BMJ agrees with JAMA – fetuses don’t feel pain:
Foetuses cannot feel pain because it requires mental development that only occurs outside the womb, says a report in the British Medical Journal.
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{ 3 comments }
Then how do you explain the Silent Scream?
I don’t, mainly because it does not show what it purports to show.
That said, you understand that there is a difference between pain and conscious awareness of pain. Think of lower animals. A snail looks pretty distressed if you pour salt on it. However, it isn’t “feeling” pain, as it has no emotional capacity or conscious awareness. Reflex and aversion to stimuli is not the same thing as being “aware” of pain.
Since I don’t remember being a fetus (and I’m fairly certain that none of you reading this do either) … and nor have I ever been a snail … I think that making such pronouncements is rather arrogant.
There are physicians and scientists who came to different conclusions in their own research …
I would think, if we are not completely barbarians, that we would at least want to err on the side of a humanitarian caution …
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