Pro-choice doctors call on 'anti-abortion propaganda film' to stop being shown in schools

Doctors for Choice have called for The Silent Scream, which they descibe as an “anti-abortion propaganda film”, to stop being shown in schools.

The film was produced in the mid-1980s and is often shown in Maltese schools.

The NGO said the film continued to be used by pro-life groups to “dramatize abortion and portray it as an inhumane procedure that should be banned.”

The group said that the film was riddled with “medical, scientific, and legal untruths” and focused entirely on the foetus in an attempt to move the focus away from the needs of women seeking abortions.

The NGO said that no attention was given during the film to the woman who needed the abortion in the first place.

"The protagonist is a 12-week foetus that is visualised supposedly flinching against abortion instruments and screaming during an ultrasound-guided surgical procedure,"  Doctors for Choice said.

They also listed what they claimed were some of the major untruths of the film.

Doctors for Choice said the film implies that a 12-week foetus is capable of conscious sensation and feeling pain. The group insisted that studies conducted by authoritative bodies including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, showed that those brain connections necessary for feeling pain do not develop before 24 weeks gestation.

The film implies that a 12-week foetus is capable of purposeful movements. The group said this is also untrue. At 12 weeks the foetus is not capable of consciously perceiving anything and all movements are reflex in nature. "It is certainly not capable of "frantic activity" as described in the film," they said. 

The film shows the open mouth of a 12-week foetus on an ultrasound. "At 12 weeks the open mouth of a foetus is not visible on ultrasound," they said.

The foetus in the film emits a "silent scream." The NGO said that a 12-week foetus does not have formed lungs and certainly does not have any air in them to emit a scream. "A 12-week foetus does not even display involuntary respiratory movements," the group said. 

"Crushing instruments" are used to crush the fetus's head before it can be extracted. Doctors for Choice said this was not required in abortions at 12-weeks. Up until approximately 14 weeks, a suction cannula is all that is needed to extract the pregnancy.

The 12-week foetus is referred to as a child. The NGO said that at that stage of development the foetus does not have developed organs, and is nowhere close to being able to live independently outside the womb.

The film claims that "brain waves" are present from six weeks. The group said that genuine brain waves begin in the third trimester of pregnancy when the foetus is capable of surviving outside the womb.

The film claims that many women who have abortion suffer severe psychological distress. Doctors for Choice said this was also untrue. "Studies have shown that the vast majority (over 95%) of women who have an abortion have no regrets and the minority who do improve over time," they said.

"The Silent Scream has been shown in Maltese schools for decades and this practice must end. The film misrepresents abortion and fuels stigma, to the detriment of women in Malta who need abortions and have had abortions," the NGO said.

The group said that it would be more beneficial for children to receive evidence-based scientific sexual education to help prevent unwanted pregnancies, coupled with improved access to contraception.

"Regardless of how abortion is portrayed, there will always be a need for abortion services, and therefore abortion should be legal and regulated like any other medical procedure," Doctors for Choice said.