What is fetal viability and what does it have to do with abortion laws?

In the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, a majority of the courts held that a woman’s right to choose to terminate a pregnancy is protected by the Constitution, but states can limit that right as soon as the second trimester or 28 weeks, when the fetus can survive. outside the womb. In a 1999 ruling, Planned Parenthood sued Casey, the court affirmed that right, but chose a framework based on fetal viability rather than trimester. Here’s why that’s important and what it means for the case currently being brought before the court, and more broadly abortion rights in the United States.