The next time you see anti-choice (edit, typo) propaganda like “Dairy of An Unborn Child” (sic), She’s a Child not a “Choice”, kids with tape on their mouths that says “Life” who believe they’re making some kind of statement, kids who have no world experience sacrificing soft drinks and candy Until Abortion Ends, or any of the plentiful anti-choice pictures and poems from the fetus’ point of view that clutter our Tumblr dashboards which usually start out with “Dear mommy…” step back and consider this.
New research from University College London has shown that premature baby brains can’t tell pain from touch.Not until 35 to 37 weeks – just before a fetus would normally be born – can the developing brain tell pain stimuli from touch stimuli.
That means as long as a fetus is inside the womb up until just two weeks before its’ due date, a fetus cannot identify pain. It can’t differentiate pain from other stimuli. An aborted fetus cannot wax poetic on being betrayed by its mother. It can’t feel regret for not being born. It cannot know or even feel at the most basic level what is happening to it.
This research is obviously important for the proper treatment and development of preemies, but it also sheds some light on the “pro-life” movement’s greatest weapon; projecting human qualities onto something which is physiologically incapable of having them for the sole purpose of appealing to our emotions.
Useful to know.
