Wis. Governor Vetoes Abortion-Pain Bill

[NNN0LHI]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ABORTION_PAIN?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Gov. Jim Doyle on Friday vetoed a bill that would have forced doctors to tell women seeking abortions after their fifth month of pregnancy that their fetuses could suffer pain.

Doyle, a Democrat, said there is no evidence conclusively proving when a fetus can feel pain. The Republican-controlled Legislature should not be allowed to decide scientific fact, he said.

"It would be reckless to inject a requirement that doctors communicate unproven science to their patients during an already difficult and sometimes traumatic time," Doyle wrote in his veto message. "This bill intrudes on the doctor-patient relationship ... and contravenes the requirement that doctors provide objective and accurate information to their patients."

When a fetus can feel pain is a matter of debate in the medical community. The bill's supporters say some research supports the theory that a fetus can feel pain at the 20th week of pregnancy. Opponents say none of those claims have been proven.

[oasis]

1. The Talibangelists are going to ruin this great nation. (eom)

[Erika]

2. It's time that science and medicine replace RW religiosity

Give us the facts not the religious ideology of the right wing fanatics.

[FreedomAngel82]

3. Good for him!

I'm proud of him! Good. I wish these fundies would leave the medical business, which does include abortion, to the doctors. Good grief!

[Charlie Brown]

4. Maybe this guy should be our candidate in '08

instead of Hil the Pill.

[Greybnk48]

5. Doyle is awesome

but he has the personality of a wet rag. This shouldn't matter, but it does.

[oasis]

6. An Al Gore/wet rag type would be a welcomed change after Fratboy.

[Greybnk48]

7. My son in law thinks that we should run

Tom Hanks, or some other intelligent celebrity, given the current shallowness (i.e., people who voted for * because they thought he would be more fun to have a beer with, or any one who voted for Arnold because he's Arnold). I laugh when he says this, but he's probably right.

[jbnow]

8. I don't know

when a fetus might feel pain, when the nerves are developed enough. They use to operate on newborns without anesthesia thinking they could not feel pain, just immobilizing them. They certainly did circumcisions freely.
They found out they were wrong.

My sister had to have a later abortion because amniocentesis took a long time and it was based on bad results of that. She was concerned about the issue of pain for the baby. The doctor said they couldn't know but he could give her anesthesia that would reach the baby and then for sure the baby would feel no discomfort. She made that choice with great relief.

How do we test for when they can feel pain? If they did I know we'd want to avoid it. If it is a scare tactic that's terrible. But it would be a concern for me if I needed an abortion when I was that pregnant.

[JDPriestly]

9. You can google this.

I have read that the nervous system in fetuses is not well enough developed before a certain point or stage so you can be sure babies don't feel pain before that stage in their development. As for later -- who knows. Fetuses hear sounds after some months. When my oldest daughter was about four to five months along, neighbors shot off guns over and over to celebrate a wedding. She jumped at every gunshot. I know she could hear the shots. But pain is apparently a different matter.