Look up viability in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Viability means in general "capacity for survival" and is more specifically used to mean a capacity for living, developing, or germinating under favorable conditions. The word is especially used in the following contexts: Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages. ...
viability in natural selection denotes the fraction of individuals that survive to a given age.
viability in economic development indicates the ability of benefits to cover costs in development projects.
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The Supreme Court ruled that states cannot put the interests of a fetus ahead of the interests of the pregnant woman until the fetus is "viable." The court defined viable to mean capable of prolonged life outside the mother's womb.
Because the point of viability varies, the court ruled, it could only be determined case by case and by the woman's own doctor.
The court said that state laws could require a woman and her doctor to perform tests to prove that a fetus is not viable before she obtains an abortion.
The legal definition of viability is "capable of independent existence." This definition is too broad; it covers many people to whom it was initially intended to refer.
Really by this definition viability isn't reached until at least the teenage years, and can be lost again through a coma, stroke, or other medical problem.
Viability has traditionally been used to determine the ethical justification of abortion, though this is wrong.