"Wicked Witches of the West"

This weekend, I decided to visit the Body Worlds 2 exhibit at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore. The exhibit uses a scientific preservation method, known as plastination, to preserve human bodies for display. I had seen the exhibit before, but wanted to bring others with me to see it again. For those of you who have seen the exhibit, it's not for everyone. If you're squeamish or don't like "blood and guts", I would suggest that you not go.

There is one room of the exhibit that I found difficult to see the first time I visited and equally as hard to see the second time. A disclaimer hangs in front of the entrance to the area of the exhibit which holds preserved unborn babies reading "these infants died of natural causes." Upon entering the area--separated from the rest of the exhibit by black curtains--babies aged one week to eight months are preserved to show the anatomy of an unborn infant. In the center of the room is a table with several small glass tubes holding embryos aged one week through eight weeks--showing the miraculous development that takes place in the first eight weeks in the mother's womb.

As I stood there, looking at the clearly defined hands and feet of the eight week old embryo, it struck me that at this stage, a woman can take a pill to destroy this life. During this thought, a woman approached the other side of the display.

"I bet the pro-lifers just love this." In a high-pitched mocking tone she continued, "Look! You can see the little hands and the little feet. God, they must love this!" Her husband who stood beside her replied, "You sound like the Wicked Witch of the West," to which she quickly snapped back, "Pro-lifers are the Wicked Witches of the West."

I knew that it was not the time, nor the place, for me to engage this woman in a dialogue--especially since she had made our point for us. This baby had hands and feet--and a brain, eyes, a liver, and a beating heart. So, what was her argument? I'm not sure that she knew.