Abstract
A study by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of late abortions in England and Wales indicates that lowering the gestational age at which a fetus is legally deemed viable would significantly affect the possibility of aborting fetuses diagnosed in late pregnancy as having congenital abnormalities. In a survey of 1,080 abortions in which gestational age was certain, 77 abortions for serious congenital defects could not have been carried out if the fetal viability limit had been lowered to 22 weeks. If lowered to 24 weeks, 26 abortions could not have been performed. (KIE abstract)
