http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...talpain24.html

The review of more than 2,000 studies led the authors to determine that fetuses probably don't feel pain before 29 or 30 weeks -- placing it squarely at odds with various "fetal pain" bills being considered in state legislatures.

Two of the five authors have connections that critics are using to cast doubt on the study. One runs a clinic that provides abortion services, while another once worked for NARAL Pro-Choice America.

The first conflict doesn't strike me as a big one. The second is more troubling. But criticism of those connections should not substitute for rigorous, objective analysis of the study itself.

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Man up.

it stands to reason that until the nervous system is developed enough a fetus would not feel any. So there is certainly a frame of time in which a fetus cannot feel pain. Is it 30 weeks? I'll let the scientists figure it out.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

Yep, sort of like vision. They've done studies on animals where they cut the optic nerve in newborns, then reattached it months later. The animals stay blind. The eyes are functional, but without visual stimuli the brain never developed the capacity to process the signals.

Like with most things, sensation requires both hardware (nerve fibers) and software (brain function) to operate.

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Man up.

I have no clue if it's 30 weeks or 23 weeks or 35 weeks, but I think it's safe to assume a first trimester fetus feels nothing and experiences nothing. How could they?

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

sort of like the pain felt by a poor child who has less food at school lunch because Bush cut the program...

oops, sorry, evangelicals don't care after kids are born

When I was 20-21 weeks pregnant, I was strongly suspecting twins due to the enormity of my belly and womanly intuition. One night at about 3AM, my husband called from NTC. He was near a road and I had to yell to be heard. I told my husband then that there was either two babies or some sort of alien with multiple legs in there, because they were going crazy. They most definitely did not like being disturbed with such noise. They either heard me shouting or felt the vibrations. They REACTED in any event. Once I got off the phone, they settled back down quickly - I didn't.

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Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. It's a dumb question... skip it.

animals on the food chain react to things. For example, it is known that crabs, lobsters and other shellfish feel absolutely nothing. But if you touch one it reacts nonetheless. The neurons "know" what to do even if the crab doesn't feel anything. Not that I am comparing your kids to crabs, mind you! But it would sort of explain what happened. Or maybe they did experience something and the figure given in the study above is not accurate. You would have been in the middle of the second trimester by then. Who knows? I don't remember myself.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

but hate the science that is being used for stem cell research.

another "pick and choose" evangelical hypocrisy

it should be done by someone without any of those ties. It would be just as suspect if a pro-life organization did it. With that said, I never thought a fetus feels pain in the first or probably even the second trimester. The fact that they say it feels pain in the third is alone enough of a reason to outlaw abortions in the third trimester. Those who support it support torture.

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All you need to know about the energy crisis:
ANWR Exploration Republicans: 91% Supported. Democrats: 86% Opposed.
Coal-to-liquid R's: 90% YES. D's: 78% NO.
Oil Shale Exploration R's: 90% YES. D's: 86% NO.
Outer Continental Shelf Exploration R's: 81% YES. D's: 83% NO.
Increased Refinery Capacity R's: 97% YES. D's: 96% NO

SUMMARY: 91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of America’s own oil and gas. 86% of House Democrats have historically voted against.

That is reasonsable. But it will appear in peer reviewed journals and eventually work itself out.

Agreed.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.