A recent Nebraska law banned abortions before 20 weeks because, it claimed, that’s when fetuses feel pain. But British research finds that fetuses can’t feel pain before 24 weeks — and probably don’t feel it after that either.
According to the Telegraph, Britain’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has found that nerve endings in the fetal brain aren’t developed enough before 24 weeks to signal any pain. Thus, says the College’s report, “It can be concluded that the foetus cannot experience pain in any sense prior to this gestation.” The College also found that the womb environment has a sedating effect on the fetus, and so anesthetics for abortion (which the House once considered mandating, and some states require that doctors offer) or fetal surgery aren’t necessary — and may even be harmful.
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