Fetal pain

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The existence and implications of fetal pain relate directly to the worn ground of debate about abortion. Much argument-territory here has been staked out since the US Supreme Court's landmark decision, Roe v. Wade in (1973). Though many researchers in the area of fetal development agree a fetus is unlikely to feel pain until after the seventh month of pregnancy,[1][2][3] legislation has been proposed by pro-life advocates requiring abortion providers to tell a woman that the fetus may feel pain during an abortion procedure.[4]

A review by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco in JAMA concluded that data from dozens of medical reports and studies indicate that fetuses are unlikely to feel pain until the third trimester of pregnancy.[5][6] There is an emerging consensus among developmental neurobiologists that the establishment of thalamocortical connections (at about 26 weeks) is a critical event with regard to fetal perception of pain.[7] Because pain can involve sensory, emotional and cognitive factors, it may be "impossible to know" when painful experiences are perceived, even if it is known when thalamocortical connections are established.[8]

Contents

[edit] Medical studies and reviews

In 2005 in the United states, a meta-analysis of existing experiments published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) concluded that the available evidence indicates fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester, and that electroencephalography suggests the capacity for functional pain perception in premature infants probably does not exist before 29 or 30 weeks; this study asserted that withdrawal reflexes and changes in heart rates and hormone levels in response to invasive procedures are reflexes that do not indicate fetal pain.[2]

Also in 2005, Mellor and colleagues reviewed several lines of evidence that suggested a fetus does not awaken during its time in the womb. If the fetus is asleep throughout gestation then the possibility of fetal pain is greatly minimized.[9]

There is also discussion among researchers about how pain is perceived over-all. Some researchers believe that because pain can involve sensory, emotional and cognitive factors, pain may not be sensed until after birth.[10]

In 2001, a working group of the Medical Research Council (UK) in the United Kingdom called for more research regarding fetal pain.[11] According to the Daily Telegraph, Eve Johnstone, the chair of that working group "makes a strong case for additional research." Ms. Johnstone told the newspaper, "We ought to study this carefully."[12]

[edit] Abortion Debate

[edit] United Kingdom

In 2006, an opinion piece by Stuart Derbyshire in the British Medical Journal concluded that pain is dependent upon cognitive and emotional developments that occur after birth:

"Theories of development assume that the early human mind begins with minimal content and gradually evolves into the rich experience of older children and adults. Although the view of a neonate as a blank slate, or tabula rasa, is generally rejected, it is broadly accepted that psychological processes have content concerning people, objects, and symbols, which lay in the first instance outside the brain. If pain also depends on content derived from outside the brain, then fetal pain cannot be possible, regardless of neural development." [13]

In 1996, physiologist Peter McCullagh spoke on behalf of a pro-life group to the British Parliament. He said, "At what stage of human prenatal development are those anatomical structures subserving the appreciation of pain present and functional? The balance of evidence at the present time indicates that these structures are present and functional before the tenth week of intrauterine life."[14]

[edit] United States

In the 108th Congress, Senator Sam Brownback introduced the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act for the stated purpose of "ensur[ing] that women seeking an abortion are fully informed regarding the pain experienced by their unborn child.", which was read twice and referred to committee.[15] Subsequently 25 states have examined similar legislation related to fetal pain and/or fetal anesthesia.[16] Eight states, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Alaska, South Dakota, and Texas have passed laws which introduced information on fetal pain in their state-issued abortion-counseling literature, which opponents of these laws, such as the Guttmacher Institute, have called "generally irrelevant" and not in line "with the current medical literature".[17] Dr. Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, said laws such as these "reduce... the process of informed consent to the reading of a fixed script created and mandated by politicians not doctors."[18]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Study: Fetus feels no pain until third trimester", Associated Press via MSNBC (2005-08-24). Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  2. ^ a b Lee, Susan J., Ralston, Henry J. Peter, Drey, Eleanor A., Partridge, John Colin, & Rosen, Mark A. (2005). Fetal Pain: A Systematic Multidisciplinary Review of the Evidence. Journal of the American Medical Association, 294 (8), 947-954. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
  3. ^ Johnson, Martin and Everitt, Barry. Essential reproduction Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  4. ^ Weisman, Jonathan. "House to Consider Abortion Anesthesia Bill", Washington Post 2006-12-05. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
  5. ^ Lee SJ, Ralston HJ, Drey EA, Partridge JC, Rosen MA (2005). "Fetal pain: a systematic multidisciplinary review of the evidence". JAMA 294 (8): 947–54. doi:10.1001/jama.294.8.947. PMID 16118385. 
  6. ^ "Study: Fetus feels no pain until third trimester" MSNBC
  7. ^ Johnson, Martin and Everitt, Barry. Essential reproduction (Blackwell 2000), p. 215. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  8. ^ Johnson, Martin and Everitt, Barry. Essential reproduction (Blackwell 2000): "The multidimensionality of pain perception, involving sensory, emotional, and cognitive factors may in itself be the basis of conscious, painful experience, but it will remain difficult to attribute this to a fetus at any particular developmental age." Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  9. ^ Mellor D.J., Diesch T.J., Gunn A.J., & Bennet L. (2005). The importance of ‘awareness’ for understanding fetal pain. Brain Research Reviews, 49(3), 455-71. Retrieved December 23, 2006.
  10. ^ Johnson, Martin and Everitt, Barry. Essential reproduction
  11. ^ Medical Research Council, Fetal Pain - Research Review (2001-08-24). Retrieved 2007-03-10.
  12. ^ Highfield, Roger. "Very premature babies may need pain relieving drugs," The Telegraph (2001-08-27). Retrieved 2007-03-10.
  13. ^ Derbyshire, S.W.G. (2006). Can fetuses feel pain?. British Medical Journal, 332 (7546), 909-12. Retrieved 2006-12-23. Fetus Cannot Feel Pain, Expert Says", Forbes (2006-04-14). Retrieved via Archive.org 2008-04-13.
  14. ^ McCullagh, Peter. "Foetal sentience. London: All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group (1996). Dr. McCullagh is a Senior fellow in developmental physiology at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University. This report was reprinted in the Catholic Medical Quarterly, XLV11 no 2, November 1996, p6. Retrieved 2007-03-10 via Archive.org.
  15. ^ Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2005, S.2466, 108t Cong., 2nd Sess. (2004)
  16. ^ Paul, Annie Murphy. "The First Ache," The New York times. February 10, 2008. Accessed April 14, 2008.
  17. ^ Gold, Rachel Benson and Elizabeth Nash. "State Abortion Counseling Policies and the Fundamental Principles of Informed Consent". Guttmacher Policy Review vol. 10, No. 4. 2007
  18. ^ Caplan, Arthur. "Abortion politics twist facts in fetal pain laws" MSNBC.com November 30, 2005

[edit] External links

  • "Oversight Hearing on Pain of the Unborn" from U.S. Congress, House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties (2005). This includes testimony both for and against proposed legislation dealing with fetal pain.
  • "Can a embryo or fetus feel pain? Various opinions and studies" from Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. This site states: "We feel that all women considering an abortion should be fully informed and as free as possible from outside pressure."
  • Pro-life site presenting case for fetal pain from second month of pregnancy: HTML version.
  • Statement of National Abortion Federation Opposing H.R. 3442, the "Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act" (2008): PDF version and HTML version.
  • National Right to Life Committee's webpage of testimonies regarding fetal pain: HTML version
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_pain"
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