[Vision2020] Another Anti-Abortion Reason Down the Drain

[Donovan Arnold]

"Now we have good evidence that fetuses don't feel pain until the same  period as their significant mental lives begin, so the cut-off point is  still the same and current laws are morally and legally sound."-Prof.  Nick Gier.
  
  Nick,
  
  Are you stating that it is morally acceptable to bash the brains in of a baby because it cannot feel the pain?
  
  I hardly understand that logic. A bullet through the brain usually results in no pain either, should that be legal. 
  
  I only support the legalization of abortion because I know that  criminalizing it will not stop it and that the government would  eventually abuse its control over the human reproductive system if it  has any legal authority over it, as it abuses everything else it gets  control of. The fact that someone would say it is morally acceptable to  kill a living creature when it feels no pain is bothersome to say the  least. 
  
  _DJA

nickgier at adelphia.net wrote:  Greetings:

Thanks to Chasuk for posting the link to the article below.  I had seen similar studies and conclusions before.  

Animal  Rights philosophers have always charged those who support value of  persons as a form of specieism, but, as I have shown, there are some  persons who do not belong to the human species. Nevertheless, these  people do have a point: why should significant mental life be the sole  criteria for a being's value?

The humane treatment of animals  was one of the great achievements of 19th Century reformers influenced  by utilitarianism. One of the results of the passing the first laws  protecting animals from unnecessary pain was that English politicians  then realized that they were inflicting unnecessary pain on child  workers! What a sad irony: the working age for human beings was raised  because of legislation designed to protect animals.

If we say  that we now should protect all lives that experience pain, then I, and  all the other vegetarians, are completely OK with this, but of course  such laws would not pass for the indefinite future. Now we have good  evidence that fetuses don't feel pain until the same period as their  significant mental lives begin, so the cut-off point is still the same  and current laws are morally and legally sound.

Nick Gier

Fetuses Can't Feel Pain, Expert Says in British Medical Journal
>From Bloomberg.com

April  14 (Bloomberg) -- Fetuses can't feel pain, according to a commentary by  a psychologist in tomorrow's issue of the British Medical Journal,  which suggests doctors won't need to sedate an unborn child before  conducting an abortion.

The nerve connections necessary for  processing pain aren't complete before 26 weeks' gestation, said Stuart  Derbyshire, a senior psychologist at the University of Birmingham in  England. Using painkillers before that stage is scientifically unsound  and may put women at unnecessary risk, he found in a clinical review.

``The  absence of pain in the fetus doesn't resolve the morality of abortion,  but does argue against legal and clinical efforts to prevent such pain  during an abortion,'' Derbyshire said. ``A mandate to provide pain  relief before an abortion may expose women to inappropriate  interventions, risks and distress.''

Pain is an unpleasant  sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential  tissue damage, according to the International Association for the Study  of Pain. It's a conscious experience, not only a response to stimuli.

As  pain is subjective, each individual uses the word differently based on  his or her experience related to injury earlier in life. The limited  neural system of fetuses can't support such cognitive, affective and  evaluative experiences, Derbyshire said.

Derbyshire examined  neurological and psychological evidence to support a concept of fetal  pain, which is the basis for proposed U.S. legislation that requires  tranquilizing a fetus of more than 22 weeks before an abortion. Fetuses  are capable of responding to pain stimuli, though they don't feel it,  he said.

The unborn baby also needs to develop its mind in  addition to its brain to accommodate the subjectivity of pain,  Derbyshire said. Development of the mind occurs after birth through the  infant's actions and interactions with its parents necessary to the  development of pain experience, he said.

_____________________________________________________
 List services made available by First Step Internet, 
 serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
               http://www.fsr.net                       
          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯


			
---------------------------------
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20060416/dd2c14b5/attachment.htm