THE ESSENCE OF THE SUPREME Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a woman’s right to an abortion, was to balance a pregnant woman’s constitutional right to privacy with the hypothetical rights of a fetus that at some point might be considered a person, even while inside the womb. The Court’s compromise was to confer those hypothetical rights on a fetus when it reaches the 28th week of pregnancy.
That threshold wasn’t arbitrary; it was based on the state of medical science at the time. In 1973, doctors and midwives were sometimes delivering babies prematurely at 28 weeks—but no earlier. Clinical experience established when a fetus could be considered just developed enough to live outside the womb.
In the half-century since, the science of fetal development and early birth has advanced considerably. Neonatal physicians and researchers have modified their thinking on when a fetus is and isn’t viable outside the womb, on how it makes the transition from a bundle of cells to a thinking, feeling being, on the relationship between a fetus and the health of the mother and on the many factors that determine whether a particular premature birth will be successful.
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Denne historien er fra June 17 - 24, 2022 (Double Issue)-utgaven av Newsweek.
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PARTING SHOT: Sarah Paulson
\"CAN YOU IMAGINE IF THE AIR WAS JUST FILLED WITH DUST PARTICLES and you literally could not breathe?\" That's what Sarah Paulson is tackling in her new film Hold Your Breath (October 3).
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POLITICS: Will House Prices Decide the Election?
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Jim Parsons
FRESH OFF HIS TONY NOMINATION FOR MOTHER PLAY, JIM PARSONS IS BACK on Broadway in Our Town. So, does he not like taking a break? \"Until [Big Bang Theory] wrapped in 2019, I did not really know what it was to take a break that was not only extended, but also uncertain.\"
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