Abortion

• “The Last Children of Down Syndrome: Prenatal Testing is Changing Who Gets Born and Who Doesn’t. This is Just the Beginning.” This links to a password-protected PDF file only viewable to TVCC students & employees. You will have to log in to view it.
• Can a fetus feel pain? Yes and no, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (Facts are Important: Fetal Pain, https://www.acog.org/advocacy/facts-are-important/fetal-pain):

  • Rigorous scientific studies have found that the connections necessary to transmit signals from peripheral sensory nerves to the brain, as well as the brain structures necessary to process those signals, do not develop until at least 24 weeks of gestation. Because it lacks these connections and structures, the fetus does not even have the physiological capacity to perceive pain until at least 24 weeks of gestation.