Reconsidering Fetal Pain

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW141683655 BCX4"> <p><span data-contrast="none">Abortion advocates are often dismissive on the question of fetal pain, but a recent article published in the</span> <a href= "https://jme.bmj.com/content/46/1/3"><em><span data-contrast= "none">Journal of Medical Ethics</span></em></a> <span data-contrast="none">brought together pro-abortion and pro-life experts to clarify what we know about what the preborn feel:</span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">"We consider the possibility that the mere experience of pain, without the capacity for self-reflection, is morally significant. We believe that fetal pain does not have to be equivalent to a mature adult human experience to matter morally."</span> <span data-ccp-props= "{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559685":720,"335559740":480}">  </span></p> <p><a href= "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8935428/#:~:text=Evidence%20for%20this%20conclusion%20is,experienced%3B%20(3)%20consciousness%20is"> <span data-contrast="none">According to research,</span></a> <span data-contrast="none">preborn babies as early as 7.5 weeks will move to avoid unpleasant sensations, emit stress hormones, and experience an increase in heart rate and cerebral blood flow. As</span> <a href= "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8935428/#:~:text=Evidence%20for%20this%20conclusion%20is,experienced%3B%20(3)%20consciousness%20is"> <span data-contrast="none">bioethicist Dr. Bridget Thrill concluded,</span></a> <span data-contrast="none">“Denial of fetal pain capacity beginning in the first trimester, potentially as early as 8–12 weeks gestation, is no longer tenable.” </span><span data-ccp-props= "{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">Babies</span> <a href= "https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/02/09/silent-scream-loud-impact/f8db85e8-d804-4b36-882f-4ae06303370b/"> <span data-contrast="none">have also been observed</span></a> <span data-contrast="none">attempting to escape pro