I am a 21 year old biology student studying at Augustana College. I have lived in the Quad Cities almost my entire life but today I saw something that I don’t believe belongs in the quad cities. I saw this “Pro-life Across America” billboard by the factory of fear on 4th avenue in Moline. This billboard must be new but it is spreading dangerous misinformation about human embryonic development. It states that once the egg is fertilized, it only takes 18 days for the heart to start beating. This is not true.  The fetal heart in the embryonic stage is still developing and contractions/pulsing are usually not detectable with an ultrasound until 5-6 weeks have passed. Typically, the pulsing that the developing heart does at that point are very weak and referred to as “cardiac activity” rather than true heart beats. Later on, as the 4 chambers of the fetal heart develops, the contractions get stronger and more detectable. According to an article from the National Institutes of health, the heat rate will increase between weeks 5 & 9 and reduces around week 13. The point is, embryology is very complicated and Prolife Across America is oversimplifying it. I contacted the company and asked them where they got there information from yet they could only provide outdated information from as far back as 1965. They gave me excerpts from unscientific journals like LIFE magazine and most of their researchers were not doctors. One of the “doctors” they listed, Brian Clowes, had a PhD but in civil engineering. No medical background at all. I wouldn’t go to a mechanic if I had a cold so why would anyone listen to a civil engineer about embryology? Misinformation is dangerous and it doesn’t belong in our city. Take a moment to read through a couple recent, reputable, and relevant sources from a real scientific journals by real scientists and not civil engineers.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9225347/​

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3279166/