MP shows scan of unborn daughter in Parliament
The debate was pulled because of two Government statements and an urgent question, but Mr Linden could likely have unknowingly broken new ground - it is believed to be the first time an ultrasound scan of an unborn child has been shown in the Commons chamber.
Holding the picture aloft, Mr Linden told colleagues: "This is my daughter to be born in the autumn, so I'm particularly keen to see this be put in place as soon as possible."
Despite the fact that abortion has been debated an unusual amount in recent months, the very mention of the unborn child is rare enough to attract attention. For instance, during Stella Creasy's emergency debate on repealing sections of the Offences Against the Person Act (which would decriminalise abortion in England, Wales and Northern Ireland), the DUP's Sammy Wilson noted that the debate "has of course reflected the views of those who wish to control their own bodies, but what about the unborn child? That side has been lacking in most of the speeches today. What rights and protections does the state afford to unborn children?"
Expectantly it followed that Mr Wilson and his colleagues were jeered and heckled for standing up for the rights of the unborn child. Hannah Bardell MP (SNP) raged that for "DUP Members...to talk about unborn children being thrown in the bin or babies being disposed of, are disgusting ways to describe the choices that women have to make anywhere in the UK but particularly in Northern Ireland."
The Conservative MP Maria Caulfield was faced with similar a similar backlash of vitriol and contempt when she defended the unborn during Diana Johnson's decriminalisation bill last year. "Too often today," she said then, "debates about abortion—about the risks involved and the rights of the unborn child—are shut down; but I, and many colleagues who share my views, will not be silenced as we seek to be a voice for the voiceless, and as we argue for more modern and humane abortion law that upholds not only the dignity and rights of women but the dignity and rights of the unborn child."
These comments meant Ms Caulfield faced an enormous media outcry when she was appointed as the Conservative Vice-Chair for Women back in January.
Despite a culture of death in Britain stemming from half a century of legalised abortion, it has taken a discussion on parental leave for MPs to be shown the image of an unborn child - surely they'll be less suprised when an MP dares to mention the unborn child in any future abortion debate.