I'm not a big fan of Futile Gestures That Make Grand Philosophical Statements, whichever end of the political spectrum they come from. Can anyone tell me what practical effect this proposal would have?
Women seeking abortions would have to be told that a fetus might feel pain under legislation approved by the Indiana House.
There could be all kinds of philosophical discussions about what "pain" really means at, say, eight weeks, when the fetus has pain receptors but no cerebral cortex. That kind of feeling without thinking is sensation without meaningful context.
But the larger point is, will any women seeking abortions really care? Would the possibility of fetal pain change their minds? They have decided to either terminate a life or prevent the start of one, depending on your beliefs. That's a decision with eternal ramifications, while the pain that might be involved is a temporal matter. It's like trying to sway strong death-penalty proponents with arguments of the pain some method of execution might cause. That doesn't really bother them, you know?
