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 Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2006 6:41 am
The following was put together and written by Moniquill. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Statement on Pain of the Fetus We know of no legitimate scientific information that supports the statement that a fetus experiences pain early in pregnancy. We do know that the cerebellum attains its final configuration in the seventh month and that mylenization (or covering) of the spinal cord and the brain begins between the 20th and 40th weeks of pregnancy. These, as well as other neurological developments, would have to be in place for the fetus to receive pain. To feel pain, a fetus needs neurotransmitted hormones. In animals, these complex chemicals develop in the last third of gestation. We know of no evidence that humans are different. http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/04/14/hscout532137.html "The neural circuitry needed to process pain is complete, if not mature, by 26 weeks' gestation... "From about 26 weeks you can talk about there being a complete system in terms of biology, a link from the skin to the spinal cord to the brain, and we know that set-up is reasonably functional," Derbyshire explained...But to properly experience pain, the mind must also be developed, something which cannot happen until after birth. The mind permits the subjectivity of pain...I agree that pain is a complex sensory experience that requires activation of many regions of the cerebral cortex and that 'Without consciousness there can be nociception [response to noxious events] but there cannot be pain,'" Ralston said. "I do not know when that necessary neural circuitry is fully developed and functional, but it certainly is not established by 20 weeks gestational age, as encoded in legislation in several states in laws penalizing physicians for not informing mothers about pain in their fetuses." And even if they had all the necessary hardware needed to feel pain, they still wouldn't, because until birth fetal mammals exist in a coma-like state. http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17909-1491771,00.html Professor David Mellor, the physiologist who carried out the research, believes such concerns are unwarranted and that fetuses cannot feel anything before or during birth. He will present his findings at a conference on animal sentience that is being organized by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) in London next month. In a paper that will be published in an academic journal, Mellor will suggest that in mammals the fetal brain is kept in a deep sleep throughout pregnancy by a combination of natural sedatives and anesthetics secreted by the brain and placenta. "Consciousness appears for the first time after birth. We conclude the embryo and fetus cannot suffer before or during birth. Suffering can only occur in the newborn when the onset of breathing oxygenates its tissues," Mellor said.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 5:35 pm
Thank you for posting this. I'm so sick of people thinking that they can prove abortion is wrong by mentioning things such as "A Silent Scream", a pro-life video (I think that's right) that shows a aborted fetus that looks like it's screaming. Maybe reading this, and maybe doing some research on what fetuses look like as they are aborted may help them. Fetuses can look like they are screaming, yes, but they can also look like they are masterbating. Fetuses can't feel. 'nuff said.
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Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 8:58 am
crazeebeautiful Thank you for posting this. I'm so sick of people thinking that they can prove abortion is wrong by mentioning things such as "A Silent Scream", a pro-life video (I think that's right) that shows a aborted fetus that looks like it's screaming. Maybe reading this, and maybe doing some research on what fetuses look like as they are aborted may help them. Fetuses can look like they are screaming, yes, but they can also look like they are masterbating. Fetuses can't feel. 'nuff said. But the problem is that they do not read these things. sad
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:09 am
Here are a few more resources that you might find helpful as well. Pain perception requires conscious recognition or awareness of a noxious stimulus. Neither withdrawal reflexes nor hormonal stress responses to invasive procedures prove the existence of fetal pain, because they can be elicited by nonpainful stimuli and occur without conscious cortical processing. Fetal awareness of noxious stimuli requires functional thalamocortical connections. Thalamocortical fibers begin appearing between 23 to 30 weeks’ gestational age, while electroencephalography suggests the capacity for functional pain perception in preterm neonates probably does not exist before 29 or 30 weeks. For fetal surgery, women may receive general anesthesia and/or analgesics intended for placental transfer, and parenteral opioids may be administered to the fetus under direct or sonographic visualization. In these circumstances, administration of anesthesia and analgesia serves purposes unrelated to reduction of fetal pain, including inhibition of fetal movement, prevention of fetal hormonal stress responses, and induction of uterine atony.Journal of the American Medical AssociationPain experience is now widely seen as a consequence of an amalgam of cognition, sensation, and affective processes, commonly described under the rubric of the biopsychosocial model of pain. Pain is no longer regarded as merely a physical sensation of noxious stimulus and disease, but is seen as a conscious experience that may be modulated by mental, emotional, and sensory mechanisms with sensory and emotional components. The biopsychosocial concept emphasizes the multidimensional nature of illness, injury, and pain, rather than emphasizing pain as a purely physical fact of illness or injury. Pain has been described as a multidimensional phenomena for some time, and this understanding is reflected in the current IASP definition of pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage”.A further reason to doubt the viability of fetal pain post-26 weeks’ gestation is the development of the fetal cortex. Although the thalamocortical fibers penetrate the cortical plate at approximately 26 weeks’ gestation, the cortical regions that have been identified as important in processing the various components of pain do not become fully responsive until after birth.American Pain SocietyFitzgerald believes that responses to noxious stimuli before 26 weeks cannot be interpreted as pain because the "cortex is not a functional unit." After 26 weeks, however, we are left to consider whether the biological development of the fetus is so advanced that it may begin to experience pain. Whether the fetus feels pain, however, hinges not on its biological development but on its conscious development. Unless it can be shown that the fetus has a conscious appreciation of pain after 26 weeks, then the responses to noxious stimulation must still essentially be reflex, exactly as before 26 weeks.British Medical Journal -- BMJAlthough debate continues about whether, and if so when, the fetus can experience pain, current mainstream professional guidance suggests that a fetus cannot begin to have the possibility of experiencing pain until after 26 weeks’ gestation. This view is reflected in practical guidance on the use of analgesia during invasive procedures carried out on the fetus in utero. The BMA’s view is that even if there is no incontrovertible evidence that fetuses experience pain, the use of pain relief, when carrying out invasive procedures, may help to relieve the anxiety of the parents and of health professionals.British Medical Association
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:47 pm
Thanks for this post! I knew fetuses could not feel pain but I've been looking for some sources to quote before I debate. heart
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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:25 pm
also, sentience is needed for pain perception as well. this doesn't occur until roughly 20-26 weeks. but sadly, many lifers deny science when it proves them wrong.
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:02 am
(Actually, I'd say that sentience doesn't happen until some time after birth. But that's unrelated.) Hey guys, GUESS. WHAT. Here's another article about fetal pain that came out yesterday. guardian.co.uk | Human foetus feels no pain before 24 weeks, study saysQuote: The connections in the foetal brain are not fully formed in that time, nor is the foetus conscious, according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The findings of two reports commissioned by the Department of Health strike a blow to those seeking to reduce the upper time limit for having an abortion, currently at 24 weeks. The studies suggest that late abortions, permitted for serious abnormalities or risks to a woman's health, do not result in foetal suffering because of increasing evidence that the chemical environment in the uterus induces "a continuous sleep-like unconsciousness or sedation". Even if it could feel pain, read the bolded. It's weird how a lot of antichoicers will say that health exceptions are okay and then work the hardest at banning abortions that are most likely to be because of health reasons. (Did that make sense?) Quote: The report on pain perception says: "It was apparent that connections from the periphery to the cortex are not intact before 24 weeks of gestation and, as most neuroscientists believe that the cortex is necessary for pain perception, it can be concluded that the foetus cannot experience pain in any sense prior to this gestation." Even after 24 weeks, "it is difficult to say that the foetus experiences pain because this, like all other experiences, develops post-natally along with memory and other learned behaviours".
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