How can people justifiably say that a fetus can't feel pain?

Question

I mean you can't honestly say you remember being a fetus. Right?

I just want to add that for the people who think abortion is OK due to the population problem... wake up!! There are ways to NOT get pregnant when you don't want to. (I am obviously not talking about rape victims here) So if we are all Sooo concerned with the population lets preach safe sex, or better yet abstinence! And I would hardly say that this is a country that 'values life'. Between abortion and euthanasia the animals in our country are better protected than the babies!

This is getting really interesting. As a 'christian right-winger' and pro-life supporter, I would NEVER agree that people who bombed clinics were doing the right thing! 2 wrongs will never make a right! as far as when life begins read Psalm 139. And the 1 Cor. verse that was mentioned below talks about not looking out for own interests but for the interests of others. How is killing an innocent life in the interest of that life?! Hmmm.

Answer 1

At some point in the fetus development I believe it is close to 20 weeks a fetus feels more pain than a born baby because the have more pain receptor per square inch than at any other stage in life. Watch the Silent Scream. I'm sure many of you have not seen it. Well I have. As series of needles start poking at it the baby it begins kicking and thrashing about feverishly. At some point the sac brakes and its body is being suctioned out. It is at this point you can see its mouth opens up looking like a scream if I ever saw one. After this the head is then crushed with clamps and the rest of the body and head is scraped out. This child i believe was only three month old. It was a training video for Planned Parenthood. They got the bright idea to do a sonogram and now it is used to expose this heinously evil practice. You can see it on-line. Just click this link http://www.silentscream.org/ . It's not fun by any stretch of the imagination but it is motivational to get people to stand up for these poor souls which are being murdered by the very people who are supposed to protect them, i.e. the parents and doctors. I believe in America, and all the wonderful freedoms that come with it, but America has gone way too far in this aspect, granting special rights for some at the severe price of another. Thank you for posting this question as these things needed to be written.

Answer 2

Why do you say that someone else is in charge of your body and your choices?

If you state that the fetus feels pain, what is your proof? Where is your scientific evidence?

The pro-life (a political action committee trying to reverse the American legal decision) lost its validity when its members started murdering abortion clinic workers. I guess pro-life only works for unborn and ignores God's commandment for killing the born.

Here is the facts for a Christian right winger like yourself: The bible states when life begins (search your bible); it has to do with the blood, seventeen weeks into the cycle [but I guess God wasn't good enough for you]. God also never mentions abortion in his 634 commandments for the Israelites.

Take you biological facts, and do a little reasoning. Don't give me scientific observation that does not exist (where are your experiments?) And don't give me theology that you neither understand and you choose to ignore.

But why should you listen to God, when you don't listen to anyone else.

I hope that wasn't too painful, but maybe you can not feel pain either.

One last thing, get out your bible and read 1 Cor 10:23-24 and when you have master verse 24, get back to me.

Answer 3

Scientific information says that a fetus may be aware of pain as early as 7-8 weeks.....but no one really knows. I like the guys arguement that pain really is not the relevant factor, but when life begins.....but it is good to think about. Here is an excellent link:
http://www.gargaro.com/fetalpain.html

From Religious Tolerance which is an interesting site: http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_pain.htm

My question would be---why would we want to play with a week or two or three---no human being should be tortured to death. No one deserves this.

Answer 4

Based on the growth and development of a fetus, a fetus may have the nerves that will eventually feel pain at 7 weeks, but doesn't have the synaptic connections to actually feel pain until approximately 26 weeks, so in a sense, a fetus shouldn't be able to feel pain until at least 26 weeks.

Answer 5

Justifiably? They can't. I think it's trying to make themselves feel better about it. I personally am anti-abortion, but I am also pro-choice. I didn't used to be because I believe it is absolutely wrong unless it would kill the Mother to give birth or in the case of rape, because well...you could carry that child to term and give it up for adoption, why do you have to end the child's life!?! There are plenty of couples who would love to have a children but can't, and then there are people who think it's okay to kill their unborn child because it's "inconvenient". The only reason I don't think there should be a constitutional ban is because women will have abortions anyways, whether it's legal or not, and if it's illegal it will often end two lives-not just one.

Answer 6

Whether or not a fetus can feel pain is irrelevant...though scientifically one could argue that without a fully developed nervous system that a fetus (prior to a certain maturity) cannot feel pain...not saying I know at what point that is or can prove it, but biologically there would have to be a point somewhere like this...but back to the relevance...feeling pain isn't key to the abortion issue (just like it isn't to the cattle industry)...it's the taking of life and where you define the beginning of life that matters...

Answer 7

No I can't. However, once the seed is planted, it eventually will become a human. So Im sure that a fetus can feel pain. I will use abortion as an example. Imagine being sucked into a vaccum. How would you feel? Probably not happy. You would be scared because eventually you will die.

Answer 8

The easiest way of detrmining pain is through monitoring of certain receptors in the brain and from heart rate and other chemical biological reactions that occur in all humans when certain sensations (pain) are provoked. There has been evidence to the fact that fetus not only sense pain they also have a very acute sense of wellbeing and communication of that.

Answer 9

"Feeling" pain requires a "consciousness" of pain.

The brain does not develop the capacity to "feel" pain until the 28th week of gestation because it hasn't formed the necessary nerve pathways.

Although fetuses start forming pain receptors eight weeks into development, the thalamus, the part of the brain that routes information to other areas, doesn't form for 20 more weeks. Without the thalamus, no information can reach the cortex for processing.

Fetuses have reflex reactions to stimulus, but this does not indicate them "feeling pain."

Answer 10

They can't justifiably say that. It has been proven that the human fetus responds to stimuli, including pain. People who say that the fetus does not feel pain are either ignorant or are in denial.