Use during legal abortion
In abortions after 20 weeks, an injection of digoxin or potassium chloride to stop the fetal heart can be used to achieve feticide.[12][13] Less commonly, urea may be injected into the amniotic sac,[14][15] or the umbilical cord may be cut, resulting in the fetus bleeding to death.[15][16] Fetal death causes the tissues to soften, making removal of fetal parts in a dilation and evacuation procedure easier.[15] In the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled that a legal ban on intact dilation and extraction procedures does not apply if feticide is completed before surgery starts.[13] When used before labor induction, feticide prevents the possible complication of live birth.[17] The possibility of unsuccessful feticide—resulting in birth of a live infant—is a malpractice concern.[18]
The most common method of selective reduction—a procedure to reduce the number of fetuses in a multifetus pregnancy—is feticide via a chemical injection into the selected fetus or fetuses. The reduction procedure is usually performed during the first trimester of pregnancy.[19] It often follows detection of a congenital defect in the selected fetus or fetuses, but can also reduce the risks of carrying more than three fetuses to term.[20]
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