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 (and most European countries), 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.

According to which criteria did one fix this limit?

In most European countries, abortion must occur during the first trimester of pregnancy. However, in the UK for example, abortion is allowed until the 24th week, the end of the second trimester (it's the highest legal limit in Europe).

Can we consider abortion as a murder?

When an abortion attempt has failed and the fetus is at least 19 weeks old, the baby born is still living and dies of lack of care. In this case, the doctors in charge of the abortion could be charged with infanticide.

Are there physical or psychological consequences for the mother?

Most women, who had an abortion, feel pain after the intervention (the younger the woman is, the more painfull she 'll feel).

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 on the medical resources, the regional availability, the legality and possible the doctor's preference for using a specific procedure.

• Spontaneous abortion: A spontaneous abortion is generally known as a miscarriage. It is when an embryo or a fetus is lost before the 20th week of pregnancy due to natural causes. Most miscarriages occur very early in pregnancy and sometimes so early, that the woman is not even aware that she was pregnant. The risk of spontaneous is all in the sudden strongly reduced.

Between 10% and 50% of pregnancies result in miscarriages, depending on the health and the age of the pregnant woman. The women who have already endured several spontanenous or induced abortion, those with chronic diseases and those who are over 35 years old, have a greater risk to have their pregnancy ending in miscarriage. Spontaneous abortion can also be caused by the infection of either the woman or the fetus, or by accidental trauma (=physical injury potentially resulting in secondary complications).

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
• 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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