An Act of Recognition

By Paul Ranalli, M.D.

A newly introduced bill that proposes to inform a woman of the capacity of her unborn child to feel pain during an abortion will help bring American law into the modern era of embryology.

Scientists and physicians who have been aware of the tremendous advances in our understanding of fetal physiology over the past two decades have been dismayed that the legal attitude toward the unborn is literally frozen in time. It can be hoped that when it comes to a humane recognition of the humanity of the unborn, the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act will be a first step.

The bill would require every abortionist to provide the pregnant woman with information about the capacity of her unborn child to feel pain whenever an abortion is contemplated at 20 weeks gestation or beyond, the point at which modern science now recognizes fetal pain awareness. The woman would then need to either accept or refuse (by signing a form) the administration of pain-reducing drugs directly to the doomed unborn child. The bill would apply to all abortions past 20 weeks, regardless of the method used.

The pain system (the "spino-thalamic tract") makes its first appearance when the unborn is still an embryo (first 8 weeks), when tiny pain receptors under the skin appear over the face.

Over the next few weeks these pain detectors spread to cover the entire body. Long slender connecting wires ("axons") grow to hook the receptors up to the central pathways in the spinal cord and brain stem, and eventually to the central pain relay station called the thalamus, an achievement reached by 14 weeks.

The final push from the deeply located thalamus up to the brain surface, where pain "awareness" takes place, occurs by 20 weeks. It is at this stage that the unborn baby possesses the full complement of cells on the surface of the brain that are present in an adult. If an unborn baby is hurt at this point or beyond, she will feel it.

At a recent hearing in New York City, conducted in response to legal challenges to the constitutionality of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, scientific evidence was introduced that supported these observations. The world's foremost authority on fetal pain, Dr. K. J. Anand, informed the court of the physiologic evidence of fetal pain.

Two independent studies show that stress hormones are released in response to pain at 16 and 19 weeks, he testified. Blood circulation and breathing also change in response to pain, just as they do in adults.

Except for the fact that the unborn babies can't talk, there's little difference from our experience, except that fetuses and premature newborns actually feel pain more than term babies and adults. This is because the pain system develops earlier than a parallel system that modifies (reduces) pain in the mature brain. Although new to the general public, these revelations are hardly surprising to physicians who have seen premature newborns manifestly show their sensitivity to pain.

While the fetus was, to a degree, successfully dehumanized by abortion advocates in the 1970s and 1980s, it is now very difficult for them to claim, as they do, that it is "impossible" for a fetus to feel pain until 26-28 weeks gestation or later. They would simply need to wander into any neonatal unit in the country, and be surrounded by the beautiful and courageous crying sounds of little preemies aged 23 weeks and up.

The recent Zogby poll suggests the American people are willing to listen to these cries. One question read, "There is a growing consensus among scientists that human fetuses can feel pain after 20 weeks in the womb. Do you favour or oppose law requiring that women who are 20 weeks or more along in their pregnancy be given information about fetal pain before having an abortion?" A stunning 77% agreed they should be told.

Facing the real consequences of abortion can be sobering for those who nominally sign off as supporting "choice."

Dr. Ranalli is a neurologist at the University of Toronto. He testified as an expert witness on fetal physiology before the House Judiciary Committee of the State of Ohio in 1997.