In 1970, New York State legalized abortion and placed the legal limit at 24 weeks. Abortions could be performed up to that point. Dr. Bernard Nathanson, former abortionist turned pro-life, tells how this upward limit was determined:
“I had the opportunity to ask Assemblywoman Constance Cook about how the architects of the bill had arrived at the 24 week limit. She told me, a little apologetically, that doctors regarded the 20th week as the point at which the expulsion is no longer an abortion but a premature delivery, and the fetus is an “infant” if born alive, or a “stillbirth” if born dead. The older English Common Law figured viability, the point at which a prematurely delivered fetus had a reasonable chance to survive, at 28 weeks. At this point in her exegesis she paused a beat or two, then said: “We split the difference.” And that, children, is how the laws are written.”
Bernard Nathanson with Richard Ostling Aborting America (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1979) 69
Today, thanks to Roe Vs. Wade there is no longer any upper limit to abortion in NY or some other states. Unless a state has passed legislation banning late term abortions, it is legal to abort up until the day of birth.
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