Another Study Suggests 'Fetal Pain' Laws Are Totally Bogus
LatestIn the past two years, six states have banned abortion after 20 weeks on the grounds that that’s when fetuses can feel pain. There is no reliable scientific evidence that this is true, and now a new study says that a fetus can’t distinguish between touch and pain until around 35-37 weeks, or just before a baby would normally be born.
A study published in the journal Current Biology found that fetuses don’t develop the neural circuitry to process pain until late in the development process. According to ScienceDaily, researchers studied the brain activities in 46 babies, including 21 preemies who were born as early as 28 weeks. Scientists tracked the babies’ electrical brain activities while blood samples were collected using a heel lance. There was a general burst of electrical activity in the premature babies brains, but those born after 35-37 weeks experienced a response in a specific area of the brain, which suggests they felt pain.