Comments on: The Pain of Unborn Babies

By: nursedave

nursedave — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 22:54:20 +0000

Hi, LaShawn, good post. Just a note from someone with experience in this matter. I am a registered nurse, working in pediatric intensive care. In the 11 years I’ve been in this job, I have had multiple occasion (once just yesterday, in fact) to care for premature infants, some as young as 24 weeks. Now, putting aside the ethical issues surrounding resuscitation of infants born at that early gestation, I will say that at no time ever have I entertained the thought that these babies don’t feel pain. Unfortunately, in my job we have to do painful procedures to infants a lot, such as starting IV’s or sticking their heels for blood. They always react the same as a full-term infant does, just as you would expect them to – they pull away, screw up their faces, cry, their heart rates and blood pressures increase – all the hallmarks of pain that we are taught to recognize in a patient population unable to articulate its needs, feelings, etc.

Make no mistake – infants as young as 24 weeks gestation (and much earlier, I am sure) most definitely do feel pain. So, am I to believe that passing from the uterus into the air causes them to be able to feel this pain? Do these nerve pathways only function in air? Or – and I may be off here – or, could this study just be a load of pro-child killing crap?

By: Area417

Area417 — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 03:24:11 +0000

Pain in the unborn

According to this article in USA Today, a rehash of old medical reports suggests that unborn babies probably don’t feel pain prior to the 7th month. A fetal-pain researcher takes issue with the report:They have stuck their hands into a

By: P. Campbell

P. Campbell — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 02:57:09 +0000

Your readers bring up a lot of good points and I have to agree, pain isn’t the issue with abortion.

I thought I heard on the radio (Hannity, maybe) that the people involved in the review were: a medical STUDENT, a doctor who owns abortion clinics, and someone who has ties with NARAL. Can anyone confirm this?

By the way, La Shawn–your readers love you and are happy you turned the comments back on so they can interact with you!

By: SickAndTired

SickAndTired — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 02:15:45 +0000

Bless you cynthia.

By: Proud Albertan

Proud Albertan — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 16:51:42 +0000

Aw dang it…….here I was set to post but LaShawn put the caveat ‘except numbskulls’……wahhhhhhhhhhhh

By: NIF

NIF — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 10:49:27 +0000

Bahng Chicka Bonck Beow

Today’s dose of NIF – News, Interesting & Funny … Workie-too-much Friday

By: PurpleMD

PurpleMD — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 05:43:42 +0000

My friend’s son was born at 26 weeks. I’m sure they would be surprised to learn he was not supposed to feel pain for another month or so…the surgeons and anesthesiologists certainly didn’t know because they put him under for surgery.

Some one should alert the appropriate medical societies…

By: fuzz

fuzz — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 04:32:30 +0000

Those who did the study should be more aware of the news. Recently CNN reported of a little girl, Ashlyn Blocker, who's otherwise healthy and functional but CANNOT feel any pain at all. I'm sure no one in their right mind would consider killing her to be okay.

By: Christian Recovery

Christian Recovery — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 04:31:41 +0000

Hang your head in Shame

Ok, this post may be a little different. My blog is dedicated to recovery and recovery related issues and this may seem a little off topic, but I dont think it is. Let me explain. Recovery from addiction to alcohol and drugs requires that you face up t…

By: cynthia

cynthia — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 04:19:46 +0000

On a personal note, I don’t know if I would be able to kill my child even if it meant my life. My mother wanted a large family and the doctors told her to stop having kids after the fourth child. I am number seven. She probably should have stopped, but she wanted those kids. My parents ended up with eight. My mother was sick most of the time while I was young. Her sacrifice showed me the sanctity/sacredness of life. In honor of my motherâ€™s sacrifice, I simply couldn’t have an abortion. That’s just me.

By: BlogRodent

BlogRodent — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 02:53:08 +0000

JAMA, abortion, and all the crying babies

“If Congress wants an objective evaluation of whether calves and lambs are being slaughtered humanely, they will not rely too much on the report from the operators of slaughterhouses.”—Douglas Johnson, legislative director of t…

By: The American Princess

The American Princess — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 01:57:27 +0000

Are They Proud of This?

As I said, (and got from LaShawn), the mere fact that these studies are occuring is a sad testament to the standards we set in our society. There should be no question that the possibility of fetuses feeling pain should even be tested–after all, to …

By: Matt Margolis

Matt Margolis — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 01:31:04 +0000

While I agree with La Shawn that it is irrelevant if an unborn baby feels pain in the first months of pregnancy or not, it is still worth noting that the authors of that study work for a pro-abortion group… [...]

By: GOP Bloggers

GOP Bloggers — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 01:11:26 +0000

Biased Abortion Study

By: Frank Z.

Frank Z. — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 00:23:40 +0000

La Shawn:

As an anesthesiologist, I can tell you:

There is a large body of medical literature strongly suggesting (outside of a questionnaire) that even very small premature infants (some younger than aborted fetuses)DO feel pain.

They cry when they are stuck with needles. During surgery, they show responses of hormones and blood pressure consistent with pain.

Therefore, we anesthetize them as we do adults.