Cease me for those who’ve heard this one earlier than: A politician seemingly missing in primary science literacy is spreading falsehoods about feminine biology on social media.
The award thistime goes to David Alvord, a council member in Salt Lake County, Utah, who doesn’t assume girls ought to make choices about their very own reproductive healthcare as a result of “the infant will not be a part of the physique of the girl.”
Alvord made the declare in response to a tweet from Vice President Kamala Harris final week by which she made no specific point out of abortion, but reaffirmed her belief in “the judgement of the ladies of America” to make choices about their our bodies.
Alvord took umbrage ― then tweeted a bunch of nonsense about umbilical cords.
“The infant will not be a part of the physique of a girl,” Alvord tweeted in response. “The umbilical chord [sic] and placenta don't straight hook up with the girl.”
“The infant floats inside the girl,” he continued. “It isn't concerning the girl’s physique, it’s to kill then take away the infant’s physique. It's accomplished in better proportion to black infants.”
As folks piled onto the wildly inaccurate declare, Alvord dug in whereas additionally ever so barely transferring the goalposts:
“My tweet was not a biology lesson however was meant to easily level out that a child, the umbilical wire, and the placenta are a part of a brand new and creating physique, with its personal distinctive DNA and gender, separate from the mom,” he wrote.
“For everybody dunking on me on a child being a part of mom, you could need to preserve studying,” he added, pointing to a simplified Wikipedia entry concerning the placenta and the potential for dangerous outcomes “if the mom’s and fetus’s blood combined.”
That, too, was inaccurate.
Dr. Jennifer Gunter, an OB/GYN and the writer of “The Vagina Bible,” responded with some tutorial supplies.
“So yeah, Dave. Fetal blood does combine with maternal,” the physician added. “That’s why we give RhIg and that is even the idea for some genetic testing. You're a dipshit.”
A spokesperson for the American School of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) was additionally fast to dispute Alvord’s claims, noting that the pregnant individual and the fetus are under no circumstances separate and are, the truth is, very tightly interlinked.
In an emailed assertion to HuffPost, Christopher M. Zahn, MD, ACOG’s chief of scientific apply and interim chief of well being fairness and high quality, known as Alvord’s assertion that fetuses aren’t connected to the physique “false” and “not grounded in science.”
“The unfold of medical misinformation, myths and fallacies is dangerous for sufferers,” Zahn mentioned. “Individuals searching for details about their well being on-line ought to refer solely to dependable sources. Simply because info is on-line or on social media doesn’t imply that it's true, or primarily based on any dependable medical proof.”
“It's a unhappy actuality that some folks deliberately disseminate false info or just resolve to share unproven medical allegations with out confirming the reality.”
In keeping with his biography, Alvord practiced dentistry for 16 years. Now he oversees a dental malpractice insurance coverage firm.
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