SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Fetuses probably feel no pain before 29 weeks and therefore do not need anesthesia during abortions, University of California-San Francisco researchers say.
The report, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, takes on a highly charged issue in the abortion debate, the New York Times reported.
The conclusion -- that brain nerve connections are unlikely to develop enough by 29 weeks for fetuses to feel pain -- is based on a review of several hundred scientific papers.
It compares with Britain's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which has said that fetuses probably do not feel pain before 26 weeks.
The finding challenges proposed federal and state laws in the United States that would require doctors to tell women having abortions at 20 weeks or later that their fetuses can feel pain and offer anesthesia for the fetus.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., sponsor of the 20-week federal measure, told the newspaper he would consider changing the fetal age, but "we're clearly going to stick with the bill.
