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With states like Georgia, Ohio, and Alabama passing some of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws in an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade, the national debate surrounding issue has once again risen to the forefront of American culture.
Conservative commentator Liz Wheeler believes all abortions are wrong and that Alabama's new law, which criminalizes abortions even in the cases of rape or incest, is perfectly justified.
Wheeler's own personal mission is to "expose liberal hypocrisy," even going so far as to appear in a video series teaching young conservatives how to debate liberals.
On May 7, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted about Georgia's new abortion law, which bans abortions after only six weeks.
She pointed out that, while six weeks is an incredibly short amount of time, it's even shorter when you consider it's only two weeks late on your period.
“6 weeks pregnant” = 2 weeks late on your period. Most of the men writing these bills don’t know the first thing a… https://t.co/EIy4tCJYMO— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)1557289700.0
That's when Liz jumped in and oh boy, she had an argument so good it would have been the number one scene in her "owning the libs" educational videos.
@AOC This is “two weeks late on your period.” Two weeks late has arms & legs forming, fingers & toes, & a heartbeat! https://t.co/5tN7JYxf19— Liz Wheeler (@Liz Wheeler)1557327426.0
Wheeler was attempting to show AOC that a six-week-old embryo was more like a baby than the tiny clump of non-sentient cells it clearly is.
Unfortunately for her, Twitter was on hand to call Wheeler out scientifically.
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC It does not, however, have a brain. It has not developed a cerebral cortex & therefore is still ~… https://t.co/1MRmWMyFQX— Emily M (@Emily M)1557637309.0
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC At 6 weeks, the electrical activity in what would develop into a brain is less developed than the… https://t.co/gjdGV2vEnH— Emily M (@Emily M)1557637479.0
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC “It is starting to form legs!” isn’t relevant. You don’t need legs to be living or a human. You d… https://t.co/L5q4uFVnx7— Emily M (@Emily M)1557637698.0
Having arms means nothing without a brain and, what's more, a woman's body should be her own business regardless of the fetus inside her.
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC Children that are homeless, in foster care etc have their arms & legs fully formed with fingers,… https://t.co/0IpWyXQYCs— Emily Kathleen (@Emily Kathleen)1557699657.0
Others pointed out that the picture Wheeler shared wasn't exactly a convincing one...
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC The "arms and legs" look like fins and it has a tail. I think this is a baby beluga.— Finn (@Finn)1557681657.0
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC I don’t see no fingers or toes🧐 it could be a fish for all we know— cydney (@cydney)1557690443.0
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC This is so inaccurate in so many levels. Even the picture doesn’t reflect neither the time descri… https://t.co/ldDJ82pyHZ— Josh (@Josh)1557676991.0
Another thing this picture fails to capture is how incredibly small the fetus is at this point.
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC Also this looks far more like a lizard, it's not a human until you can take him out and have him… https://t.co/76sckYtpdO— Khashi (@Khashi)1557715396.0
@Liz_Wheeler The fetus is the size of a pomegranate seed Liz... One could pass a menstrual clot that is FAR bigger.— Eliz-is currently unavailable-Bogosian (@Eliz-is currently unavailable-Bogosian)1557683214.0
To her credit, Wheeler's ignorant post DID kickstart some interesting conversation about unique perspectives on abortion.
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC Abortion should definitely be allowed til 13 weeks .. I don’t believe in abortions but however I… https://t.co/nrcty1NjT9— anya ' (@anya ')1557697889.0
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC As someone who had a miscarriage at this stage, seeing stuff like this sucks. I wish we would put… https://t.co/gFy0GJkKN5— Mrs. Terrell-Worsham 💜 (@Mrs. Terrell-Worsham 💜)1557714520.0
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC Uhh... conception doesn’t even occur until the third week usually. The second week is ovulation a… https://t.co/4FBvV2MxNO— Mel ᵔᴥᵔ (@Mel ᵔᴥᵔ)1557837501.0
There were, of course, some people who agreed with Wheelers point of view...
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC Pro-choice should not be an excuse to disrespect pro- life. This is a multilayered issue and dese… https://t.co/GB6xqaLs6K— sincerely, arrica (@sincerely, arrica)1557678500.0
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC An embryo has a heartbeat after 18 days in the womb tbf it’s judt like any other human being at a… https://t.co/6KyDc6xJVe— Fluorite🇫🇷 (@Fluorite🇫🇷)1557749832.0
...but, scientifically, they had no leg to stand on.
When it comes to civil rights, it seems fairly obvious that those most in need of defense are the living, breathing women whose liberties are under siege.
The fetus that is weeks away from beginning to develop a brain?
Probably not so much.
@Liz_Wheeler @AOC Imagine what could be done if you focused this enegery towards the forgotten children that get lo… https://t.co/JZERQQsW4P— Laura 🥀 (@Laura 🥀)1557692737.0