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Wednesday, 24 April 2024

Thursday, 25 August 2005 10:38

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Anger at foetus pain claim

Anti-abortion campaigners were yesterday said to be “very very concerned” over suggestions by US scientists that foetuses feel no pain until they are 28 weeks old.

It is currently held that unborn babies can feel pain when the reach 20 weeks old. But a review of medical evidence by researchers from the University of California found that foetuses are unlikely to feel pain until around the seventh month of pregnancy (28 weeks).

The finding supports the belief of some British experts who have argued that, despite being responsive to stimuli, the state of semi-sleep in which foetuses live means they are not capable of feeling pain.

The study could potentially have a serious impact on abortion laws, with campaigners using the factor of foetal pain to dissuade women from seeking terminations.

Dr Nancy Chescheir, chairwoman of obstetrics and gynaecology at Vanderbilt University and a board director at the Society of Maternal-Foetal Medicine, said: "The article will help to develop some consensus on when foetuses feel pain. To date, there hasn't been any."

But critics hit out at the findings, claiming the report’s authors were not qualified to make such claims.

"They have stuck their hands into a hornets' nest," said Dr Kanwaljeet Anand, a foetal pain researcher at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

"This is going to inflame a lot of scientists who are very, very concerned and are far more knowledgeable in this area than the authors appear to be. This is not the last word - definitely not."

A spokesman for LIFE, the pro-life UK charity, said the research went against the general consensus.

"Experts from both sides of the debate broadly agree that foetuses can respond to stimuli between the ages of 23-28 weeks so although we have not seen the report we would be sceptical about its findings," he said.

"The extent to which foetuses can feel pain is open to debate and it may be that they can respond to stimuli even before 23 weeks of age. To try to create a benchmark for when foetuses do and do not feel pain is misleading."

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