American College of Pediatricians: Unborn Children Feel Pain

12 January 2021

Media Contact: 

Quentin Van Meter, MD, FCP, President

admin@acpeds.org 

(352) 376-1877

In its recent position statement, Fetal Pain: What is the Scientific Evidence, the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) reviews the laboratory and clinical data which indicates that as early as 12 weeks gestation (and possibly earlier) exposure to painful stimuli negatively affects these immature human beings. While it is obviously unethical to harm innocent human beings irrespective of their ability to perceive pain, because of the resulting acute stress responses and subsequent potential long-term negative effects, the ACPeds holds that avoiding, mitigating, and directly treating fetal, neonatal, and pediatric pain is a medical and ethical obligation.

This paper describes both where the standard of care for pain management in this population once was, where it is now, and the evidence behind the changes that resulted in dramatic medical practice improvements in neonatal and pediatric pain management. 

ACPeds board member and neonatologist Dr. Robin Pierucci stated, “Painful acts cause harm to developing unborn children and premature infants regardless of their level of conscious perception, and this fact cannot ethically be ignored.” 

Informed by the evidence, ACPeds advocates the need for in-utero, neonatal, and pediatric pain prevention, mitigation, and treatment. Medicine's double standard of acknowledging pain capability in wanted premature babies while denying it in unwanted unborn babies of the same gestational age is unconscionable.

Read the full statement here: https://acpeds.org/position-statements/fetal-pain

About the American College of Pediatricians

The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) is a national medical association of licensed physicians and healthcare professionals who specialize in the care of infants, children, and adolescents. It was founded by a group of concerned physicians who saw the need for a pediatric organization that would not be influenced by the politically driven pronouncements of the day. The mission of the ACPeds is to enable all children to reach their optimal physical and emotional health and well-being. The ACPeds is committed to fulfilling its mission by producing sound policy, based upon the best available research, to assist parents and to influence society in the endeavor of childrearing.