![]() | It has been suggested that this article be split into a new article titled Abortion in society and culture. (Discuss) (April 2025) |
Abortion | |
---|---|
Other names | Induced miscarriage, termination of pregnancy |
Specialty | Obstetrics and gynecology |
ICD-10-PCS | 10A0 |
ICD-9-CM | 779.6 |
MeSH | D000028 |
MedlinePlus | 007382 |
eMedicine | 252560 |
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus.[nb 1][2] An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of all pregnancies.[3][4] When deliberate steps are taken to end a pregnancy, it is called an induced abortion, or less frequently "induced miscarriage". The unmodified word abortion generally refers to an induced abortion.[5][6] The most common reasons given for having an abortion are for birth-timing and limiting family size.[7][8][9] Other reasons reported include maternal health, an inability to afford a child, domestic violence, lack of support, feeling they are too young, wishing to complete education or advance a career, and not being able or willing to raise a child conceived as a result of rape or incest.[7][9][10]
When done legally in industrialized societies, induced abortion is one of the safest procedures in medicine.[11]: 1 [12] Unsafe abortions—those performed by people lacking the necessary skills, or in inadequately resourced settings—are responsible for between 5% and 13% of maternal deaths, especially in the developing world.[13] However, medication abortions that are self-managed are highly effective and safe throughout the first trimester.[14][15][16] Public health data show that making safe abortion legal and accessible reduces maternal deaths.[17][18]
Modern methods use medication or surgery for abortions.[19] The drug mifepristone (aka RU-486) in combination with prostaglandin appears to be as safe and effective as surgery during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy.[19][20] The most common surgical technique involves dilating the cervix and using a suction device.[21] Birth control, such as the pill or intrauterine devices, can be used immediately following abortion.[20] When performed legally and safely on a woman who desires it, an induced abortion does not increase the risk of long-term mental or physical problems.[22] In contrast, unsafe abortions performed by unskilled individuals, with hazardous equipment, or in unsanitary facilities cause between 22,000 and 44,000 deaths and 6.9 million hospital admissions each year.[23] The World Health Organization states that "access to legal, safe and comprehensive abortion care, including post-abortion care, is essential for the attainment of the highest possible level of sexual and reproductive health".[24] Historically, abortions have been attempted using herbal medicines, sharp tools, forceful massage, or other traditional methods.[25]
Around 73 million abortions are performed each year in the world,[26] with about 45% done unsafely.[27] Abortion rates changed little between 2003 and 2008,[28] before which they decreased for at least two decades as access to family planning and birth control increased.[29] As of 2018[update], 37% of the world's women had access to legal abortions without limits as to reason.[30] Countries that permit abortions have different limits on how late in pregnancy abortion is allowed.[31] Abortion rates are similar between countries that restrict abortion and countries that broadly allow it, though this is partly because countries which restrict abortion tend to have higher unintended pregnancy rates.[32]
Globally, there has been a widespread trend towards greater legal access to abortion since 1973,[33] but there remains debate with regard to moral, religious, ethical, and legal issues.[34][35] Those who oppose abortion often argue that an embryo or fetus is a person with a right to life, and thus equate abortion with murder.[36][37] Those who support abortion's legality often argue that it is a woman's reproductive right.[38] Others favor legal and accessible abortion as a public health measure.[39] Abortion laws and views of the procedure are different around the world. In some countries abortion is legal and women have the right to make the choice about abortion.[40] In some areas, abortion is legal only in specific cases such as rape, incest, fetal defects, poverty, and risk to a woman's health.[41]
[mass noun] The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy
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A strong body of accumulated evidence shows that the simple means to drastically reduce unsafe abortion-related maternal deaths and morbidity is to make abortion legal and institutional termination of pregnancy broadly accessible. [...] [C]riminalization of abortion only increases mortality and morbidity without decreasing the incidence of induced abortion, and that decriminalization rapidly reduces abortion-related mortality and does not increase abortion rates.
Because few of the abortion estimates were based on studies of random samples of women, and because we did not use a model-based approach to estimate abortion incidence, it was not possible to compute confidence intervals based on standard errors around the estimates. Drawing on the information available on the accuracy and precision of abortion estimates that were used to develop the subregional, regional, and worldwide rates, we computed intervals of certainty around these rates (webappendix). We computed wider intervals for unsafe abortion rates than for safe abortion rates. The basis for these intervals included published and unpublished assessments of abortion reporting in countries with liberal laws, recently published studies of national unsafe abortion, and high and low estimates of the numbers of unsafe abortion developed by WHO.
Of the world's 1.64 billion women of reproductive age, 6% live where abortion is banned outright, and 37% live where it is allowed without restriction as to reason. Most women live in countries with laws that fall between these two extremes.
Abortion is sought and needed even in settings where it is restricted—that is, in countries where it is prohibited altogether or is allowed only to save the women's life or to preserve her physical or mental health. Unintended pregnancy rates are highest in countries that restrict abortion access and lowest in countries where abortion is broadly legal. As a result, abortion rates are similar in countries where abortion is restricted and those where the procedure is broadly legal (i.e., where it is available on request or on socioeconomic grounds).
Although abortion has been legal in many countries for several decades now, its moral permissibilities continues to be the subject of heated public debate.
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