The dead feel no pain

"Recent studies" are like weather predictions.  Inexact at best and bound to change by noon.

A recent British study concluded that babies do not feel pain until 24 weeks after conception (here).  An American study had set the bar at 28 weeks. 

I'll cede the study.  I don't know that a baby "feels pain" or if it can respond to stimulus when it's only one cell, two cells, or even eight cells.  It's obvious that at some point, the en utero baby will feel pain.

The reason this "recent study" has gotten so much ink this past week is because the media believes this diminishes the argument of British pro-life forces seeking to shrink the line in the sand after which a child may not be aborted (yes, I understand that's a polite euphemism).

Pro-life forces have used the "pain of the fetus" argument to get legislatures to enact laws to curtail when doctors can destroy the child.  If you press those in the pro-LIFE camp, you'll find that pain is not at the root of their efforts.  They believe human life to be sacred and that innocent life must be protected.

Really, it doesn't matter if the baby feels pain at 24 weeks.  It won't matter if next week they determine the child doesn't feel pain until 13 weeks.  If the study is accurate, whether dismantled at 8 weeks and oblivious or at 28 weeks and in agony, the haunting end remains the same.

The child is dead.