Thank you for a very thoughtful comment. I did just want to add that there are some who do place the possibility of fetal pain earlier—namely, if the cortex is not in fact necessary for conscious experience or pain (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00243639211059245). I realise this is a minority view, but I do think it has some things to commend it (e.g. experiences of pain in those with anencephaly/hydranencephaly).
It’s probably worth noting as well that the sheer number of abortions makes even small percentages significant—if only 10% of abortions take place after 12 weeks, that is still 5-7 million or so a year, so plausibly still worth addressing from an EA perspective.
(DOI: I don’t take a view of moral status that relies on conscious experiences so would be opposed to abortion even before that)
Thank you for a very thoughtful comment. I did just want to add that there are some who do place the possibility of fetal pain earlier—namely, if the cortex is not in fact necessary for conscious experience or pain (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00243639211059245). I realise this is a minority view, but I do think it has some things to commend it (e.g. experiences of pain in those with anencephaly/hydranencephaly).
It’s probably worth noting as well that the sheer number of abortions makes even small percentages significant—if only 10% of abortions take place after 12 weeks, that is still 5-7 million or so a year, so plausibly still worth addressing from an EA perspective.
(DOI: I don’t take a view of moral status that relies on conscious experiences so would be opposed to abortion even before that)
Thank you! That’s a reasonably significant update for me.