It is a new frontier of the anti-abortion movement: laws banning abortion at 20 weeks after conception, contending that fetuses can feel pain then. Since 2010, a dozen states have enacted them, most recently Texas. Nationally, a bill passed the Republican-dominated House of Representatives in June. The science of fetal pain is highly complex. Most scientists who have expressed views on the issue have said they believe that if fetuses can feel pain, the neurological wiring is not in place until later, after the time when nearly all abortions occur. Several scientists have done research that abortion opponents say shows that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks after conception. One of those scientists said he believed fetuses could likely feel pain then, but he added that he believed the few abortions performed then could be done in ways to avoid pain. He and two other scientists said they did not think their work or current evidence provided scientific support for fetal-pain laws. Some scientists’ views have evolved as more research has been done. Dr. Nicholas Fisk, a senior maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Australia, said he once considered early fetal pain “a major possibility” after finding that fetuses receiving blood transfusions produced increased stress hormones and blood flow to the brain, and that painkillers lowered those levels. But Dr. Fisk, a former president of the International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society, said neurological research has convinced him that pain “is not possible at all” before 24 weeks. Supporters of fetal-pain laws also say that surgeons’ use of anesthesia and painkillers when operating on fetuses in the womb proves fetuses feel pain. “If the child who is waiting for surgery can feel pain, the child who is waiting for abortion can also feel pain,” said Mary Spaulding Balch, the National Right to Life Committee’s state policy director, who pioneered fetal-pain laws. She does not advocate performing abortions with anesthesia or painkillers “to have a painless death,” but rather wants those abortions prevented because a “member of the human family has reached a point where they are capable of feeling pain.” But fetal surgeons say that the drugs are given for reasons other than fetal pain. Anesthesia is given to the mother, reaching the fetus, said Dr. Scott Adzick, a fetal surgeon at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Fetuses receive muscle relaxants and narcotics. The drugs are given to prevent maternal pain, immobilize the fetus, relax the uterus, and block harmful effects of a fetus’s hormonal stress response, he said. Asked if fetuses would feel pain without these drugs, Dr. Adzick said he did not know. Dr. Mark Rosen, who pioneered anesthesia in fetal surgery, said if fetuses could experience surgery-related pain, it would be postoperatively, because during surgery anesthesia from the mother is so strong. Painkillers given to fetuses would prevent postsurgical pain if it exists, but the known scientific reason for them is “it promotes healing,” he said. “The fetus is going to go on and develop and live.” Fetal-pain laws usually prohibit abortions at 20 weeks after conception, about 22 weeks gestational age as measured by scientists — from the last menstrual period, since conception cannot be pinpointed. By far most abortions occur before 24 weeks because the Supreme Court has said they may be performed until fetuses can be viable outside the womb, which doctors say is around 24 weeks. So the laws banning abortions about two weeks before the 24-week threshold affect very few; 98.5 percent of abortions occur before 21 weeks, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Later cases often involve just-discovered birth defects. Still, both sides consider the laws, which have been challenged and blocked in Arizona, Georgia and Idaho, broader efforts to narrow abortion options and build opposition. Scientists with varying views of pain development said they did not consider their work applicable to fetal-pain laws or the highly charged abortion debate. For example, one of the main scientists whose work is cited as support for the laws is Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand, a professor of pediatrics, anesthesiology and neurobiology at the University of Tennessee’s Health Science Center. Dr. Anand said he considered fetal pain likely at 18 to 24 weeks. But he added that the “issue of fetal pain does not have much relevance for abortion, since most abortions are performed before the fetus is capable of experiencing pain” and that for the “very few” abortions that occur after that time, techniques could be used that he believed would prevent pain. Because so much about pain is undetermined, most scientific discussions eventually run into theoretical territory. Much research involves children or adults, making implications for fetuses unclear. Scientists say characterizing responses as pain is difficult; some fetal reactions are simply reflexes or stress hormones. Some researchers say pain-sensing ability depends on consciousness, which may itself emerge gradually.
Showing posts with label Issue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Issue. Show all posts
Friday, 20 September 2013
Sunday, 18 August 2013
[Special Issue News] The War Against Weeds Down Under
Science 16 August 2013:
Vol. 341 no. 6147 pp. 734-736
DOI: 10.1126/science.341.6147.734 Weeds are a serious problem for wheat farmers in Australia, where herbicides have gradually become almost useless. Stephen Powles of the University of Western Australia, Crawley, has long advocated diversifying weed management and relying more on nonchemical control techniques, such as burning seeds—an approach that is beginning to pay off.
[Special Issue News] Growing Up With Pesticides
Science 16 August 2013:
Vol. 341 no. 6147 pp. 740-741
DOI: 10.1126/science.341.6147.740 Three cohort studies in the United States are tracking the long-term consequences on the developing brain of pesticide exposure during pregnancy and the early years of life. The studies are finding troubling effects, such as IQ deficits and ADHD-like behavioral problems. Some evidence also suggests pesticides may interfere with the normal sexual development of the brain.
[Special Issue News] Vietnam Turns Back A 'Tsunami of Pesticides'
Science 16 August 2013:
Vol. 341 no. 6147 pp. 737-738
DOI: 10.1126/science.341.6147.737 Vietnam has pioneered a new approach to curb the widespread overuse of pesticides in agriculture, starting with a large-scale experiment in which farmers discovered for themselves that using less pesticide—as well as less seed and fertilizer—boosted their bottom line. The successful campaign, which involved a popular radio soap opera, is drawing attention from other countries in the region.
[Special Issue News] Infographic: Pesticide Planet
Science 16 August 2013:
Vol. 341 no. 6147 pp. 730-731
DOI: 10.1126/science.341.6147.730 The world uses billions of kilograms of pesticides every year. They help increase yields and prevent diseases, but they also have unintended effects on the health of people, animals, and ecosystems.
[Special Issue News] In Rural Asia, Locking Up Poisons to Prevent Suicides
Science 16 August 2013:
Vol. 341 no. 6147 pp. 738-739
DOI: 10.1126/science.341.6147.738 A little-known problem in Western countries, pesticide ingestion is the most important means to commit suicide worldwide. The problem is especially serious in rural Asia, where dangerous pesticides are easy to obtain. Now, researchers have embarked on a massive, controlled study in Sri Lanka to find out if simple, sturdy plastic lockboxes can bring down suicide rates by keeping chemicals out of the hands of desperate people.
[Special Issue News] A Lethal Dose of RNA
Science 16 August 2013:
Vol. 341 no. 6147 pp. 732-733
DOI: 10.1126/science.341.6147.732 Researchers are using a new technology called RNA interference to help plants fend off insects on their own with very little collateral damage. The first results may come on the markets before the end of the decade.
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