 Does the human fetus experience pain? By Steven Strickler The Layman Online Tuesday, June 18, 2002
The controversial procedure known as partial-birth or late-term abortion is like a "silent scream" that no one hears from a fetus that is very much alive, she told more than 200 people in the audience, and is a procedure that rarely needs to be performed. Wright, a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, presented the latest scientific findings on the development of babies in utero and partial-birth abortions. "The argument that has been put forth in the past is that they were needful because babies had fetal malformation," she said. "Well, nowadays, with what we know about the baby beforehand, either early in the pregnancy or even during the middle of the pregnancy, there is enough medical information to know that abortion is rarely the best option." Scientific advances over the nearly 30 years since the U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the United States have enabled doctors to understand more about the fetus at earlier stages of growth. Wright said studies show that, at as early as seven weeks, the fetus experiences pain. Furthermore, she said, that pain may be three to five times more severe than at a later stage of development because the body's pain-muting mechanisms have not yet fully formed. "Those arguments [about fetal malformation] don't stand up any longer," she said. "These babies in this time period [from 20 weeks' gestation through the time they are delivered] can feel pain. They have all the nerve fibers they need, the neurotransmitters, the synapses are all present." Wright said statistics that have been compiled by abortion providers indicate that most late-term abortions are performed for "elective reasons" and have no medical purpose. The attitude there, she said, is that the patient is saying "I just don't want this baby. I don't want this pregnancy. It's inconvenient for social reasons and economic reasons" due to what she called "family pressure." Late-term abortions are not as rare as many people believe, Wright said, adding, "16,000 a year. That is not rare". What is rare, she explained, is the medical necessity to perform such abortions. She said that, with medical advances, a baby can now live outside the mother's womb at 20 weeks. At that stage of growth, it almost always is safer to deliver the baby vaginally or by Caeserean section than it is to perform a partial-birth abortion. The mother's body has been preparing for birth throughout the course of her pregnancy, Wright said, and early, emergency delivery of the baby to protect the mother's health is clearly safer for the mother than partial-birth abortion, which requires three days of preparation. In addition, the increased health risks connected with partial-birth abortion make it totally unnecessary, she said. The list of increased health risks to the mother includes complications in future pregnancies that can lead to miscarriage, premature delivery, cerebral palsy and death. Wright described the procedure in this way: The doctor adjusts the baby's position in the uterus to the breach position. Next, the baby is pulled out feet first by means of forceps. A sharp instrument then is inserted into the baby's head that piths its brain. After that, the doctor suctions out the brain and finishes delivering the baby. Wright's presentation came on the eve of the General Assembly's Committee on Health and Social Issues began deliberations on overture 02-37, a proposal concerning the protection of the lives of mothers and their babies late in pregnancy. The overture was offered by the Presbytery of Huntingdon and, if approved, would strengthen the denomination's stance against partial-birth abortions. |
||
Respond to this article |
||
| 2002
General Assembly news index Home · News · PLC Publications · The Presbyterian Layman Online Reviews · Archives · History of the Lay Committee · Feedback · Links |
||