Free Republic

Ten years ago, the subject of a news photograph - a 21-week-old fetus - reached his arm outside his mother's womb during prenatal surgery. A photographer captured the image of a tiny hand grasping the gloved hand of a surgeon. In the months that followed the publication of his photograph, Michael Clancy, a freelance photojournalist, found himself deeply committed to the fight to end abortion and having to choose a new career. For Clancy would end up in the middle of a heated political controversy and instead of reporting news, he suddenly became the news. On Sept. 18, Clancy shared...

<p>Nearly 10 years after a stunning photograph of his tiny hand traveled the world, Samuel Armas has a firm grip on what "The Hand of Hope" means to him.</p> <p>"When I see that picture, the first thing I think of is how special and lucky I am to have God use me that way," Samuel told FOXNews.com. "I feel very thankful that I was in that picture."</p>

One moment can change your life. That’s what Michael Clancy has discovered in the eight and a half years since he snapped the groundbreaking photo of an unborn baby clutching his doctor’s hand during fetal surgery. Clancy is now a fervent pro-lifer, spreading the message that unborn babies are precious human beings and deserve protection. He will be a featured speaker at the upcoming NRL Convention in Washington, D.C., July 3–5. “It was the earliest human interaction ever recorded,” Clancy told NRL News. “It proved that the child at 21 weeks in utero is a reactive human being.” When he...

<p>This is just unbeleivable! Please read before viewing picture - it's worth it!</p> <p>A picture began circulating in November. It should be "The Picture of the Year," or perhaps, "Picture of the Decade." It won't be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the US paper which published it, you probably would never have seen it.</p>

"The Hand That Touched The World" Nearly Four Years Later It was the "hand of hope," a photo of an unborn baby's hand, that made its way around the world within days of appearing in USA Today. Taken by Michael Clancy, the color photo showed Samuel's tiny hand grasping a surgeon's finger during in utero surgery. See story, page 9 about Samuel's visit to a Senate Committee hearing. Photo above by John Imbody A Flash of Life Special to NRL News by Jonathan Imbody Flashing an impish grin, three-year-old Samuel Armas quickly ducked behind a chair as a photographer tried...

Story of "The Baby Hand" June 14, 2003 RenewAmerica staff report Photo by Michael Clancy Some of us may be familiar with a picture called "The Baby Hand," taken on Aug. 19, 1999, by photojournalist Michael Clancy for USA Today, which first published the picture. Clancy was assigned to document a spina bifida operation performed in utero on a 21-week unborn baby named Samuel Armas by Dr. Joseph Bruner, a surgeon at Nashville's Vanderbuilt University Medical Center. The picture and its story have been circulated on the internet so often that some question whether they are authentic. They are. Clancy...