the.com/viability
the line where a fetus stops needing you and starts needing a NICU.
means the point at which a fetus can plausibly survive outside the womb, with medical help, roughly 21 to 24 weeks into pregnancy.
from from latin vita, life, filtered through french viable in the 1600s meaning capable of living; it stayed a quiet biology term until roe v. wade in 1973 made it the legal fulcrum of american abortion law.
no fixed weekviability shifts with hospital, weight, and lung development
legal pivotroe used it to justify state limits after that point
dobbs dropped it2022 ruling erased viability as the constitutional line
survival keeps creepingearliest surviving preemie was born at 21 weeks
for instance
roe v wade 1973 — set viability, about 28 weeks then, as the abortion threshold
dobbs v jackson 2022 — overturned roe, discarding viability as the legal test
curtis means — born at 21 weeks 1 day in alabama, 2020, world's most premature surviving baby