the.com/abortion
A deeply personal medical decision, often made under difficult circumstances, that remains widely and publicly debated.
means The deliberate ending of a pregnancy, whether by medical procedure, medication, or (in its broader original sense) something cut short before it reaches completion.
from From Latin abortio/abortus, built on ab- ('away, amiss') plus oriri ('to rise, be born') — the same root that gives us 'orient.' So an abortion was literally a birth that went 'wrong-wise,' a rising that failed to happen. Latin writers used it broadly for any miscarriage or failed birth long before it narrowed into today's specific medical and legal sense; the word's older, wider life also survives in phrases like 'an abortion of a plan,' meaning something that never got the chance to become what it was supposed to be.
- actual frequency
- 1 in 4 US women will have one
- timing
- over 90 percent happen in the first trimester
- etymology
- from Latin aboriri, to miscarry or fail
- global split
- legal on request in over 70 countries, banned in a dozen