Neb. senator seeks talks in Congress on fetal pain
Bolstered by the passage of unique abortion restrictions in his home state of Nebraska, U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns is pushing for a new federal discussion of the notion of fetal pain. Although doctors are at odds about when during development a fetus can feel pain, it’s an issue that could change the way abortions are regulated in the United States.
The Nebraska law that takes effect Friday bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the idea of fetal pain, a departure from the standard of viability — when the fetus could survive outside the womb, generally considered to be between 22 and 24 weeks — established by the 1973 landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade.