New ‘Foetal Pain’ Laws Questioned in America
Share:
The question of abortion has always been a debate of great controversy. However, recent laws surrounding the issue of ‘foetal pain’ in America seem to have added more fuel to the fire by getting under the skin of doctors and scientists.
A recent law was passed in Salt Lake City, the state capital of Utah, which stated that women in Utah who are seeking an abortion at a pregnancy stage of 20 weeks or more must first take anaesthesia or painkillers before the procedure. Surprisingly, it is the unborn foetus that is the intended recipient of the painkillers, not the woman herself.
Doctors are calling this “foetal anaesthesia” and have shown a great deal of objection to the terms of the new law. The law itself was passed by the Republican-controlled State Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Gary R. Herbert, thus creating a whole new heated debate. Those opposing the new law claim that it is an invasion of the privacy between doctor and patient, and also puts the woman’s heath at risk through the creation of a broad requirement for a woman to take unspecified painkillers.
Anti-abortion groups and the creators of the new law in Utah claim that they are simply acting out of concern for the foetus itself. However, a number of scientists and doctors have expressed major doubt about this issue of foetal pain at 20 weeks, claiming that it is not scientifically proven or sound. The truth about whether a foetus can feel pain is very complicated; however, a 2005 study which has not been disproven by any scientific evidence showed that a foetus is unlikely to feel any pain until the third trimester of pregnancy (around 27 weeks). A number of doctors believe that by 20 weeks, a foetus’s nervous system is not developed enough for it to feel any pain, which makes the new law seem vague and unnecessary.
Obstetrician-gynaecologist Dr. Leah Torres, who works half a Saturday each month at the abortion clinic in Salt Lake City, strongly disagrees with the invasive new law. She said: “You’re asking me to invent a procedure that doesn’t have any research to back it up. You want me to experiment on my patients.” Conversely, the Republican state senator in Utah, Curt Bramble, stated that he sponsored the law as extension of “common decency” and hoped that the new law would shift the focus of the abortion debate towards the foetus.