In an article published in National Review, Maureen Condic, a professor of neurobiology at the University of Utah, reveals that scientists now know much more about the development and suffering experienced by unborn babies than they did in 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade.
There have been significant technological and medical advances in human embryology. In particular, rigorous investigations into fetal behavior, which only became technologically possible in the late 20th century, have created an unprecedented new tool for studying fetal behavior.
And by directly observing fetal behavior, these tools have given us a much better understanding of fetal consciousness and pain than what was available at the time of Roe or Casey. There is now strong evidence that fetuses as early as twelve weeks exhibit conscious and intentional behavior and that they actively distinguish between similar sensory experiences.
For example, as early as 14 weeks, fetuses distinguish between music and simple vibrational noise that stimulates the same auditory pathways. At 23 weeks of life, fetuses distinguish nursery rhymes with the syllable "la" from rhymes with the syllable "lu".
And fetuses from 19 to 23 weeks respond selectively and distinguish different types of external stimulation, displaying more intentional and perhaps communicative movements in reaction to maternal abdominal touch than to maternal speech.
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Hand and arm movements also testify to conscious and active planning by the fetus. From 20 weeks, fetal hand movements toward the mouth and eyes are straighter and less jerky, revealing a surprisingly advanced level of motor planning.
Similar evidence from studies on twelve-week-old twins demonstrates intentional "social" movements. These studies indicate that early fetal behavior is neither accidental nor simply reflexive, but demonstrates conscious awareness of the environment, active discrimination between similar sensory experiences, and intentional, even social, planning of physical actions.
Fetuses delivered prematurely (as early as 21 weeks) exhibit behaviors clearly linked to pain, with younger infants showing the strongest response. This observation suggests that the cortical circuits that develop later, rather than enabling pain perception, moderate or even inhibit conscious suffering.
Consistent with these observations, a recent review of the evidence concluded that from 13 weeks, "the fetus is extremely sensitive to painful stimuli", making it "necessary to apply adequate analgesia to prevent [fetal] suffering."
While some have previously argued that the fetus is maintained in a constant state of sleep in utero, recent literature reviews indicate that uterine factors have no anesthetic effect and that, consequently, as in the case of a premature infant, a fetus can be awakened by painful stimuli.
Last but not least, state-of-the-art 4-D ultrasound observations confirm that the fetus consciously reacts to painful stimuli. A well-controlled study published in January 2021 demonstrates that fetuses at 29 weeks who receive an anesthetic injection before a surgical procedure make facial gestures (grimaces, etc.) that are specifically associated with a conscious experience of pain, and that such gestures occur neither when the fetus is at rest nor after a "surprising" stimulus.
A June 2021 case study replicated this finding in an even younger fetus, 21 weeks post-fertilization.
Source: NationalReview
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