Two years ago, a large study of nearly five thousand premature babies born before twenty-seven weeks gestational age was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world. In the study, medical doctors from twenty-four hospitals around the country reported that a significant number of babies who were born at twenty-two weeks survived after being medically treated in a hospital. Before the study, twenty-two week preemies were considered too young to receive medical treatment when they are born because survival rates were so low. When The New York Times interviewed Dr. Edward Bell, a pediatrics professor at the University of Iowa about the study, he told them that he now considers twenty-two weeks the new standard of fetal viability because of the scientific evidence. He also argued that “these babies deserve a chance.”
In Roe v. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court ruled that no restrictions could be placed on abortions before the twenty-eighth week of a pregnancy because this was believed to be the earliest age of fetal viability at that time. However, medicine has made significant strides in neonatal care since that landmark case. Not surprisingly, therefore, in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v Casey (1992), the Court abandoned Roe’s landmark trimester framework and focused instead on fetal viability. In this decision, the Court stated, “Whenever viability may occur, be it at 23–24 weeks, the standard at the time, or earlier, as may be the standard sometime in the future, the attainment of viability serves as the critical fact in abortion legislation.”
Rhode Islanders value science. Just last year, Governor Gina Raimondo announced an ambitious initiative to introduce computer science classes in every school in our state by the end of this year. She did this because she knows that we need to take advantage of the very best that science can give us. Our state laws should do the same. They should take into account and incorporate the findings of the best science available. As it is written, however, the proposed abortion bill (H5343) does neither of these things. It does not acknowledge that the standard of fetal viability has dramatically improved in recent decades and that even twenty-two week preemies are able to survive after birth if they receive adequate medical care. Rhode Islanders deserve better.
Father Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, O.P., Ph.D., S.T.D., is a professor of Biology and of Theology at Providence College.
