That things вЂњlook goodвЂќ is not equivalent to declaring a fetus viable, and patients can and do experience miscarriage, stillbirth, or other developmental problems after seeing that flicker on an ultrasound. вЂњIf I have a patient in front of me who is excited about her pregnancy, and hoping for signs that itвЂ™s currently developing properly, that little flicker can tell us that, at that point in the pregnancy, things look good,вЂќ says Sarah Horvath, a family planning fellow at The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. In a doctor/patient setting, though, says Shickler, physicians have used the term вЂњheartbeatвЂќ or вЂњfetal heartbeatвЂќ to convey to patients with wanted pregnancies that fetal development is proceeding as it should.

вЂњThese are cells that are programmed with electrical activity, which will eventually control the heart rate - they send a signal telling the heart to contract, once there is a heart.вЂќ It is this early activity which ultrasounds detect - not a heartbeat. вЂњFrom very early on, different cells are programmed to do different things for what is eventually a fully functioning human body,вЂќ says Jennifer Kerns, an OB/GYN and professor at the University of California in San Francisco. The difference between вЂњcardiac activityвЂќ and вЂњheartbeatвЂќ may seem linguistically minimal, but Schickler and others argue otherwise.В At this stage, she says, what doctors can detect is essentially communication between a group of what will eventually become cardiac cells. What is detectable at or around six weeks can more accurately be called вЂњcardiac activity,вЂќ says Robyn Schickler, OB/GYN and fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health. To wit: though pulsing cells can be detected in embryos as early as six weeks, this rhythm - detected by a doctor, via ultrasound -В cannot be called a вЂњheartbeat,вЂќ because embryos donвЂ™t have hearts. Anti-abortion activists have doubled down on вЂњheartbeatвЂќ messagingВ - in a recent news release regarding the ACLUвЂ™s legal challenge of the Ohio bill, the stateвЂ™sВ leading anti-abortion group, Ohio Right to Life, used the term eight times in 300 words.Д«ut obstetricians say the term вЂњfetal heartbeatвЂќ is misleading, and that this scientific misunderstanding, among countless others, may contribute to negative public opinion toward abortion. Four more states have similar bills pending.

states -В Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, Iowa, and North Dakota - have passed so-called вЂњ heartbeat bills,вЂќ a term thatвЂ™s become shorthand for a proposed ban on abortions beginning six weeks into a pregnancy, or the point at which a вЂњfetal heartbeatвЂќ can be detected.

When does heartbeat start in pregnancy