These are not formed until the 28th week of pregnancy. Thus, a fetus cannot feel pain until well into the third trimester. Others, who tend to be pro-life advocates, believe that a fetus as early as 7 weeks after conception can feel pain. Many women seriously consider this factor when they are deciding whether or not to have an abortion. They are reluctant to submit to an operation that would be painful to the fetus.
Women deserve to have precise information on which to base their decision.
Unfortunately, emotional factors seem to intrude in this, as in all other matters related to abortion. Information is very easy to find. But its accuracy is almost impossible to evaluate. Pain in an adult, child, newborn or late-term fetus originates as an electrical signal in some of the body's pain receptors. Finally the signal is transferred to the cerebral cortex where it is sensed as pain.