Human foetus ‘feels no pain until 24 weeks’

The human foetus cannot feel pain before 24 weeks, according to a Government-commissioned report, which has reignited the debate over the abortion time limit.

Doctors from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), led by Professor Allan Templeton of Aberdeen University, said that nerve connections in the brain are not sufficiently formed to allow pain perception until after the current 24-week limit for terminations, and there was no evidence to suggest the need to review the limit.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service said the report would enable women to make informed decisions while family planning group Marie Stopes said it would give reassurance to patients.

But the Catholic Church in Scotland said the question of pain levels were a “secondary issue” to the wider debate on abortion.

Abortion is legal in the UK up until the 24th week of pregnancy but pro-life campaigners claim that medical advances in the treatment of premature babies mean the time limit should be reduced.

A total of 13,005 terminations were carried out in Scotland last year, a drop from the previous year’s figure of 13,817. The proportion of early terminations has been rising and almost two-thirds are performed at less than nine weeks old.

David Cameron said in April he favoured a reduction to 20 or 22 weeks, although a spokeswoman for Downing Street said yesterday he would be led by science and there were no plans to change the policy.

The Royal College study found that the foetus is in a state of “continuous sleep-like unconsciousness or sedation” even after 24 weeks and nerve connections are not intact before 24 weeks’ gestation.

The report said: “Most pain neuroscientists believe that the cortex is necessary for pain perception; cortical activation correlates strongly with pain experience and an absence of cortical activity generally indicates an absence of pain experience.

“The lack of cortical connections before 24 weeks, therefore, implies that pain is not possible until after 24 weeks. Even after 24 weeks, there is continuing development and elaboration of intra-cortical networks.

“Furthermore, there is good evidence that the foetus is sedated by the physical environment of the womb and usually does not awaken before birth.”

However, Peter Kearney, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said: “The idea of justifying the killing of another by citing, as a legal defence, that the victim was under a general anaesthetic or even asleep would rightly be seen as ludicrous. The same applies for protecting the pre-born human being. Human rights for all, not pain levels and sedation, is the issue.”

Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: “The issue of ‘foetal pain experience’ has been politicised by campaigners in a way that has inhibited a sensible discussion.

“Women and doctors need to be able to make informed decisions based on what science says, not what advocates – whether pro-choice or anti-choice – wish it said. This report makes it possible for choices about treatment to be properly informed.”

A second report into abortion examined which mental and physical foetal abnormalities could result in “serious handicap”. Around 1% of abortions are carried out on these grounds, taking place after the 24-week limit.

Some campaigners have demanded greater clarity after reports of late abortions for correctable conditions such as cleft palate, but the Royal College said it was impractical to produce a list of conditions for serious handicap because it was too difficult to predict the long-term impact of an abnormality on a child.

SIC: HScot