 |
News: New Report on Fetal Pain Stirs Up Debate |
 |
 |
Anonymous writes "In a report published on Wednesday, a group of researchers claimed that fetuses likely do not feel pain before the third trimester, adding fuel to the debate over proposed legislation addressing fetal pain.
Six researchers affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco, reviewed literature on studies of fetal pain to examine if fetuses feel pain and if anesthetic techniques are appropriate for abortion procedures.
Their article in the Wednesday issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that, although the parts of the brain that feel pain begin development early in gestation, “the capacity for functional pain perception in preterm neonates probably does not exist before 29 or 30 weeks.”
The report states that “pain perception requires conscious recognition or awareness of a noxious stimulus.” Although the fetus may exhibit a withdrawal reflex or hormonal stress response, these may not be indicative of pain perception because nonpainful stimuli can also elicit the same responses.
The report has stirred up supporters of a proposed federal legislation that would require women who seek an abortion at 20 or more weeks of gestation to be told that the fetus can feel pain. Doctors must also offer the women fetal anesthesia for the abortion.
The authors of the report say that given evidence that fetuses do not feel pain before the third trimester, offering fetal anesthesia is not necessary and may actually harm the mother’s health.
Fetal anesthesia is used during fetal surgeries to inhibit fetal movement and hormonal stress responses, but can also lead to complications by slowing the mother’s breathing and increasing uterine bleeding. The report stated that if fetal pain exists, new techniques for fetal anesthesia would need to be developed.
Critics argue that the report is biased, pointing out that one of the authors is the administrator for the UCSF abortion clinic. The researchers, however, defended their report as an unbiased review of current literature.
Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand, a fetal pain researcher from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, was among those critical of the report. Anand, who believes that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks gestation and has testified against late-term abortions, says that the authors of the report did not weigh in evidence for fetal pain perception during the second trimester. He also states that the researchers are wrong to think that fetal brains perceive pain similarly to adults.
Both sides agree that current research is limited and requires much more study."
|
|
|
Posted on Wednesday, August 24 @ 09:45:21 MDT by ArCh_AnGeL
What is Social Bookmarking?
|
|
|
|
| "News: New Report on Fetal Pain Stirs Up Debate" | Login/Create an Account | 0 comments |
|
| | The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related Links |
|
|
|
Article Rating |
|
|
|
Options |
|
|
