The ability of an organism to survive on its own. In the United Kingdom, the legal age of the viability of a FETUS is 24 weeks.
adj. capable of living a separate existence. The legal age of viability of a fetus is 24 weeks, by virtue of the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended), but some fetuses now survive birth at an even earlier gestational age due to advances in neonatal medicine and technologies. The treatment of very premature neonates can raise issues of *personhood, *quality of life, and resource allocation. —viability n.
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