Study: Fetal pain perception unlikely before third trimester

[friesianrider]

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- A review of medical evidence has found that fetuses likely don't feel pain until the final months of pregnancy, a powerful challenge to abortion opponents who hope that discussions about fetal pain will make women think more about ending pregnancies.

The review by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco comes as advocates are pushing for fetal pain laws aimed at curtailing abortion. Proposed federal legislation would require doctors to provide fetal pain information to women seeking abortions when fetuses are at least 20 weeks old, and to offer women fetal anesthesia at that stage of the pregnancy. A handful of states have enacted similar measures.

But the report, appearing in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, says that offering fetal pain relief during abortions in the fifth or sixth months of pregnancy is misguided and might result in unacceptable health risks to women.

[IrishDemocrat]

1. Hello fellow Eagles fan

Finally, these anti-abortion douchebags have a harder argument to make now!

[WildClarySage]

2. I read something on CNN about the researchers working on that study

receiving death threats and horrible emails from 'pro-lifers' who disagreed with their findings.

How someone can be 'pro-life' and send a death threat is beyond me... unless the issue is less about 'life' and more about controlling other people...

[MountainLaurel]

3. Reminds me of a friend's experience

Her father was a new school superintendent in Jerry Falwell country, in a county where public school students were transported once a week or something like that to go to bible study off campus. He decided that was bullshit and tried to close the program so that students could actually work on academics during the school day.

Those "good Christian folk" responded by sending death threats to his family (they were under VA State Police protection for several weeks), severing their kids' relationships with his kids (my friend suddenly lost most of her friends), and physically attacking my friend's father (a local pastor punched him in a Burger King parking lot).