Medical Viability

Blog Series #7 Modern Science a.k.a. COMMON SENSE, part 2a

In this seventh blog series of my Tattered Journal I will examine how Biblical truth supports modern scientific breakthroughs in medicine and — best of all — how modern scientific discoveries support what the Bible has been telling us all along. That is why Scientific Discovery does not shake my faith at all. In fact, it REINFORCES my faith. I’ve already examined this principle incidentally as it came up in posts such as ‘Breath,’ ‘Babies Leaping,’ and my entire Prophetic Voice series.
With the blogs in this series #7, I’m simply more intentional rather than incidental about it.

MEDICAL VIABILITY

I’ll admit it: this is confusing. There are many definitions of ‘viability’ and they can become muddled. Context is important when trying to sort out which meaning for the word ‘viable’ is intended. I’ll expound more on this important point in part 2b of this series. Within the context of fetal viability, there are two basic meanings that crop up in discussions. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) puts out a publication called Advocacy: Facts are Important. I recommend the ACOG as a reliable resource when researching anything related to pregnancy, abortion, and birth.

[Important Side Note: I just used the words ‘pregnancy,’ ‘abortion,’ and ‘birth’ together in a sentence. In our culture this has always been taboo. The term ‘abort’ in the context of pregnancy has been hushed and sequestered with a *gasp!* as a non-issue never to be discussed. Yet, 1 in 5 (20%) pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) by the end of the second trimester in well developed countries such as the U.S. I know this personally because I am at the high end of that average with 50% of my pregnancies ending in spontaneous abortion. The rate increases to at least 1 in 4 (25%) in many lesser developed, economically struggling regions. I’ve found the Guttmacher Institute and the Center for Disease Control to be reliable resource on these current statistics. With an estimated 5 million pregnancies per year in the U.S. since 2019, and an average of 1 million abortions in the U.S. per year, another 1 in 5 (20%) pregnant women choose to terminate their pregnancies. This means the concept of ‘abortion’ is packed with meaning and emotional baggage for 40% of women who experienced pregnancy last year. It is an act of compassion for these 2 million women affected each year that we begin incorporating terms that signify important life events into our everyday language. Let’s remove the stigma around the word ‘abortion’ and normalize this experience that affects so many women around us.]

OK, back to the two types of fetal viability. The ACOG article ‘Understanding and Navigating Viability’ provides definitions for the two original types of fetal viability:

“Viability” in Two Contexts

While there is no single formally recognized clinical definition of “viability,” the term is often used in medical practice in two distinct circumstances. In the first, “viability” addresses whether a pregnancy is expected to continue developing normally. In early pregnancy, a normally developing pregnancy would be deemed viable, whereas early pregnancy loss or miscarriage would not. 

In the second, “viability” addresses whether a fetus might survive outside of the uterus. Later in pregnancy, a clinician may use the term “viable” to indicate the chance for survival that a fetus has if delivered before it can fully develop in the uterus.

[end of article quotation]

The following is based on some paragraphs I’ve posted in regard to ‘medical viability.’ These paragraphs pertained incidentally to my examination of God’s Prophetic Voice in ‘Two Prophets, An Apostle, and Medical Viability’ as well as ‘Two Prophets, An Apostle, and a Leap of Faith:

I often use the term ‘sustainable’ to mean dead or viable-only-with-external-life-support. Modern medicine has attached a new connotation to the terms ‘sustainable’ and ‘viable’:  a fetus is now considered ‘MEDICALLY viable’ when it can be transferred from a woman’s biological life-support system (her womb) to a medical life-support apparatus (in hospital) while the fetal bodily systems continue to function only with artificial, external support.  Today, (October 19, 2024) ‘viability’ is becoming a legal term in addition to a medical term because there are legal ramifications when making secular laws that restrict a woman’s choices about aborting fetuses after the ‘limit of viability.’ Delineating between natural ‘viability’ and an artificial or medical ‘viability’ becomes crucial.

A modern implication for ‘medical viability’ is that a fetus of >22 weeks’ biological gestation can now be sustained on artificial life-support in a hospital if it is detached from its mother’s womb. In a wealthy, developed country with all the necessary medical equipment and specifically trained staff available, a fetus of 22 weeks’ biological gestation has a 30% survival rate outside the womb. In under-developed regions where NONE of the medical equipment or trained staff necessary for maintaining an artificial life-support system are available, the chances that a fetus of 22 weeks’ biological gestation could become viable if removed from its organic life-support system is … well … much less than 30%. One must also consider that IF a fetus this premature were to initiate and sustain ALL of its bodily systems independently, there remains a high likelihood of physical deformity and developmental delay for this now-viable-yet-under-developed infant.

I gleaned much of this information from an updated and very informative Wikipedia page on the definition of ‘Fetal Viability and Medical Viability’ February 2024. Of particular interest to me for the purposes of this blog is the first paragraph under the section titled “Limit of Viability”:

The limit of viability is the gestational age at which a prematurely born fetus/infant has a 50% chance of long-term survival outside its mother's womb. With the support of neonatal intensive care units, the limit of viability in the developed world has declined since the 1960s.^[33][34]

The phrases that caught my eye in this definition of ‘limit of viability’ are “With the support of neonatal intensive care units” and “in the developed world.” Basically, medical viability can only happen, and the limit of viability ‘has declined’ from 28 to 22 weeks’ gestation, in places where technology is advanced enough for a neonatal intensive care unit to EXIST in the first place, and … that typically only happens in wealthy, developed nations. This entire concept of ‘medical viability’ is a non- reality in underdeveloped regions that lack the finances and the technology to support neonatal intensive care units.

The question I always come back to in my Tattered Journal is:

Can the fetus be murdered?

Since ‘Medical Viability’ refers to the transfer of a fetus from one life-support system to another, the answer is ‘NO.’ A fetus sustained on life-support (whether organic or technological) has never been alive or ‘viable’ on its own. ‘Medically Viable’ does not equal ‘alive.’ Remember: an organism has to be alive first before it can be killed. Therefore, a ‘medically viable’ fetus cannot be murdered any more than my own mother, sustained on medical life-support, could be murdered. Please refer to one of my earliest posts titled ‘Whew! My Dad is Not a Murderer!’ for an expanded perspective on this.

There is more to come in part 2b of this series, ‘Medical Viability and Deceptive Propaganda.’

Meanwhile, if you are reading this wondering ‘am I a murderer for aborting fetuses?’ or ‘did I murder my baby by terminating medical life-support?’ I want to assure you that you are not and did not. You are a kind and compassionate human being, proven to thrive through all the joy and heartache that accompanies any pregnancy. You are cherished by your Creator and I can promise you that no matter what

YOU ARE LOVED.