Viability and abortion: lessons from ectogenesis?

Ectogenesis is the scientific term for the construction and growth of an artificial uterus that will enable a child to be gestated in vitro. Research into this advancement has been underway since the 1950s, and it has been asserted by some of those working in the field that they will achieve the desired aim of creating an ectogenic incubator within the next 20 years. If, as research indicates, complete ectogenesis will eventually become possible, it will mean an artificial womb could gestate a human baby from embryo to birth and, thus, is technically ‘viable’ from fertilization. As a possible new development in the realm of assisted reproduction, this article revisits the convoluted issue of viability and examines how ectogenesis will have a direct impact on the abortion debate and the legislation that governs this contentious topic.