Abortion and Fetal Pain - NYTimes.com When and whether a human fetus experiences pain may be a scientific issue ("Complex Science at Issue in Politics of Fetal Pain," front page, Sept. 17), but in the abortion debate this is really just a red herring. Imagine that it could be proved that the fetus does not experience pain or that its pain could be eliminated with some sort of intrauterine anesthetic. Would this lead any abortion opponents to say, "Oh, I guess abortion is O.K. after all"? I doubt it. The question of fetal pain is not primarily a scientific issue but an emotional one, used politically to promote the view that a woman should not have a right to make her own reproductive decisions. The writer is a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.