The Department has made no such assessment. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologist’s guidance, ‘Fetal Awareness: Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice’, published in 2010, concluded that the fetus cannot experience pain in any sense prior to 24 weeks of gestation. This guidance is available at the following link: https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/rcogfetalawarenesswpr0610.pdf