WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. anti-abortion rights activists in Congress are stepping up efforts to raise awareness of fetal pain during an abortion.
A bill pending in the House called the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act would require doctors to inform women who have an abortion after 20 weeks that the fetus will feel pain and offer her the option to use anesthesia on the fetus.
One of the most recent representatives to sign on as one of the bill's 127 co-sponsors is Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, who told the Cincinnati Enquirer he would like to see abortion made illegal altogether, but since the law is on the books, he's committed to doing what he can to "protect innocent and unborn life whenever possible."
An August article in the Journal of the American Medical Association said fetuses don't feel pain until the third trimester, which spans weeks 28-40.
Chabot said premature babies born before the 28th week feel pain, so a fetus must also feel it.
Similar measures have been enacted this year in Arkansas, Georgia and Minnesota and are pending in several other states.
