Utah plays doctor, legislates anesthesia for abortions at 20 weeks and beyond

[Scrabaholic]

A woman in Utah is allowed to have an abortion at 20 weeks. But does she have to give her fetus painkillers in the process?

Yes, the state said Monday, when it became the only state in the nation to require doctors to give anesthesia to women undergoing abortions at 20 weeks or later.

Advocates of the law say that the regulation prevents fetuses from suffering during abortions. But doctors in Utah and elsewhere say there’s no proof that fetuses are able to feel anything at that point in pregnancy, and that sedating women during the procedure puts them at risk of complications.

(snip)

But the idea that 20-week-old fetuses can feel anything is disputed; a 2005 review of more than 300 studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester (28 weeks).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...sthesia-for-abortions-at-20-weeks-and-beyond/

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DOCTORS should be practicing medicine, NOT the govt! Doctors are saying this is unnecessary and makes the procedure riskier for women. I hope the law falls under a court challenge.

 

[Lursa]

More useless 'feel-good' legislation.

Utah legislators, wasting time and taxpayer $ on this? :roll:

From the article:

it requires doctors to take steps to “eliminate or alleviate organic pain to the unborn child” except for in cases when the abortion is necessary to prevent the health of the mother, when the fetus suffers from a deadly congenital defect, or when the administration of anesthetic might put the mother at risk.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...sthesia-for-abortions-at-20-weeks-and-beyond/

These are all medically necessary abortions, not elective. So while it does NOTHING to prevent abortion it actually says they dont have to use it WHEN the abortion is medically necessary. :doh That makes no sense. Why not prescribe it for that 'imaginary' pain for ANY abortion? (Except for the case where they do qualify that anesthesia is harmful to the woman.)

Does anyone have the number of elective abortions in Utah after 20 weeks? Good luck finding any.

 

[Removable Mind]

A woman in Utah is allowed to have an abortion at 20 weeks. But does she have to give her fetus painkillers in the process?

Yes, the state said Monday, when it became the only state in the nation to require doctors to give anesthesia to women undergoing abortions at 20 weeks or later.

Advocates of the law say that the regulation prevents fetuses from suffering during abortions. But doctors in Utah and elsewhere say there’s no proof that fetuses are able to feel anything at that point in pregnancy, and that sedating women during the procedure puts them at risk of complications.

(snip)

But the idea that 20-week-old fetuses can feel anything is disputed; a 2005 review of more than 300 studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester (28 weeks).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...sthesia-for-abortions-at-20-weeks-and-beyond/

================================================================

DOCTORS should be practicing medicine, NOT the govt! Doctors are saying this is unnecessary and makes the procedure riskier for women. I hope the law falls under a court challenge.

Baaaggggeeeebus! Is somebody putting Stupid Pills in municipal water supplies around the country? It's getting wackery by the day in so many ways.

Why is America electing these fricking authoritarian wanna be despots? Guess it's a waste publishing studies. People spend too much time listening to these wackos instead of reading the facts.