Abortion Laws Treat “Viability” as a Bright Line. It Isn’t.

Abortion laws often use fetal viability as a cutoff, but doctors say it cannot be determined by a single clear rule. The article argues that treating viability as a legal bright line can leave patients with complex pregnancies without care that reflects their circumstances.

The account centres on Kate Dineen, who was 33 weeks pregnant when doctors diagnosed her son with a catastrophic stroke; Massachusetts law did not allow an abortion in her case. Viability is generally placed at 23 to 25 weeks, but survival depends on factors including gestational age, health and access to neonatal care, and survival at the earliest stages is only around 50 per cent. The article also traces how viability became part of US abortion law and notes that one state has recently abandoned the standard.