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Finally, experts in fetal development argue that at twelve weeks a fetus cannot move "purposefully," as Nathanson asserts, nor can it perceive danger; the cerebral cortex, which coordinates perception and thought, is not yet developed. As for the silent scream, says Johns Hopkins Neurobiologist David Bodian, doctors have no evidence that a twelve-week-old fetus can feel pain, though "there is a possibility of a reflex movement" in response to stimuli like surgical instruments. Hobbins suggests that the dramatic scream may have been a fetal yawn, because "the fetus spends lots of time with its mouth open." Indeed, he says, the gaping mouth in the blurry film may not have been a mouth at all, but the space between the fetal chin and chest.
On Capitol Hill last week, pro-choice activists were responding with a media campaign of their own. Their weapon: a clip from a CBS Morning News show featuring a panel of five physicians, Hobbins and Berkowitz among them, tearing into the film. Doubtless Silent Scream has given pro-life forces new momentum, says Ron Fitzsimmons, a lobbyist for the National Abortion Rights Action League, and "it has forced us to respond."