The public relies on auditors to make critical professional judgments in an objective, professionally skeptical manner. Participants in capital markets who are making investment decisions place trust and confidence in the judgments made by auditors during audits of public company financial statements.
Several scientists have done research that abortion opponents say shows that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks after conception. One of those scientists said he believed fetuses could likely feel pain then, but he added that he believed the few abortions performed then could be done in ways to avoid pain.
Claim: A fetus can feel pain 20 weeks after conception. The bulk of the scientific literature on the subject, however, finds that the brain connections needed to feel pain are not in place until at least 24 weeks, which is also the earliest possible time a fetus becomes viable outside the womb.