Early day motion 636

leave out from `sentient' to end and add ` and recognises this as just another ploy to try to deprive women of the right to make up their own minds'.'

That this House understands concern and non-violent protest about the inhumane treatment of sentient creatures, including the export of veal calves; notes that consistent scientific research since that of I. D. Hogg in 1941 clearly shows that the human fetus reacts to painful stimuli from five to six weeks gestation when touched around the mouth and that this extends to an almost complete range of cutaneous responses at 12 weeks; notes that the perception of pain is principally within those parts of the thalamus which develop between nine and 12 weeks gestation; further notes that the cortex which develops after the thalamus influences pain perception by reducing its intensity; thus notes that in these early stages of development the fetus could be subjected to an intensity of pain greater than that experienced by born humans; recalls that Professor Sir William Liley, renowned internationally as the father of fetal medicine, comparing attitudes towards animals and the human fetus, recorded his unhappiness that we withhold from the human fetus a charitable consideration we extend to animals; and calls for changes to the Abortion Act to give protection to the human fetus who has less legal protection than laboratory animals and less charitable consideration from the 'politically correct' than they extend to livestock.

leave out from 'calves' to end and add 'but disassociates itself from the opinion that the human fetus is sentient, at least before the 24th week of pregnancy; notes that animals ranging in complexity from the one-cell amoeba to the human respond by movement when stimulated; notes that such a response does not imply the awareness necessary for sentience; notes that sentience is a function of the cerebral cortex and that this part of the brain increases greatly in bulk and complexity after the 24th week of pregnancy and its development is not complete until some months after birth; notes that awareness of pain and of the emotions associated with being hurt is a function of consciousness which depends not only on the maturity of the brain but also on the ability to remember and understand information received through the senses; notes that the fetus may have some small degree of consciousness in the last weeks of pregnancy but that full development occurs after birth; notes that the Abortion Act recognises that the protection of the health of the woman has to be balanced against the risks of continuing pregnancy and abortion; and notes that the time limit of 24 weeks for abortion, except in the most unusual and adverse circumstances, meets the needs of the woman and shows a respect for the developing humanity of the fetus that is soundly based on anatomical and psychological observations.'.