Numerous facts from the following 7 scientific journals indicate that humans feel pain from 20 weeks after fertilization or earlier: The New England Journal of Medicine, Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy, Anesthesiology, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, PLoS ONE, Science, and Pain: Clinical Updates. Claims to the contrary are based on the empirically false notion that people must have a fully functioning brain cortex to feel pain. In reality, some children are born and continue to live without any cortex, yet they clearly feel pain.