their constitution’s Eighth Amendment. In doing so, they endorsed false science, rejecting the fundamental knowledge of when a human life begins and the continuum of human life.
The decision to choose a convenient lie over an obvious truth is called denialism and it is powered by misinformation. False information about the biological science of human embryology is spreading more rapidly and pervasively than ever before. Considering the consequences, it represents a serious public health crisis. Ireland’s recent referendum illustrates the real-world impact that distorted or erroneous information can have on human lives.
Within the past 35 years, the Irish people have had a complete reversal in their interest and opinions about abortion. The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was enacted in 1983 to prevent the dehumanization of the early human being, as had happened in the U.S. per the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade.
The Eighth declared that the right to life applies to preborn human beings too, and the amendment passed with more than 800,000 voters in favor, 67 percent. Recently, 1.4 million voters, 66 percent, decided to repeal. Although abortions will not begin immediately, the government has already prepared draft legislation that would allow abortions up to 12 weeks postfertilization, up to 24 weeks with certain restrictions, and would prohibit them after the fetus becomes “viable”, following 24 weeks of pregnancy.
But there has been no sudden scientific breakthrough that explains the new, widespread public support for abortion, or justifies the still-arbitrary biological marker of personhood referred to in this draft legislation as “viability.”
The results of the referendum demonstrate that the distorted beliefs about humanity and personhood set in Roe have finally infected Ireland. Roe v. Wade is the quintessential example of denialism, and it is the global source of this human development misinformation pandemic.
In that decision, the Supreme Court dismissed the biological facts about when a human life starts and the continuum of human life, instead arbitrarily establishing “viability” as the key point or condition in defining rights for an already existing human being. The justices then bound this constantly moving developmental milestone to the unscientific, philosophical concept of personhood.
One key difference between the 1983 vote in Ireland and the vote to repeal is that social media did not exist 35 years ago. There was no effective way to disseminate inaccurate science at that time.
But thanks in part to George Soros, anti-science groups estimated that they would spend more than 500,000 euros campaigning to repeal the Eighth (this figure does not even include the largest groups because they would not divulge the total) and that most of the money would go toward social media strategies, including ads. Misinformation thus spread was a critical factor.
The beginning of a human life has nothing to do with “viability.” In fact, any definition of personhood that does not tie to humanity — i.e., that is not based upon the objective science about when a human life starts and the continuum of human life — is scientifically invalid. Note too, that abortion laws may vary throughout the world, but when a human being begins to exist is not a function of geography. Human life cannot start at 12 weeks postfertilization in one country, and at 24 weeks in another.
Abortion is a core issue of the biological science of human embryology. Its related issues, decisions, and votes ultimately depend upon the answer to one question: “When does a human being begin to exist?” The answer to this question is not a matter of opinion. It is documented by the scientific method in the Carnegie Stages of Early Human Embryonic Development and the Carnegie Chart.
Carnegie Stage 1a marks the beginning of a human life. The Carnegie Stages are the global standard of human embryological research and have been so since 1942, when they were instituted by a U.S. government agency (part of the National Institutes of Health) that specializes in human development. The Carnegie Stages document that a sexually reproduced human being begins to exist at the beginning of the process of fertilization (Carnegie Stage 1a), at first contact between two mere cells, the sperm and the oocyte.
On May 25, 1.4 million Irish people voted to ignore these scientific facts and effectively legalize abortion in their country. The results of the referendum highlight the devastating and growing impact that science denial and misinformation are having on abortion policy. But fake science about early human development can also taint public health decisions pertaining to adult human beings. It is therefore a grave matter for human beings at every stage, in Ireland and beyond.
It is too late to prevent this pandemic, but the cure is simple: basic science education.
Brooke Stanton is the CEO of Contend Projects, a registered 501(c)(3) education organization spreading the basic, accurate scientific facts about when a human life starts and the biological science of human embryology.
