Posted on 08/24/2005 2:35:39 PM PDT by neverdem
Taking on one of the most highly charged questions in the abortion debate, a team of doctors has concluded that fetuses probably cannot feel pain in the first six months of gestation and therefore do not need anesthesia during abortions.
Their report, being published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association, is based on a review of several hundred scientific papers, and it says that nerve connections in the brain are unlikely to have developed enough for the fetus to feel pain before 29 weeks.
The finding poses a direct challenge to proposed federal and state laws that would compel doctors to tell women having abortions at 20 weeks or later that their fetuses can feel pain and to offer them anesthesia specifically for the fetus.
About 1.3 million abortions a year are performed in the United States, 1.4 percent of them at 21 weeks or later.
Bills requiring that women be warned about fetal pain have been introduced in the House and Senate and in 19 states, and recently passed in Georgia, Arkansas and Minnesota. The bills are supported by many anti-abortion groups. But advocates for abortion rights say the real purpose of the measures is to discourage women from seeking abortions. It is too soon to tell what effect the new laws are having in abortion clinics.
The finding was considered persuasive by many scientists but is unlikely to settle the controversy. Most scientists agree that fetuses probably do not feel pain in the first trimester, but there remains wide disagreement over when, in later pregnancy, the fetal brain is sufficiently developed for pain to register. Some think that, with the current state of knowledge, it is impossible to know for sure. In Britain, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has said that fetuses probably...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Sick later pingout.
You know if you put a bullet in the back of the head of a murderer he will not feel pain.
Darn tootin.....
When my son was born and going to get circumcized, the doctor "assured" me that he would feel no pain.
Is a fetus capable of feeling pain, and if so, should fetal pain be treated during an abortion?
In today's Journal of the American Medical Association, five researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, review nearly 2,000 studies on the hotly debated questions. They conclude that legislative proposals to allow fetal pain relief during abortion are not justified by scientific evidence.
But their seven-page article has a weakness: It does not mention that one author is an abortion clinic director, while the lead author - Susan J. Lee, a medical student - once worked for NARAL Pro-Choice America.
JAMA editor-in-chief Catherine D. DeAngelis said she was unaware of this, and acknowledged it might create an appearance of bias that could hurt the journal's credibility.
Brit Hume said on the Grapevine that 2 of those researchers have close ties to the abortion industry. One is the head of an abortion clinic and one used to work for NARAL.
Logan, now two and AKA as FReeper "TT" "The Texas Termite", cheering up a friend, FReeper "Texas Cowboy" who comforted him and his family in their time of need.
BTW, TC is hospitalized *again* and need your prayers.
It's really not surprising that the news media are so crass and evil.
That's what they used to say about newborns in the 70's when they did open heart surgeries on them without anesthesia.
Sorry - just commenting on the similarity of the two arguments - the use of the word "probably" seems to be a common denominator.
Flamed hell, as a FORMER member of the AMA; you nailed it on the head. I would only expand your thesis to include any leftist fringe group with an ax to grind as the one's pulling the AMA's strings.
Iraqi citizens & U.S. soldiers blown apart by a suicide bombers don't feel any pain either.
Apparently, key personnel in the study are pro-abortion activists.
Thanks for the pics and the update on TC. Was the hospitalization expected or a surprise for TC?
Study Finds 29-Week Fetuses Probably Feel No Pain and Need No Abortion Anesthesia
and none of the Jews killed in the Nazi WWII concentration camps felt any pain either.
PS (my personal study told me so)< /sarcasm>
You mean like the anti-gun groups?
These types of "scientific" reports give science a bad name. I am pretty sure it could be taken apart by someone with knowledge on the subject in no time at all. Shame on JAMA for publishing this feminist clap-trap.
It is also a good idea to protest this study loudly because this "proof" will soon be cited time and time again by the fems and the libs.
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