THE TELEGRAPH: The human foetus cannot feel pain before 24 weeks, according to an official review of scientific evidence, contradicting one argument that anti-abortion campaigners have used for reducing the termination limit.
Nerve endings in the brain are not sufficiently formed to enable pain to be felt before 24 weeks, according to the report by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which had been commissioned by the Department of Health.
The report said: "It can be concluded that the foetus cannot experience pain in any sense prior to this gestation."
Professor Allan Templeton, president of the Royal College, who chaired the review, told The Times that research put forward by anti-abortion campaigners that the human foetus did feel pain at or before 24 weeks was based on evidence from premature babies. This did not apply to the foetus in the womb, he said.
A second finding is that the foetus is naturally sedated and unconscious in the womb, leading the panel to advise that anaesthetics for the foetus are not needed when it is terminated. >>> | Friday, June 25, 2010
THE TIMES: The human foetus cannot feel pain before the age of 24 weeks, according to an authoritative review of scientific evidence that sets back the campaign to cut the time limit for abortion.
Nerve connections in the foetal brain do not form fully enough to allow perception of pain until after the 24-week limit for terminating pregnancies, an expert report commissioned by the Department of Health concluded.
The finding, by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, rebuts claims by anti-abortion activists that legal terminations can inflict pain on foetuses. It will undermine the efforts of MPs such as Nadine Dorries, the Conservative who tried unsuccessfully to reduce the limit in the last Parliament, to force another vote.
David Cameron supported a cut to 20 weeks in the 2008 Commons debate, but has said that his view will be based on scientific opinion. The report’s conclusions will make it harder to justify another vote after just two years, and most Liberal Democrat MPs also support the status quo, making it unlikely that the coalition will provide parliamentary time.
A Downing Street spokesman said yesterday: “The Prime Minister will continue to be guided by the science on this matter.” Read on and comment >>> Mark Henderson, Francis Elliott | Friday, June 25, 2010
Foetus report: a debate >>> | Friday, June 25, 2010
