While medical science has allowed the fetus to survive following twenty-three weeks, in some cases, medical research has shown that without extreme intervention, even these fetuses will perish. Even if the fetus were to survive, many are left with severe mental and physical disabilities (American Medical Association, 1998). Thus, research has shown that life cannot be sustained until the third trimester of development, and thus, cannot be said to begin prior to that point.
Even the Principle of Medical Ethics, the code followed by those in the medical profession, contains an ethical passage that relates to the debate over when life begins. According to the ethics code "A physician shall, while
Since this ethical principle is joined by the principle that "A physician shall respect the law..." (AMA, III), and since taking the life of another is against the law, the legal practice of physicians to perform abortion obviously stems from their concept that the life of the patient is primary, and that the termination of a pregnancy prior to the third trimester is not an act of taking a life.
Still another argument that life begins during the third trimester can be seen in research regarding whether or not aborted fetuses feel pain during the procedure. According to a review of research on the topic, scientists and physicians have concluded that pain sensations are not possible prior to the twentieth to thirtieth week of development. Prior to that point, the brain circuitry responsible for pain sensations is not developed (Lee, 949). Without the ability to feel pain, or to be aware
