Fetal Pain: Why JAMA Refuses to Retract This Flawed Study 

JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association, is refusing to retract a study they published about when an unborn child begins to feel pain, such as the pain of being aborted, despite serious concerns about the credibility of the study.

Published in 2005, the study concluded unborn babies do not feel pain before 29 weeks gestation. The research has been touted by those who support late-term abortions.

However, people taking issue with the study called for its retraction based on both ethical and scientific considerations.

James Agresti, president of the fact-checking think tank Just Facts, requested the retraction. He told CBN News the authors of the study failed to disclose they're directly linked to the abortion industry.

"The authors, if you read, it says no financial disclosures," he said. "One of the authors was the medical director of an abortion clinic; two of the other authors - one served as an attorney for NARAL and another also worked in (an) abortion clinic."

However, JAMA said the "information that we have indicates the authors complied with the Journal conflict of interest requirements in 2005."

Agresti refuted the study's main conclusion -- that a developed cerebral cortex is necessary to feel pain.

"What science has clearly shown, within two years of that paper being published, two medical journals, peer-reviewed medical journals, published papers saying that's absolute nonsense. You do not need your cerebral cortex to be conscious," he said.

"And we know that for a fact because some children have a disorder where they're born without a cerebral cortex and these children - absolutely they're conscious," he continued.

"They smile, some things make them unhappy, some things make them cry," he continued. "In fact, they're so normal that sometimes you don't even know they have the condition until months later when developmental milestones are missed."

In response to the subsequent articles, JAMA said although they "may add to the existing evidence on a topic, or propose alternative theories, that new information does not require retraction of previous review articles."

Although the medical community is not united on when an unborn child feels pain, a large number of health professionals concur it begins at 20 weeks.

So far, 12 states have passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to protect unborn babies from painful abortions after 20 weeks. They include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Several other states are considering similar legislation.