Fetuses can feel pain

摘要

Derbyshire argues against the ability of fetuses to feel pain.1 He states: "Good evidence exists that the biological system necessary for pain is intact and functional from 26 weeks." He then adopts a definition of pain from the International Association for the Study of Pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage" but concludes that pain is "a conscious experience" rather than "merely the response to noxious stimuli," so a fetus cannot experience pain.