With Red Cheeks

Mark Hemingway reads an article from the Washington Moonie that states:

The unborn have memories, according to medical researchers who used sound and vibration stimulation, combined with sonography, to reveal that the human fetus displays short-term memory from at least 30 weeks gestation - or about two months before they are born.

"In addition, results indicated that 34-week-old fetuses are able to store information and retrieve it four weeks later," said the research, which was released Wednesday.

Hemingway attempts headline snark:

I Wonder Why NARAL Has No Comment 

I myself don't see why they would, as the research is irrelevant to the question of why abortion should be legal. Especially because this is to do with a pretty late stage of development. Which makes this quote diligently obtained by the Washington Moonie pretty interesting:

"It seems like every day we find out marvelous new things about the development of unborn children. We hope that this latest information helps people realize more clearly that the unborn are members of the human family with amazing capabilities and capacities like these built in from the moment of conception," said Randall K. O'Bannon, director of education and research for the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund.

From "the moment of conception" here is some mighty fine waffle, as is "capabilities and capacities." I suppose a fertilized human egg could be said to have many "capacities" in the long-term future, such as the capacity to someday offer disingenuous quotes to a wingnut newspaper.

Anyhow while I suppose the research is interesting it hardly seems like an amazing breakthrough in the Abortion Debate, as it's hardly news that late-term fetuses respond to sound. The fetal soul remains, alas, elusive to scientific inquiry.

Comments

[coozledad]

I understand there are a few Republicans, who at a fairly early stage of their development, have learned to shake lumps of feces from their socks. This by no means suggests a broader pattern, but offers some glimmer of hope for a sign of cognitive function.

[Monica_A: An Average Bear]

No one from NARAL has answered this silliness because they have better uses of their time and resources.

[actor212]

The unborn have memories

So do slugs and paramecia.

[PaminBB]

Um, who is "aborting" anyone at 34 weeks of gestation? If the baby is viable, it will be delivered. If it is not, it is as dead, albeit a tragedy for the parents and family involved.

Wingers must have some kind of fixation on trying to return to the womb, as they constantly seem to be peering into as many as possible.

[daphne]

At 30 weeks the fetus is well into the final trimester, when the law requires a threat to the mother's health or a heartbreaking deformity to attain an abortion. Also, I gave birth to a child of 34-weeks gestation (and another at 35). What's their point?

[SilverOwl]

My future have yet to fertilized eggs have shared their memories and observations with me. They all agree today's conservatives are fucked in the head. They request never to infected with any sperm from those fucking idiots. LOL!

My eggs number in the millions.

[southpaw]

I love scientific research when it buttresses my god-bothering predilections.

But I hate scientific research when it undermines my sky-fairy myths or suggests my lifestyle is destructive.

I am a very discerning conservative thinker!

[Jennifer]

Just stubled on your blog from rsmccain. Not a big fan of republicans myself, but I think ALL POLITICIANS ARE LAME.

paminbb
Who has abortions at 34 weeks? What do you think George Tiller was doing? Killing babies by crushing their skulls 'cause the mom had a headache. And you're right, a baby delivered pre-term for the health of the mother is NOT abortion. People get rich off killing babies for no reason other than it's legal. But I understand your point, it's mighty annoying to be responsible for your actions which have the perfectly normal and predictable outcome of pregnancy, no matter how hard you may try, or not try, to prevent it. I'm not sure why we should stop at the unwanted unborn, how about the unwanted born? It's pesky that under the age of 2 they have as much rights as me. For god's sake, they can't even read, feed themselves, or use the toilet. Eeek.

[PaminBB]

jennifer, take a deep breath and stop pulling stuff out of your ass. There are no doctors "aborting" healthy 30+ week fetuses just for the hell of it, or for the money. They are a figment of your all too twisted imagination.

All you pro-lifers want is to intrude into other people's lives. Butt out.

[Tehanu]

jennifer, pay attention to what PaminBB said, if you're capable to turning off the talking points. " ...'cause the mom had a headache...." is just a LIE, honey. The moms had severely deformed fetuses who were never going to live more than a few minutes outside the womb and who were going to destroy the moms' reproductive organs and possibly kill the moms into the bargain. You want to make the decision for yourself to give birth under those circumstances, be my fuckin' guest. You want to take away the decision from another person, FOAD.

[Jeremy]

Know what else has memory? Sperm.

[Thers]

Just stubled on your blog from rsmccain.

You know, that's not at all surprising.

[commie atheist]

Shaving is one way to get rid of stuble, Jennifer.

[fish]

Jeremy, here's the proof.