Daily Caller | by Sarah Weaver | October 31, 2022
Science Photo Library, a website that features scientific and medical images and videos, stipulates that an image of a 10-week-old unborn baby is not to be used by pro-lifers in its description.
The London-based photo website features a picture of a “Human foetus in amniotic sac at ten weeks” and stipulates that it is “not for use by pro-life (or similar) organisations.”
A spokesperson for the website told the Daily Caller that the individual photographers make decisions about who to restrict from using certain photos. Lennart Nilsson, the photographer of the 10-week-old fetus, who died in 2017, was reportedly “shocked” when he learned that his famous pictures of unborn babies were used by pro-life activists to prove the personhood of a fetus.
“It is rare but not unusual to find images in our collection with restrictions: for example the tobacco and arms industries are two that come to mind. These are personal views and in some cases institutional policy and not set by SPL,” the spokesperson told the Caller.
A man wearing a blue headscarf reading “The two lives”, holds a replica of a fetus during a protest against the legalization of abortion in Medellin, Colombia, on February 19, 2020. (Photo by JOAQUIN SARMIENTO / AFP)
The spokesperson did not respond to questions from the Caller concerning which sorts of political views photographers are allowed to restrict. For instance, if a photographer could stipulate that a photo of two men not be used to campaign for gay rights.
