![fetus II](https://quadrant.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/fetus-II.png)
Foetal Pain and Humanitarianism
Abortions are often performed to prevent suffering, and can certainly cause suffering, both mental and physical, for the woman. But can an abortion also cause suffering for the foetus and if so, at what stage in pregnancy? And what moral significance might this have?
In a recent paper in the Journal of Medical Ethics, the authors conclude that in the light of recent neuroscientific data they “no longer view fetal pain (as a core, immediate sensation) in a gestational window of 12–24 weeks as impossible based on the neuroscience”. The lead author, Professor Stuart Derbyshire, a psychologist, was a member of the Working Party of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists which put out a widely-quoted report in 2010 stating that “The experience of pain needs cognitive, sensory and affective components, as well as the necessary anatomical and physiological neural connections.” The report concluded that the unborn can only experience pain after twenty-four weeks,…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins