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I'm just gonna s**t all over the guild with a pointless topic again.
Firstly I would like to clarify that this is an abortion-neutral look on the brain development during gestation. I only bring this subject up because I recently found myself in a debate with a person who believes that the ability to think and (emotionally) feel are indicative of personhood, or in this case, humanity in general. I did, and still do, disagree that more complex brain function constitutes human life.
This escalated into a debate on when during gestation a foetus begins basic brain functions. Considering my father is a neurologist - a surgeon, to be exact - and knows quite a bit on this subject I've taken a liking to his textbooks in the past, thus while I am not qualified to give expert commentary on such a subject, I do know my way around brain development enough to take an interest in discussing it.
The human brainstem is fashioned during the 7th gestational week, and by the 9th week, the foetus is capable of spontaneous movement only possible through brain activity - though it should be noted that movement is possible during the 7th and 8th weeks as well. The foetus at this stage is able to move any part of its body. The brain's lack of full development is not a factor in personhood, as a human being is born with an underdeveloped brain that generally completes development during the first year of postnatal life.
The neural tube that becomes the brain is already completely formed by the third gestational week, long before most women know they are pregnant. "Breathing" (movement of the chest) is possible during the 10th gestational week.
The gentleman I discussed this with went on the notion that, according to his sources, dendrites, the branches of the neurons, do not develop and interconnect until the 20th gestational week. From what I know about brain development, nerve receptors develop long before 20 weeks gestation. At 9 weeks, foetuses can sense light touch in a number of areas on their body and will respond to it accordingly. Sensory ability is not possible without proper brain function to process these signals.
Does this mean that foetuses in the first trimester can feel pain? Not necessarily, no. Foetuses are known to attempt to adjust their positions when the mother is laying on her back because the spine of the foetus will come in contact with hers and this appears to irritate or cause discomfort in the foetus, but it's unknown if genuine pain is felt. Clearly they will react to stimuli almost immediately, which is a characteristic that all animals have - slow reaction to stimuli is a characteristic of plant life - but the nature of this stimuli and the reaction can only tell us, at this point, that the foetus can physically feel. Of course, they cannot engage in complex thought, nor can they perceive or harbour emotions (from what we currently know, that is) but again, I do not believe these indicate anything when it comes to the life value of a foetus.
This is a completely unrelated observation, but what with the rising amount of individuals proclaiming themselves as pro-life, I thought it would be interesting to note that America has gone from being pro-life based on faith to pro-choice based on feminism back to pro-life based on gathered science. I wonder how long this exchange of viewpoints will occur until the medical and general communities cease to be fickle.
Once again, this is not, nor was it intended to be, a persuasive informal thesis for either side of the abortion issue. I'm just thinking out loud. I am, however, interested in your thoughts.
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