From Deborah Harris
The debate about the legal time limit on abortion is not, or should not be, about the instances of fetuses surviving premature birth before 24 weeks (17 May, p 6). It should concern the likelihood that fetuses suffer pain after 20 weeks of age.
The editor writes:
• Most neurologists who study the fetal brain conclude that fetuses can’t feel pain as late as 29 weeks: before that, the neural architecture to be able to feel pain simply isn’t there.
Baskerville, Western Australia
