Fetus Cannot Feel Pain, Expert Says

yahoo.com ^ | 4/14/06

[paudio]

FRIDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) -- Fetuses cannot feel pain, therefore U.S. legislation requiring doctors to tell women that the fetus will feel pain, or to provide pain relief during abortions, has no scientific basis and may harm the women involved, a leading expert contends.

"This is an unwarranted piece of legislation because there is good evidence that the fetus cannot feel pain at any stage of gestation," said Stuart Derbyshire, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Birmingham, U.K.

He authored an review of the available data on the subject in the April 15 issue of the British Medical Journal.

[paudio]

One research--regardless who done it or how it was done-- is enough to make it an 'established science'... /s

[SaveTheChief]

How is it known that a fetus has no pain? Do nerves magically develop as soon as a baby is born, but not a minute before?

[freeplancer]

Thank god for this news, now I can be in favor of abortions.

[misterrob]

Not true. If he/she responds to outside stimuli then they feel something. Look at an ultrasound and see how baby moves and grooves when the wand is placed over a woman's stomach and moved around. See him move when he is poked and prodded.

[Joe 6-pack]

I heard the same is true for death row convicts, therefore the requirement of certain states to ensure they are unconscious before administering the lethal dose is unwarranted.....

[ElkGroveDan]

at any stage of gestation,"

It's the superlatives that will do in the liars every time.

[NonValueAdded]

He authored an [sic] review of the available data on the subject in the April 15 issue of the British Medical Journal.

A review ... not hands-on testing, no first hand knowledge. Hearsay, your honor. Strike his testimony fromt he record.

[derllak]

Complete and utter bullsh!t! So preemies can feel no pain?
Only a moron could believe this crap!

[maine-iac7]

Until quite recently, they also operated on infants WITHOUT anesthesia because, Science claimed, Infants couldn't feel pain.

And we all know that, (contrary to what we all know ;o) ) that small babies can't smile - "...it's just gas"

[GretchenM]

This is absolutely untrue and damaging to our culture to have it be believed. Not only can fetuses feel physical pain (to say otherwise is to say they develop a full-blown nervous sytem the instant they pass out of the mother's body), they also feel and react to negative and positive emotions of their mothers.

This won't suit the scientists who want to believe a lie, but I offer this as evidence of the life-reacting power within a human fetus.

Luke 1:39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah;
40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and greeted Elisabeth [who was six months into her pregnancy, carrying the future John, the Baptist].
41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.

[justshutupandtakeit]

The Brain Switch must not be switched on before the smack on the butt.

[The Old Hoosier]

No pain at ANY POINT??? This "research" doesn't pass the smell test.

[johnny7]

A stiff pri_k has no conscience.

[GretchenM]

GMTA
(great minds think alike; see my post at #10)

[EyeGuy]

at any stage of gestation,"


It's the superlatives that will do in the liars every time.

Ha Ha Ha!

Indeed.

That jaw-dropping phrase of ignorant broad-brushing is not worthy of even a junior high school report. More the stuff of Bagdad Bob, Herr Goebbels or Pravda.

[GretchenM]

Should have included verse 44:

"For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy."

[SaveTheChief]

Complete and utter bullsh!t! So preemies can feel no pain? Only a moron could believe this crap!

People will say anything, or find any "expert" to do a biased study, in order to push their agenda and sway the weak minded.

[Always Right]

I tend to believe this. I have asked hundred of fetuses this very same question and not one of them gave me a clear answer.

[RichInOC]

"[Whew!]...It is really hot down here! [fweet!] Mom! Mom! You’re not wolfin’ down jalapeños again, are ya?! Yeah, 'cuz lemme tell ya ’bout my friend Ned...his mama ate nothin’ but spicy foods? Homeboy came out red, Ma! Bright red! So if you keep crammin’ those peppers down your neck, I might just bust out of here early...grab somethin’ on the way out, take it with me!”

[SaveTheChief]

GMTA

LOL. What are the odds?

[Now_is_The_Time]

In conjunction with another recent medical discovery (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1614467/posts), it has been concluded that fetuses only feel pain when they are being prayed for.

[chit*chat]

I think the researchers mean HE/SHE cannot feel the pain that they inflict on the fetus.

[the_Watchman]

Why is it that liberals can feel your pain, but not the pain of a fetus?

[Now_is_The_Time]

Stupid punctuation :P http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1614467/posts

[muawiyah]

This quack should be placed on a list that keeps him out of the United States.

He is dangerous.

[Always Right]

"He redefines pain such that not even a newborn could experience pain in the way he defines it, and then concludes that fetuses can't experience pain and that's absurd," Christensen said.

There you go, it is all on how you define pain. Until you can vocalize, 'that hurts you son of a bitch' you do not feel pain. Makes perfect sense.

[the_Watchman]

Give every fetus one vote and Democrats will finally come to their defense!

[momfirst]

"But to properly experience pain, the mind must also be developed, something which cannot happen until after birth. The mind permits the subjectivity of pain, said the U.K. expert, who has previously served as an unpaid consultant to Planned Parenthood of Virginia and Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, as well as the U.K.-based Pro-Choice Forum."

From another article on the same subject today - http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/04/14/hscout532137.html I need read no further....

[rlmorel]

You beat me to it. Is it the exposure to air that causes pain to be felt?

Or perhaps, Infants feel no pain. Huh. That will be news to MANY a parent...

[pnz1]

I read something that said babies first sensitivity to touch begins to form at 8 weeks gest. age.

[captain_dave]

Physicians once thought bleeding was beneficial and mercury had curative powers. They once thought that the Germ Theory of Disease was wrong, and public sanitation not a factor in the spread of disease.

A baby in the womb feels all the emotions that the mother feels. This has been established by skilled hypnotists when having their clients relive these moments. I have seen some of these experiences on video, in person, and as the hypnotist. (Clients report their experiences without guidance or prompting from the hypnotist aside from a general "what's happening", and are incidental to the original client complaint for the session)

[G Larry]

These authors are liars, because nobody is that stupid!

There is plenty of video evidence that the BABY does feel pain.

[rlmorel]

I personally think some of them should not be given something to make them unconscious anyway. Just my opinion.

[DustyMoment]

Hmmmmmm . . . . . . "research" tells us that plants feel pain. "Research" tells us that humans are responsible for "global warming". "Research tells us that fetuses feel no pain.

Methinks the BS level of the "research" is predicated by the organization funding it!!

[NautiNurse]

senior lecturer in psychology

I'm simply awestruck by these utterly impeccable credentials...

[pnz1]

The same report stated some babies react to the amnio test experience.

[JeffersonRepublic.com]

What if a baby is born premature? Does it not become a human or feel pain until it serves its full time (9 1/2 months)?

[montomike]

He's a freakin' psychologist. What do they know about pain other than emotional pain? I'd at least be inclined to agree with a psychiatrist who at least has a medical degree.

Stick a pin in a baby in a womb and I will bet my life it moves in response. Imagine how it feels when it is being ripped apart in the womb and sucked into a vacuum jar.

[derllak]

I can only hope most people raise their kids to be smarter than to believe crap like this....otherwise we're in deep trouble.

[SaveTheChief]

What if a baby is born premature? Does it not become a human or feel pain until it serves its full time (9 1/2 months)?

That is an excellent point.

[chilepepper]

This "expert" wins the stupidity prize.

He is either a hypocrite who doesn't really believe what he is saying and is carrying water for the abortionists, or mind-numbingly ignorant of the most basic philosophical implications of what it means to be alive in an independently conscious body, not to mention ignorant of more subtle philosophical questions of phenomena and noumena, Immanuel Kant's brilliant legacy.

[Clock King]

that the fetus cannot feel pain at any stage of gestation

So an 8 month, 29 day fetus can't feel anything? And as another poster pointed out, we already know that infants hear sounds and respond to stimuli in the womb. Mommy's voice is the first voice they recognize.

[delphirogatio]

And, this is the gist of it all. I am forever after the liberal thinkers I know to define their terms. If you can rewrite the definition to suit your conclusion (THE tactic de jour of the liberal hordes), well then you can make anything sound legitimate. But, sounding legit abd being legit are quite different.

[TNdandelion]

Then how does he explain why physicians and nurses advise parents to not handle "super-preemies" (those born extremely premature) because the touch and stimuli overwhelms their nervous system and agitates them too much?

However, preemies born at a higher gestation benefit from touch and "kangaroo-ing."

Can even touching a super-preemie be too painful for them to tolerate? I get that impression.

[machogirl]

my sons were circumcised withing hours of birth, you could have fooled me that they were not feeling any pain, they didn't stop crying for quite a while. It certainly didn't tickle. That newborns felt no pain was the thought 17 years ago. Now they give a local anesthetic for circumcision because they now know that newborns feel pain.

[jdm]

"Does it not become a human ... until it serves its full time (9 1/2 months)?"

Surprisingly, yes. My brother was born 2 months premature on January 20. However, we celebrate his birthday on March 20. Confuses the hell out of him.

/sarcasm

[Tzimisce]

Originally, it was believed that victims of the Guillotene felt no pain either.

[stands2reason]

Sorry, but hypnosis is bunk. Their clients are daydreaming, not "reliving past moments."

[stands2reason]

"Touch" and "pain" are two different nerve receptors.

[adiaireton8]

Neither can adults, when you anesthetize them.

-A8