Congenital abnormalities in legal abortions at 20 weeks' gestation or later.

A study of late abortions by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists made possible estimation of the number of abortions carried out for various types of confirmed congenital defects at or after 20 completed weeks of gestation. A reduction in the legal age of fetal viability to 24 weeks, in the absence of any other change in practice, would have stopped an estimated 26 abortions for confirmed serious fetal defects other than anencephaly in 1982; a reduction to 22 weeks would have stopped 77 such abortions.