One of the most popular topics used to argue both for and against abortion is the viability of the fetus. Viability refers to the age at which a fetus could be born prematurely and still have a reasonable chance of survival [1]. Viability has come up in the arguments of protesters, For my post, I would like to discuss the ways in which various definitions of viability have been used to advocate for the unborn in the pro-life movement.
To begin with a few statistics regarding fetal viability, the record for the youngest premature-born baby that lived was born at 21 weeks, weighing only 14.8 ounces [4]. In 2021, the rate of preterm births was 10.5% of all births in the U.S. There are factors such as race and ethnicity that have interesting correlations to preterm births, but for our purpose, we will assume those to be negligible. From WHO, “preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death among children under five years of age”. The rates of survival decrease drastically as you increase the week of maturity: 95% survival at 31 weeks, 89% at 27, 60% at 24, 10% at 22, and almost 0% for less than 22 weeks [3]. I bring these statistics forward to allow for one to ponder among themself if the relevance of premature viability exists based on pure odds.
Above is shown Curtis Means, the youngest known premature baby to survive being born at 21 weeks. Born on July 4th, 2020 at 14.8oz, he was also born with a twin that unfortunately passed after a day of being born.
The way that the pro-life agenda uses viability to argue against abortions is simple. If a fetus can live outside the mother’s body in any capacity, the fetus should have its own moral standing as a human being, and therefore be offered human rights, in this case, the right to life. With the way that medicine has proceeded forward at a rapid pace, babies can be born much more prematurely than ever before, although many extremely premature babies that survive end up with life-long conditions that impair their health [2]. In a more legal argument that is used, if a human is alive on its own without the necessity of a womb or another person’s body, the pregnant person loses bodily autonomy over the fetus because it is no longer dependent on the body to be alive. The fetus and the fetal carrier are now considered two separate entities with equal rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
To expand more on different ways that viability is defined, often the use of a “fetal heartbeat” is brought into question. According to NPR news, a Texas law that went into effect prohibited physicians from performing an abortion if there was a fetal heartbeat detected, often as early as six weeks of pregnancy. A fetal heartbeat is defined in the law as “cardiac activity or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the gestational sac” [5]. The drawback to this from physicians is that this cardiac activity is nothing more than an electrical activity by a grouping of cells, and does not reflect a cardiovascular system that is functioning nor a heart that could be functional. The rhythm that is detected from a fetus is much different from the rhythm that we hear from an adult under a stethoscope. The sound under a stethoscope is the opening and closing of valves in the heart, in the fetus those valves do not yet exist at six weeks of gestation.
One of the major problems I see personally with using viability on either side of the abortion debate is that money or health insurance is often a major barrier in determining the viability of a fetus. In any circumstance, unless the pregnancy is brought to the full term of around 40 weeks, there will be some necessary medical care to ensure the baby can be successful. Alternatively, it begs the moral question of the quality of life of a premature baby. In the case of Curtis Means, the youngest premature baby to ever be born and survive, he must stay on machinery in order to breathe even at his age now. This will cause obvious expenses for the parents of Curtis, which surely is fine because they wanted these children, but what about parents of unwanted children? How can we ensure their rights to the pursuit of happiness if they are denied medical needs or if their parents are unable to afford those medical needs?
To conclude, the term “viability” in the abortion debate is used widely and under various definitions in order to push further back the gestation period at which abortion should be illegal. In many cases, the intention is to drive back the law to make conception the point at which abortion is illegal-that a fetus is a viable human being as soon as it is conceived. Additionally, in places like Mississippi, fetal pain is brought into the argument which could be also construed to indicate the viability of a fetus. As I discussed the main points of argument regarding viability is the actual ability/history of a fetus to be able to survive prematurely, and the existence of a “fetal heartbeat”. Under any of these considerations, the line is hard to see, but because of this, it is able to be used to put into effect laws that inhibit abortion.
Sage Murphy
Sources Cited Below:
[1] World Health Organization. (n.d.). Preterm birth. World Health Organization. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/preterm-birth
[2] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Preterm Birth. CDC. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pretermbirth.htm
[3] Tommy’s Together, for every baby. (n. d.). Premature birth statistics. Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/premature-birth/premature-birth-statistics
[4] BBC News. (2021, November 11). Alabama boy certified as world’s most premature baby. Retrieved April 12, 2023 from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59243796
[5] Kerns, J., OB-GYN. NPR.org. (2021, September 3). The Texas Abortion Ban Hinges On “Fetal Heartbeat.” Doctors Call That Misleading. Retrieved April 20, 2023 from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/09/02/1033727679/fetal-heartbeat-isnt-a-medical-term-but-its-still-used-in-laws-on-abortion