“The absence of pain in the fetus doesn’t resolve the morality of abortion, but does argue against legal and clinical efforts to prevent such pain during an abortion,” Derbyshire said. “A mandate to provide pain relief before an abortion may expose women to inappropriate interventions, risks and distress.”

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, according to the International Association for the Study of Pain. It’s a conscious experience, not only a response to stimuli.

As pain is subjective, each individual uses the word differently based on his or her experience related to injury earlier in life. The limited neural system of fetuses can’t support such cognitive, affective and evaluative experiences, Derbyshire said.