Did You Know That an Unborn Child Can Feel Excruciating Pain During an Abortion?
Unborn babies can’t cry out when they feel pain, but all biological indicators suggest they are capable of feeling pain by at least 20 weeks after fertilization, if not earlier.
The evidence of the pain of the unborn
With the advent of sonograms and live-action ultrasound images, neonatologists and nurses are able to see unborn babies at 20 weeks post-fertilization or younger react physically to outside stimuli such as sound, light and touch. This sense of touch is so acute that even a single human hair drawn across an unborn child’s palm can cause the baby to make a fist.
Surgeons entering the womb to perform corrective procedures on tiny unborn children have seen those babies flinch, jerk and recoil from sharp objects and incisions.
Given the unborn child’s ability to feel pain, imagine how excruciating their pain must be during an abortion!
“The neural pathways are present for pain to be experienced quite
early by unborn babies.”
– Steven Calvin, perinatologist, University of Minnesota
“At 20 weeks, the fetal brain has the full complement of brain cells present in adulthood, ready and waiting to receive pain signals from the body, and their electrical activity can be recorded by standard Electroencephalography (EEG).”
– Dr. Paul Ranalli, neurologist, University of Toronto
“An unborn child at 20 weeks gestation ‘is fully capable of experiencing pain… Without question, [abortion] is a dreadfully painful experience for any infant subjected to such a surgical procedure.”
– Robert J. White, M.D., PhD., professor of
neurosurgery, Case Western University
“In fact, unborn babies probably feel pain more intensely than adults. This is a “uniquely vulnerable time since the pain system is fully established, yet the higher level pain-modifying system has barely begun to develop.”
– Dr. Paul Ranalli, neurologist
University of Toronto
“On occasion we need to administer anesthesia directly to the fetus, because even at these early gestational ages the fetus moves away from the pain of stimulation.”
– David Birnbach, M.D., president of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia
and Perinatology and self-described as ‘pro-choice” in
testimony before the U.S. Congress
Abortion at 20 weeks
Despite the unborn child’s advanced development at 20 weeks gestation, the following painful abortion method is used:
- Dilation and Evacuation (D&E): Sharp-edged instruments are used to grasp, twist and tear the baby’s body into pieces, which are removed from the womb.
Given the evidence that unborn babies experience pain, compassionate people are realizing that abortion is an inhumane and intolerable act of violence against defenseless human beings. Wisconsin Right to Life is in the forefront of informing Wisconsin citizens about the humanity of the unborn child, and ways they can assist in protecting the lives of these precious children.