abortion
An abortion is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death. The spontaneous expulsion of a fetus or embryo before the 20th week of gestational age is commonly known as a miscarriage. Induced abortion is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus by medical, surgical, or other means at any point during human pregnancy for therapeutic or elective reasons. The approximate number of induced abortions performed worldwide in 2003 was 42 million.
Throughout recorded history, abortion has been induced by various traditional medicine methods, including botanical abortifacients, the use of sharpened tools, and abdominal pressure.
The moral and legal aspects of abortion are subject to intense social debate in many parts of the world. Aspects of this debate can include the public health impact of unsafe or illegal abortion as well as legal abortion's effect upon crime rates, and the ramifications of sex-selective practices. Other debates include the abortion-breast cancer hypothesis, post-abortion syndrome, and fetal pain. Moral arguments often equate abortion to murder, or denial of abortion to oppression of women.
The history of modern Western abortion laws can be traced back to English common law, which allowed abortion before the "quickening" of the fetus. Currently, abortion law varies from country to country, with regard to religious, moral, and cultural sensibilities.