Fetal Pain, Abortion, Viability and the Constitution

Abstract:     
Can a U.S. state prohibit pre-viability abortions on the basis of concern of pain to fetuses?

Given that legislation in Nebraska purports to do, and the fact that similar are efforts now working through the legislative process in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and soon perhaps other states, the question is a pressing one.

In this short paper for the leading peer-reviewed law and medicine journal, we are the first to comprehensively examine these efforts to prohibit early abortion based on concerns about fetal pain from a constitutional, medical, and bioethical perspective.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 14

Keywords: Abortion, Fetal Pain, Constitutional Law, Fetus, Viability, Bioethics

Accepted Paper Series