Despite the efforts of legislators to resolve the thornier issues--such as making sure that a woman's decision to have an abortion is not influenced by the idea that her fetus's tissue may help a victim of Parkinson's disease--the current calm in public attitudes may well be fleeting.

ECONOMIST: Something new in mind

But, to the dismay of some anti-abortion campaigners, that change would give a higher priority to the mother's life if she is in danger (other than from a suicide threat) than to a fetus's right to life.

ECONOMIST: Yet another plebiscite on abortion looms in Ireland

Chemotherapy is typically delayed until after the first trimester, when the majority of the fetus's organs are formed, and stopped three to four weeks before delivery.

CNN: Pregnant with cancer

Verinata, Illumina's testing unit, incorrectly cleared a New York woman's fetus of Down syndrome, according to the case report presented at a medical society meeting last month.

WSJ: New Questions on Cutting-Edge Prenatal Tests

Since a fetus resides fairly deep inside a woman's body, there is a limit to how fine-grained an image of it can be.

ECONOMIST: Sound reasons to prevent kidney rejection

For women who get the dreaded positive result, the next steps are determined by the type of tumor -- how big it is, how much it has spread, how fast it's growing -- as well as by the gestational age of the fetus.

CNN: Pregnant with cancer

The mother's abdomen and uterus are opened so as not to harm the placenta, which nourishes the fetus.

CNN: Study: Major benefits for spina bifida surgery in the womb