Survival of premature baby of 23 weeks calls UK abortion laws into question

London, England, Jan 7, 2009 / 04:25 am

A premature baby born in Britain 23 weeks into pregnancy has been allowed to return home six months after her birth, prompting her parents to question the British laws which permit unborn children like her to be aborted.

Lexie Slater-Folksman weighed only 1 lb, 8 oz. at delivery. She was put on life support, her parents being warned that she might not survive, the Daily Mail reports.

Her eyes not having developed fully, Lexie required laser surgery when she was just one month-old. She also suffered collapsed lungs and spent weeks on ventilator equipment.

Lexie’s parents, the 20-year-old Sarah Slater and her 25-year-old fiancé Richard Folksman, said their daughter’s case proves that abortion laws are outdated and should be changed.

“We're so glad to have Lexie home with us at last and it just shows how outmoded our laws on abortion are,” Slater told the Daily Mail.

“Some mothers-to-be would be able to legally terminate their pregnancy at 23 weeks  -  yet my Lexie is living proof babies can survive being born so prematurely.

“I never realized a baby would be so well developed at 23 weeks and they do have a chance of life.”

In May British MPs voted to preserve the legal limit for abortions at 24 weeks into pregnancy.

Lexie’s mother was 22 weeks pregnant when her water broke. Doctors attempted to halt labor, fearing the baby wouldn’t survive.

Lexie was born a week later.