When Does an Unborn Child Feel Pain?

It is generally believed by the medical profession that an

unborn child cannot feel pain until the 18th week from
conception (20th week of pregnancy) because that is when
the nervous system begins to fully function.3 Others try to
insist it cannot be felt until around 26 weeks (28 weeks of
pregnancy). Yet, there are some doctors who fell that pain
can even be felt before the 18th week. There was a letter
sent to Ronald Reagan in 1984 signed by 26 prestigious
physicians about the ability of the fetus to feel pain in
which they agreed with Dr. Gesell's statement, "and so by the
close of the first trimester the fetus is a sentient, moving
being. We need not speculate as to the nature of his
psychic attributes, but we may assert that the organization
of his psychosomatic self is well under way."4 These
doctors included....