Abortion Fetal Pain Study Authored by Abortion Rights Activists

SAN FRANCISCO, August 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The mainstream media are today reporting on a "study" (actually, an interpretation of existing medical literature) published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The authors argue that there is no good evidence that unborn humans feel pain before the third trimester (after 29 weeks gestational age).

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) points out that "Most of these stories have failed to report important information on the origins of this 'study.' The lead author, Susan J. Lee, is a medical student and former NARAL employee."

The connection to pro-abortion activism doesn't end there. The Knight Ridder news service reveals that one of the physician authors, Eleanor Drey, is the director of an abortion clinic in San Francisco. Dr. Drey is also on the staff of the Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy, a pro-abortion advocacy center at the University of California-San Francisco.

JAMA editor-in-chief Catherine D. DeAngelis told Knight Ridder she was unaware of the authors' connections, and acknowledged it might create an appearance of bias that could hurt the journal's credibility. "This is the first I've heard about it," she said. "We ask them to reveal any conflict of interest. I would have published" the disclosure if it had been made.

The rest(scroll down)