Interesting. Can't think = can't feel pain. Someone should tell that to the lower orders of living beins. They obviously can't feel pain as they havn't developed "conscious understanding of pain"
On 4/19/06, leanne wynne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Fetuses Called Impervious to Sensation of Pain > > By Neil Osterweil, MedPage Today Staff Writer > Reviewed by Rubeen K. Israni, M.D., Fellow, Renal-Electrolyte and > Hypertension Division, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine > April 14, 2006 > > Explain to interested patients that the author asserts that fetal neural > circuitry determining pain perception is not fully developed until about 26 > weeks of gestation, and that fetuses do not have the developmental capacity > to experience pain, which requires development of conscious understanding. > > Be aware that three states -- Arkansas, Georgia, and Minnesota -- mandate > that health care providers tell women that fetuses may be able to feel pain > by 20 weeks of gestational age, an assertion that according to the author is > not supported by medical evidence. > > > Review > > BIRMINGHAM, England, April 14 - Fetuses are physically incapable of feeling > pain until the end of the second trimester, and unlike newborn children have > not developed the processes that would allow them to recognize pain as a > signal of a harmful encounter, a researcher here asserted. > > > "An absence of pain in the fetus does not resolve the question of whether > abortion is morally acceptable or should be legal," wrote Stuart W.G. > Derbyshire, Ph.D., a senior psychologist at the University of Birmingham, in > the April 15 issue of the BMJ, formerly the British Medical Journal. > "Nevertheless, proposals to inform women seeking abortions of the potential > for pain in fetuses are not supported by evidence." > > > The states of Arkansas, Georgia, and Minnesota have all enacted legislation > requiring that women seeking an abortion be told that fetuses may feel pain > after 20 weeks of gestation; and 22 other states have similar legislation > pending. A comparable federal law has been proposed. > > Yet such laws are based on information of dubious merit, Dr. Derbyshire > asserted. > > "Legal or clinical mandates for interventions to prevent such pain are > scientifically unsound and may expose women to inappropriate interventions, > risks, and distress," he wrote. > > "Avoiding a discussion of fetal pain with women requesting abortions is not > misguided paternalism, but a sound policy based on good evidence that > fetuses cannot experience pain," he added. > > The crux of his argument is that both from a physiologic and developmental > standpoint, fetuses cannot experience pain - in part because the neural > circuitry is not fully connected before 26 weeks' gestation, and in part > because fetuses don't have the developmental capacity to understand that a > provocative stimulus is painful. > > "Important neurobiological developments occur at seven, 18, and 26 weeks' > gestation and are the proposed periods for when a fetus can feel pain," he > noted. "Although the developmental changes during these periods are > remarkable, they do not tell us whether the fetus can experience pain. The > subjective experience of pain cannot be inferred from anatomical > developments because these developments do not account for subjectivity and > the conscious contents of pain." > > Dr. Derbyshire likened the pain perception system in the developing fetus to > an alarm system in which the wiring is gradually laid down, but the final > connections are not made until 26 weeks gestation, when neuronal projections > from the thalamus to the cortex have been completed. > > The minimum gestational age at which a pain signal may be transmitted from > the periphery is seven weeks, the point at which neural projections from the > spinal cord can reach the thalamus, he said. > > Yet the wiring from the thalamus to the cortex is not laid down until about > 12 to 16 weeks, and thalamic projections into the cortical plate are not > completed until about 23 weeks. Another two to three weeks are needed before > peripheral free nerve endings and their projection sites in the spinal cord > are fully mature. > > "By 26 weeks' gestation, the characteristic layers of the thalamus and > cortex are visible, with obvious similarities to the adult brain, and it has > recently been shown that noxious stimulation can evoke hemodynamic changes > in the somatosensory cortex of premature babies from a gestational age of 25 > weeks," he wrote. "Although the system is clearly immature and much > development is still to occur, good evidence exists that the biological > system necessary for pain is intact and functional from around 26 weeks' > gestation." > > But even with a fully intact and functional system in place, he argued > further, fetuses have not developed the conscious capacity to understand, > process, or experience pain. > > He pointed out that the International Association for the Study of Pain > defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated > with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such > damage," and that "pain is always subjective. Each individual learns the > application of the word through experiences related to injury in early > life." > > By this definition then, pain is a conscious, learned response, Dr. > Derbyshire said. > > "The limited neural system of fetuses cannot support such cognitive, > affective, and evaluative experiences; and the limited opportunity for this > content to have been introduced also means that it is not possible for a > fetus to experience pain," he wrote. > > He acknowledged that his thesis is provocative and has both clinical and > public policy implications. > > For example, with the growing frequency of in utero surgeries and other > intervention to correct fetal developmental defects, clinicians might be > inclined to give anesthesia to the fetus in the belief that it can mitigate > pain. > > "However, the greater immaturity of fetuses and their different hormonal and > physical environment indicate that clinical trials should be carried out > with fetal patients to show improved outcomes," Dr. Derbyshire wrote. > "Currently no defined evidence-based fetal anesthesia or analgesia protocol > exists for these procedures." > > And from a political viewpoint, he noted that "the case against fetal pain, > as documented here, indicates that a mandate to provide pain relief before > abortion is not supported by what is known about the neurodevelopment of > systems that support pain." > > "Proposals to directly inject fetuses with fentanyl or to provide pain > relief through increased administration of fentanyl or diazepam to pregnant > women, which increase risks to the women and costs to the health provider, > undermine the interests of the women and are unnecessary for fetuses, who > have not yet reached a developmental stage that would support the conscious > experience of pain," Dr. Derbyshire wrote. > > > > Primary source: BMJ > Source reference: > Derbyshire SWG. "Can fetuses feel pain?" BMJ 2006;332:909-12 > > > > Leanne Wynne > Midwife in charge of "Women's Business" > Mildura Aboriginal Health Service Mob 0418 371862 > > > -- > This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. > Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. > -- My photos online @ http://community.webshots.com/user/mike1962nz My Group online @ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PSP_for_Photographers New Photo site@ Mike - http://mikelinz.dotphoto.com Lindsay - Http://likeminz.dotphoto.com "Life is a sexually transmitted condition with 100% mortality and birth is as safe as it gets." Unknown -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
