Nebraska and Abortion - UPDATE

Nebraska has passed a new law banning abortions after a fetus becomes 20 weeks old - the shortest time period of any law in the United States. What is fascinating about the law is that it is premised on alleged evidence that a fetus can feel pain by the time it reaches 20 weeks.

I don’t know if a fetus is capable of feeling pain at 20 weeks. But if a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks, I’d be hard pressed not to favor such a law.

Some background. I’ve long agreed with Ronald Dworkin, who argued that the “right to life” argument and the “sanctity of life” argument were distinct and relied upon very different moral concepts. Most of us believe, for good reason, that human life is, in some way or other, “sacred,” at every point in its existence. We also believe, for that reason alone, that human life at every stage should be afforded a certain degree of respect - although Jesus himself illustrated several times that what is sacred is not necessarily inviolable, if other important values are at stake.

But it is the “right to life” argument that does all the heavy lifting with respect to shaping what the law ought to be. If a fetus is a rights bearing entity - a “someone” - then she is entitled to the protection of the law, just like everyone else. Everyone agrees, and has always agreed, that it should be illegal to murder human “persons,” or “someones.” The disagreement has always centered on when fetal life achieved that status.

Pro-life proponents - those who favor banning abortions - answered, quite implausibly, “at every stage of its existence.” Pro-choice proponents -those who favor legal abortions during the early stages of pregnancy, answered, more plausibly, albeit vaguely, “at some later point.” Disagreement among pro-choice proponents concerned where to draw the line.

But it seems undeniable that to feel pain, an entity would have to have some degree of mental life. And I think a level of mental life enabling pain would make 20 weeks old fetuses “someones.”

Assuming the premise is true - and 20 week old fetus’ really can feel pain, I’m with Nebraska.

Joe H.

I guess the science is not settled on the "pain at 20 weeks" question.

UPDATE: