Use our account feature to register for a free CLI account. Your new account will allow you to bookmark and organize articles and research for easy reference later - making it simple to keep track of the research that's important to you!
Register / Sign in
close-panel

Charlotte Lozier Institute

Phone: 202-223-8073
Fax: 571-312-0544

2776 S. Arlington Mill Dr.
#803
Arlington, VA 22206

Get Notifications

Sign up to receive email updates from Charlotte Lozier Institute.

Become A Defender of Life

Your donation helps us continue to provide world-class research in defense of life.

DONATE

Charlotte Lozier Institute

Phone: 202-223-8073
Fax: 571-312-0544

2776 S. Arlington Mill Dr.
#803
Arlington, VA 22206

Life & the LawFetal Development

FACT CHECK: S.C. Chief Justice Beatty is Wrong; Heart Rate at Six Weeks is 110 Beats Per Minute

‘Semantic Gymnastics’ Doesn’t Change the Scientific Consensus That a Baby’s First Heartbeat Occurs at 6 Weeks

Washington, D.C.South Carolina Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty today incorrectly claimed that a six-week gestation baby does not have a heartbeat, stating in a South Carolina Supreme Court hearing that, “it’s really not a heartbeat.  It’s an electrical signal.”  Associate Justice Kaye G. Hearn, quoting pro-abortion medical organizations, added that “what this act considers a heartbeat is actually embryonic cardiac activity … a true heartbeat does not occur until all four chambers in the heart have developed.”

Dr. Tara Sander Lee, Ph.D., who studied heart development at Harvard Medical School and serves as Director of Life Sciences at Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI), responded:

“With respect to Associate Justice Hearn, I must point out that the human brain isn’t fully developed until around age 25.  Would she suggest that a toddler or teenager doesn’t actually have a true brain?

“‘Embryonic cardiac activity’ is often defined by the medical community as the number of times the heart beats per minute.  At 6 weeks, the baby’s heart, or cardiac activity, is 110 beats per minute! By 15 weeks, the baby’s heart will have already beat nearly 16 million times.

“Is the heart still developing?  Yes!  So is the rest of the body.  The heart is the first functioning organ to develop in a human baby, because that embryonic heart is vital for oxygen and nutrient distribution.  A heartbeat at six weeks is scientific consensus based on published validated, objective, biological investigation, not a public relations campaign.

“Most South Carolina parents have seen their baby’s beating heart during prenatal ultrasound and discussed it with their obstetrician.  Politicians and abortion advocates can perform Olympic-level semantic gymnastics all they want, but most Americans instinctively understand that a developing human organ which beats rhythmically and pumps blood throughout the body is, in fact, a heart.”

The peer-reviewed science on babies at 6 weeks’ gestation includes:

  • The heart is actively beating at 6 weeks. Between fertilization and birth, the baby’s heart will beat approximately 54 million times.
  • The baby’s average heart rate is 110 BPM. This will rise to 159 bpm by 8.0 weeks’
  • The presence of a heartbeat at 6-8 weeks’ gestation correlates with a live birth rate of 98% in normal pregnancies without intervention.

Dr. Sander Lee, who has also directed a medical college research lab studying congenital heart disease in children, is lead editor of VoyageOfLife.com, which details what science says about unborn babies at each week of prenatal development.

Gestational age, which is calculated based on a woman’s last menstrual period, is the most commonly used measurement of pregnancy.

 

Charlotte Lozier Institute was launched in 2011 as the education and research arm of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. CLI is a hub for research and public policy analysis on some of the most pressing issues facing the United States and nations around the world. The Institute is named for a feminist physician known for her commitment to the sanctity of human life and equal career and educational opportunities for women.

###

Latest Posts

March 25, 2024 Filed: CLI Amicus Brief in Idaho’s Moyle v. United States EMTALA Case March 22, 2024 Fact Sheet: Three Problems with the FDA’s Abortion Drugs Complications Data March 21, 2024 Filed: CLI Amicus Brief in SCOTUS Case FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

You Might Also Be Interested In

Filed: CLI Amicus Brief in Idaho’s Moyle v. United States EMTALA Case

charlotte-lozier-institute Charlotte Lozier Institute
March 25, 2024
ClosePlease login

Filed: CLI Amicus Brief in SCOTUS Case FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

charlotte-lozier-institute Charlotte Lozier Institute
March 21, 2024
ClosePlease login
Filed Brief: Zurawski v. Texas and Reasonable Medical Judgment

Filed Brief: Zurawski v. Texas and Reasonable Medical Judgment

charlotte-lozier-institute Charlotte Lozier Institute
March 11, 2024
ClosePlease login

Become A Defender of Life

Your donation helps us continue to provide
world-class research in defense of life.

BECOME A PARTNER
cta-image