Dem Senator Claims That Unborn Babies Can’t Feel Pain Until 24 Weeks Despite Cases Where Babies Survived Birth at 20 Weeks

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, quoted some questionable claims Tuesday about fetal pain during a hearing on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act that would ban abortion after 20 weeks – the time when science increasingly suggests unborn children feel pain. . .

She went on to quote an organization called the “American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists” (ACOG) referring to them as “the premier, professional organization.”

“A human fetus does not have the capacity to experience pain until after viability,” she quoted from their statement on the matter. “Rigorous scientific studies have found that the connections necessary to transmit signals from peripheral sensory nerve to the brain as well as the brain structures necessary to process those signals do not develop until at least 24 weeks of gestation because it lacks these connections and structures, the fetus does not even have the physiological capacity to perceive pain until at least 24 weeks gestation.” . . .

Micah Pickering, a boy born at 20 weeks of pregnancy, was obviously viable since he did survive birth and was able to advocate for the legislation on Capitol Hill.

Based on Micah’s case and others, the New York Times wrote in 2015, that a “study, of thousands of premature births, found that a tiny minority of babies born at 22 weeks who were medically treated survived with few health problems, although the vast majority died or suffered serious health issues. Leading medical groups had already been discussing whether to lower the consensus on the age of viability, now cited by most medical experts as 24 weeks.” (Read more from “Dem Senator Claims That Unborn Babies Can’t Feel Pain Until 24 Weeks Despite Cases Where Babies Survived Birth at 20 Weeks” HERE)

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