Could science help ban abortions?

Published May 10, 2015 9:00am ET



Premature babies are surviving earlier than in the Roe v. Wade era, potentially shifting the Supreme Court’s guidepost of when abortion can legally be banned.

When the court legalized abortion four decades ago, babies born before 28 weeks gestation didn’t typically live. Now, medical professionals consider the point of fetal viability to be 24 weeks. But survival rates are rising for babies born even earlier at 22 weeks.

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