If you're a fetus: Day 1: You're one cell. You can be aborted in most European countries (only Ireland, Spain, and Poland limit the circumstances at this point) and all US States.
Weeks 1-3: Development of cells continues up to two layers.
Week 4: You're officially an embryo! And can be aborted in most European countries (except as noted above) and all US States.
Week 6: A head and trunk are noticeable on ultrasound.
Week 8: All major organ systems have begun to develop. Bone cells appear. Fine appendages (fingers, toes, wrists, sexual organs) are developing. And you're a fetus! You can still be aborted in most European countries and all US States.
Week 12: You are completely formed! Movement has started. Nails and appendages are formed. Hair and teeth may have started growing as well. You may no longer be aborted in Italy (at 90 days) and France, Slovakia, Romania, Norway, Hungary, Greece, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Belgium, and Austria. You may still be aborted in any US State, Sweden, the UK, Netherlands, and Canada.
Week 16: Eyebrows and eyelashes have begun to appear. You can hear the voice of your mother. You no longer have a tail and are moving almost constantly. Sleep is also occurring. You may be aborted in any US State still.
Week 18: If you are in Sweden, you may no longer be aborted.
Week 20: Teeth are beginning to form and your organs are starting to work. You follow a more normal interval of sleeping and waking. You may suck your thumb. You may no longer be aborted in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Texas (8/50 states).
Week 24: If you are a girl, you have started to develop eggs in your ovaries. The lungs have started to develop, but your chance of survival outside the womb is extremely low. You may not be aborted in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, or the US States of Florida, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Dakota (total 16/50 states).
Week 28: You can open your eyes and sense light changes. You can hear the outside world quite well. If born, you would have around a 90% chance of survival. According to Roe v Wade, you are now viable, and cannot be aborted in the following states (following the legal definition in the 1973 case, some states leave the choice to doctor(s) or to specific tests; this also includes states which list the third trimester as the limit): Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas (prior law), Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming (total 42/50).
Week 32: You have accumulated most of your baby fat and continue to grow and move more and more. You may still be aborted in Canada and Alaska, Colorado, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and West Virginia (Partial-Birth Abortion is banned in Mississippi and New Hampshire, however).
Week 36: You are fully formed. If you are boy, your testicles should have descended by now. Your lungs are fully formed and you would almost certainly survive if born. You may still be aborted in Canada and Alaska, Colorado, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and West Virginia (Partial-Birth Abortion is banned in Mississippi and New Hampshire, however).
Notes: - Applies to an infant under normal conditions developmentally. - Abortion laws vary under the circumstances of conception, most laws make exceptions in the case of women's life, health, or in the cases of rape, incest, or fetal abnormality. Rape and incest account for less 1% of abortions. 3% are due to possible health problems of the baby. - 61% of abortions in America occur in weeks 16-20. Only 1% occur after week 21.
- This was last updated in 2013.
Sources: http://www.baby2see.com/development/ http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_OAL.pdf http://en.wikisource.org/…/Roe_v._Wade/Opinion_of_the_Court… http://worldabortionlaws.com/map/ http://www.operationrescue.org/about-…/abortions-in-america/
