I have my ear horn out, pressed hard against the uterine lining of my Mah's midsection listening to the radio. I can hear talk show host Larry Mantle interview an EXPERT on fetal pain. This dapper fellow explains his reasons for believing the 20 week old fetus does not experience pain, and that a bill in the great Republic of Texas should not be passed, disallowing any abortion over 20 weeks gestation.
Mr. Mantle's guest is smarmy and intellectual; an authoritative voice of reason, mainly because he speaks with a British accent and is an ASSOCIATE professor.
His name is Mr. Stuart Derbyshire.
Derbyshire teaches at the National University of Singapore. He explains that because I cannot formulate adult level, "higher order" thought processes, I cannot possibly experience pain.
"It isn't sitting in the womb worrying about what is happening, thinking 'Oh my God, my leg is being removed! 'What am I going to do? How do I get out of here!? Why is this happening?!' That existential angst many of us have about what is happening to us...
that autobiographical response, I think we can all agree, that is NOT happening to the fetus...
... he's not comprehending what is going on. It might be apprehending something, in a very immediate fashion, but that's not pain as we typically think about someone experiencing pain..."
Well.
I'm glad he cleared that up. I've been concerned my lac of wokabuLArry mite ghed mhe in hhod wadder sumdaee...
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| BRITISH THINGS ARE SO INSTANTLY RESPECTABLE |
Dr. Emidio Novembre took my position. An anesthesiologist and MD/PhD, Mr. Novembre's speech is lumbering, painstaking.
He does not have a British accent.
He unfortunately speaks with a Brooklyn taxi driver's accent.
You can see how these grown up arguments go. It's all about smoke and mirrors. If you're not articulate, even if you're ten million times SMARTER than your opponent, you can't possibly win in the grand and glorious branded marketplace of ideas.
But hear this without your ears; read this with your very own mind. Yes, put down that ear horn and just read:
Senor Novembre speaks from his experience; his 25 years in medicine, 5000 OB deliveries, his extensive training in anatomy wherein he learned that the subthalamic plate transition feature is intact in the fetus (that would be ME...) at 16 weeks, much earlier than Sir Knighted "Charley" Stuart Derbyshire said.
Mr. Novembre's long experience as a fellowship trained, board certified obstetric anesthesiologist is decisive:
"...the babies born at 24 weeks definitely feel pain when I put an IV in their arm!"
I think I can concur with that statement.
I am feeling pain right now just thinking about my leg being "removed," actually. Owww...!
Also, feels somewhat hot in here, and in a very immediate fashion, I feel my adrenal glands are getting pumped just a little. That can't be anger, however, as I am far too young a zygote to ever experience anger.
Must just be gas.
Oh, how I love the way science makes everything so very crystal clear.
