Atlantic writer laments that the ultrasound ‘pushed the idea that a fetus is a person’

A writer for the Atlantic lamented that the scientific development of the ultrasound “pushed the idea that a fetus is a person” in a piece published Tuesday.

Moira Weigel, an author and a doctoral candidate in comparative literature at Yale University, wrote that “the origins of fetal ultrasound lie in stealth warfare.”

“Ultrasound technology was first developed to scan vast spaces, rather than telescope in on infinitesimal cell masses,” Weigel wrote.

Weigel also contended that ultrasound technology “made it possible for the male doctor to evaluate the fetus without female interference.”

“The framing of the ultrasound image was notable for what it excluded: the woman,” Weigel wrote. “In order to make the fetus visible, it made her disappear.”

Twitter users called the article “alternative science,” and weighed in with ideas for similar pieces.

The article resulted in the hashtag #AtlanticScience, which many Twitter users used to characterize the publication as a science denier.