Humane Care Needed for Humans Too

U.S. Representative Trent Franks has amended H.R. 1797 to protect some unborn babies nationwide from the excruciating pain they experience during dismemberment in an abortion.  The bill would prohibit abortion nationwide from being performed after 20 weeks gestation except when an acute physical condition endangers the life of the mother.  Medical evidence shows that babies experience pain at least by 20 weeks of gestation which is the basis for the legislation.  In fact, Dr. Steven Zielinski and colleagues have research going back to the 1980s showing that unborn babies have evidenced feeling pain as early as 8-9 weeks gestation.  Dr. Zeilinski  has testified before Congress that babies as young as 8 ½ weeks feel pain, and that given the right circumstances unborn children can be seen crying in the womb.  “Functioning neurological structures necessary for pain sensation are in place as early as 8 weeks, but certainly by 13 ½ weeks gestation. Sensory nerves, including nociceptors, reach the skin of the fetus before the 9^th week of gestation. The first detectable brain activity occurs in the thalamus between the 8^th and the 10^th weeks. The movement of electrical impulses through the neural fibers and spinal column takes place between 8 and 9 weeks gestation. By 13 ½ weeks, the entire sensory nervous system functions as a whole in all parts of the body.” Further medical research continues to confirm the ability of a very young unborn baby to feel pain.  See www.doctorsonfetalpain.com to read more about this medical evidence.

With all the evidence showing the suffering very young babies in the womb go through in an abortion, Franks’ legislation seems barely to address the issue, but as he himself says, “…we, as a nation, find ourselves at a point at which we don’t offer unborn children even the most basic protections - even protections we extend to animals and property.”  If you would like to see this legislation pass, please contact your U.S. representative and urge them to support H.R.1797.  If you are pregnant and have questions about your developing baby, or would like to have a free ultrasound so that you can make a fully informed decision regarding your baby, please call or come into our center.

 

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