Just a few days ago the most amazing announcement came from the world of medical research. Perhaps you heard about the startling discovery that 28-week-old preborn babies can be observed crying in response to a noise stimulus. It seems that when researchers played a 90-decibel noise, similar to the sound of a “tummy rumbling,” the ultrasound revealed the effect of that noise. Researchers described it as “an infant crying” and noted that “even the bottom lip quivers.”
Please note that this study appeared in the prestigious Archives of Disease in Childhood — Fetal and Neonatal Edition. But it failed to appear in any major news media; it failed to be discussed on the major TV networks. There was no resounding clamor, only a faint whisper.
Compare this with a similar study dealing with fetal pain and preborn babies published by five medical investigators associated with the University of California in San Francisco. Among the five, it is important to note, are two who have direct ties to the abortion industry. Their study, published in the equally prominent Journal of the American Medical Association, suggested that even at 28 weeks gestational age, the preborn child might not perceive or feel pain.
This study was widely discussed in the news media. The overwhelming view of those who reported on this study was that there is no consensus about whether preborn children feel pain, and in fact the mere idea of it is some sort of right wing tactic that should be dismissed.
Experts in fetology, human embryology and neonatology would disagree. But is that really the point? After all, we know from the abortion industry that practitioners ply their trade by dismembering little babies and vacuuming their bodies away. Does it really matter whether the victim felt the pain prior to his untimely death?
Many years ago John C. Willke, M.D., one of the world’s leading pro-life doctors and educators, taught that it was common knowledge among scientists that the preborn child’s neuroanatomic structures were in place at eight weeks gestational age. In plain English that means that the preborn baby’s nervous system can send a pain impulse to the brain, which in turn signals the motor nerves, thus causing the baby to recoil from pain.
This piece of clinical evidence, which has been around since 1980, was first published in the British Medical Journal.
Let’s get the basics right out there for all to see. The human embryo is a human being at his creation. Because he grows from one cell to two to three to four and so on, he is clearly alive and animated from the very start. While it is certainly reassuring to know that he can feel pain and respond to it very, very early in his life, this scientific information is not the primary focus of our efforts. Yes, we should talk about it in our ongoing effort to persuade Americans that every act of abortion kills somebody. But such details are not ends unto themselves.
Anytime we can put a face on the primary victim of abortion, the preborn baby, we should. The facts about fetal pain, if they are presented accurately and not politically revised, assist us and the baby. It has always been my contention that the pro-life message is, at the end of the day, indisputable because it is factually correct and morally sane.
Judie Brown is president and co-founder of American Life League, the nation's largest Catholic pro-life educational grassroots organization. She is a recognized expert on the sanctity of human life and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life. Mrs. Brown is the author of three books.
