Mississippi 'Personhood' Law Could Cause Legal Mayhem, Experts Warn

As far as the hypothesis that human fetuses are capable of perceiving pain goes, the great prepondera­nce of evidence is that it doesn't.  

The issue is considerab­ly complicate­d by the usual difficulti­es in perceptual research of unresponsi­ve subjects: "Though techniques such as positron electron tomography scanning might reveal those parts of the brain that respond to a painful stimulus, this does not tell us what the individual is experienci­ng."

The accepted hypothesis of the means by which pain is perceived states that it requires certain physical structures and operations­. These are not formed in fetuses until 30 weeks or more. The consensus of the scientific community at this time is that only fetuses of this age or older are capable of perceiving pain.

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