Viability has shifted slightly as medication has advanced.

The Supreme Court’s call in Roe v. Wade established a right to abortion up till the purpose in an exceedingly maternity once a vertebrate might survive outside the female internal reproductive organ. for many years, that time of viability was thought of to be regarding twenty four weeks into a maternity.

In recent years, advances in medication and efforts by some medical centers have nudged that threshold slightly earlier. Now, several hospitals can conceive to give deliverance treatment like revitalisation and ventilation to babies delivered at twenty three weeks of maternity.

In a smaller proportion of cases, such aggressive treatment has enabled the survival of babies delivered as early as twenty two weeks. Still, some hospitals take into account it a lot of moral to spare fragile 22-week newborns the pain of being subjected to prolonged medical care which will not ultimately save the baby’s life. Before twenty two weeks, babies square measure typically thought of to possess just about no likelihood of survival or to be too underdeveloped to be treated with medical care, though there are rare exceptions of babies born at twenty one weeks.