Fetal pain is a lie | Phony science has clouded the abortion debate

New laws banning abortion after 20 weeks are based on pseudoscience -- and real research proves it conclusively 

Since Nebraska first jump-started the trend back in 2010, close to a dozen state legislatures across the country have passed laws banning abortion at 20 weeks. Most of these restrictions are given grave-sounding titles like the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” or some near-identical riff on the words “fetal,” “pain” and “protection.” All of them, no matter what they’re called, rest on the stated premise that a fetus can experience pain at 20 weeks, and that this is a sufficient justification to ban all abortions after this gestational stage.

But “fetal pain” in the popular discourse is a nebulous concept, one that lawmakers like Jodie Laubenberg, Trent Franks and others haven’t much bothered to define or help ground in available medical evidence.

Probably because there really isn’t any. The limited research used to support such claims has been refuted as pseudoscience by both the Journal of the American Medical Association and the British Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (Not to mention smaller studies from researchers at Harvard University, University College London and elsewhere.)

“We know a lot about embryology [in the field]. The way that a fetus grows and develops hasn’t changed and never will,” Dr. Anne Davis, a second-trimester abortion provider, associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University Medical Center, and consulting medical director at Physicians for Reproductive Health, told Salon. “And what we know in terms of the brain and the nervous system in a fetus is that the part of the brain that perceives pain is not connected to the part of the body that receives pain signals until about 26 weeks from the last menstrual period, which is about 24 weeks from conception.”

Because the neural structures necessary to feel pain have not yet developed, any observable responses to stimuli at this gestational stage — like the fetal “flinching” during an amniocentesis — are reflexive, not experiential. Which is to say, the fetus at 20 weeks can’t actually feel anything at all. Which is to say, the fundamental justification for these laws is a really big, really popular lie.

READ THE FULL STORY BY KATIE McDONOUGH HERE AT SALON. IT'S IMPORTANT TO GET THE REAL FACTS ON THIS ISSUE.

Christian Extremists Being Disgusting

Evangelical-Fundamentalist Christians are often utterly disgusting in their choice of tactics when they are pushing their biblically ungrounded Anti-Choice barrow. They claim to be Christians, but their actions are often far from being Jesus-like. This is one such case and it falls into the "contemptible" category.

 

As Janet Allen reports at AlterNet:

Squeezably Soft Fetus Toys Slipped Into Kids' Candy Bags at North Dakota State Fair

Photo Credit: Sebastian Kaulitzki/Shutterstock.com

North Dakota pro-lifers may have recently lost in federal court their bid to ban abortions at six weeks, ("Unconstitutional," said a federal judge), but that hasn't stopped them from trying everything they can to win the battle against choice.

In a particularly creepy ploy, anti-choicers slipped squishy fetus toys into children's candy bags during a parade a North Dakota State Fair. The doll, called "The Precious One" is manufactured by Heritage House, a pro-life store, and retails for $1.50 apiece, less if you buy them in bulk, which apparently the pro-lifers did, since there were lots of five and six year olds running around squeezing, throwing and playing with their squeezable fetus toys afterwards.

Here was the reaction of one mother who attended the event, according to Jezebel:

Amber Mendez, a mother of three who attended Saturday's parade, was likewise affected by the "Precious Ones" she found in the candy bags her kids got for free during the event. "They're so lifelike. I'm squeezing it. It's fleshy."

Mendez says she's "in the middle" when it comes to abortion, but feels that her rights as a parent were compromised at the parade when her children were handed the fetuses along with informational  pamphlets that included lines like "Week 1: conception; the baby is smaller than a grain of sugar, but the instructions are present for all that this person will ever become."

"My kids can read," she said. "I shouldn't have to explain to five and six-year olds what abortion is at a family event. I doubt these people would be allowed to hand out condoms to little kids. But it's okay to talk to them about abortion without my permission?"

The dolls are designed to brainwash youngsters—pregnant women, too—out of ever terminating an unwanted pregnancy. "Its beautiful detail, softness and weight can really move hearts and change minds," the Heritage House website says. Usually, the fetus toys are given directly to pregnant women and to kids at school demonstrations.