A 1973 North Carolina law barring abortions after a fetus reaches 20 weeks gestation is unconstitutional, a federal court says.
The U.S. Supreme Court set viability, or the ability to live outside the womb, as the time when a state has a significant enough interest in human life to ban abortions outright, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina said March 25. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and several doctors who provide abortions had challenged the ban.
The point at which viability occurs, however, is legally irrelevant and varies with every pregnancy, the court said. Thus, a ...
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