Abortion

What is abortion?

"Abortion is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death." [1]
It means that abortion is either the expulsion of an already dead fetus or embryo (without intention), or the intentional removal of a still living embryo.

What is the difference between a human embryo and fetus?

• Embryo: Until the third month of pregnancy the organism is callled embryo. After that point, it is called fetus.
• Fetus: The organism after three months (when the major structures have formed) until birth.
  

maybe here you could talk about pregnancy (duration (trimersters), etc...) and then define the terms embryo and fetus.Pierre.brawand 17 novembre 2007 à 23:21 (MET)

Why three months?

The limit of three months (12 weeks) is not universal, some put it at 8 or 10 weeks. In general, this period between the 8th and the 14th week of pregnancy is the moment when the the major structures and organs of the organism have been formed. It is sometimes called the first trimester (of fetal development).

Is abortion a form of contraception?

• definition of contraception: different methods used in order to avoid temporarily the fertilization

According to this definition, abortion is not a contraception form because the fertilization has already occured.

• Another defintion of contraception: different methods used in order to avoid having a baby
  

According to this second definition, abortion is a form of contraception because it inhibits having a baby.

very interesting and important to mention the two definitions because it changes the way "abortion" might be considered... I guess that here, Adèle and Alex could help with all the ethical questions related to that. Maybe you could make a link to their page and vice-versa.Pierre.brawand 17 novembre 2007 à 23:22 (MET)

If abortion is not a contraceptive method, what is it then?

According to certain definitions, abortion isn't a contraceptive method. Thus we could define it as a process which ends the pregnancy by medicine or surgery.

When is an embryo or a fetus considered as a "full" human being?

To resume, there are two major views concerning this complex question:

• from conception until death, the organism is a human being
  

Until when (in pregnancy) is abortion allowed and why?

• 0-12 weeks

In Switzerland, until the 12th week of pregnancy, abortion is a personal and legal choice (this law was voted in October 2002).

• 13-birth

From the 13th week until the end of pregnancy, to have an abortion, it must medically be proved that the procedure is necessary in order to avoid some severe physical or psychological troubles for the mother.

What are the different forms of abortion?

• Induced abortion: An induced abortion is a pregnancy which is voluntarily aborted and this can be done by using different methods. The method used depends mainly upon the gestional age of the fetus (the age of a fetus from the first day to the day the pregnancy arrives to its term. But the method chosen also depends medical resources,the legal and regional availability and eventually the doctor preference for specific procedure.

Why do certain women decide to have an abortion?

The evident answer to this question is, because they don't want to be pregnant. What's interesting to know, is what factors are at the origin of such a difficult decision.

• cultural factors: the feeling of being to young to be a mother, marriage "obligatory" before children
• social factors
• family factors: objection or rejection of the family, already many chidren or as many children as wanted,
• professional factors: baby would affect career or studies
• couple factors: no or not enough support from the father, relationship problems with the father, baby resulting from a one night stand
• financial factors: poverty, unemployment, incapacity to afford a(nother) child
• other factors: pregnancy endangering the maternal or fetal health, no wish of children, baby resulting from a rape or incest, Down syndrome baby

The reason why a woman choose to have an abortion is complex and often depends on several factors.

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