abortion

abortion
Termination of the life of a foetus, after conception but before birth. The event may be intentionally induced or natural, although it is intentionally induced abortion that is the topic of moral philosophy. The issues divide conservatives or ‘pro-life’ supporters, who regard deliberately induced abortion as impermissible, and liberal or ‘pro-choice’ supporters, who regard the action as permissible in a variety of cases. The liberal attitude may extend to almost any case in which a mother wishes an abortion, or may involve a variety of restrictions, including the age of the foetus. Moderates restrict 2 the permissible cases, but the debate has not been notable for moderation. Issues arising include the nature of personhood, and its beginning; the extent of the right to life; the fragile notion of the sanctity of life; the way in which conflicting rights should be treated; and the political and social issues of who has the right to decide moral and legal policy and to enforce it.

Philosophy dictionary. . 2011.

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  • ABORTION — is defined as the artificial termination of a woman s pregnancy. In the Biblical Period A monetary penalty was imposed for causing abortion of a woman s fetus in the course of a quarrel, and the penalty of   death if the woman s own death… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Abortion — • Briefly defined as the loss of a fetal life. Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Abortion     Abortion     † …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • abortion — abor·tion /ə bȯr shən/ n 1: the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus; esp: the medical procedure of inducing expulsion of a human fetus to terminate a pregnancy 2: the crime of …   Law dictionary

  • Abortion — A*bor tion ([.a]*b[^o]r sh[u^]n), n. [L. abortio, fr. aboriri. See {Abort}.] 1. The act of giving premature birth; particularly, the expulsion of the human fetus prematurely, or before it is capable of sustaining life; miscarriage. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • abortion — (n.) 1540s, from L. abortionem (nom. abortio) miscarriage, abortion, noun of action from pp. stem of aboriri (see ABORTIVE (Cf. abortive)). Earlier noun in English was simple abort (early 15c.). Originally of both deliberate and unintended… …   Etymology dictionary

  • abortion — ⇒ABORTION, subst. fém. MÉDECINE 1. Thérapeutique par laquelle s interrompt avant son terme le processus habituel d une maladie évolutive : • 1. Quand le malade, cas ordinaire, n est pris en traitement que 4, 6, 8 jours après le début, il n y a… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • abortion — abortion, miscarriage denote the premature expulsion of a fetus before it is capable of living independently. Abortion may connote purposeful induction of the process either illicitly in order to avoid childbearing or therapeutically to protect… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • abortion — [n1] expulsion of fetus aborticide, feticide, misbirth, miscarriage, termination; concepts 230,699 abortion [n2] failure disappointment, disaster, fiasco, misadventure, premature delivery; concepts 304,308,674 Ant. continuation, success …   New thesaurus

  • abortion — ► NOUN 1) the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. 2) the natural expulsion of a fetus from the womb before it is able to survive independently. 3) informal, derogatory something imperfectly planned or made. DERIVATIVES abortionist noun… …   English terms dictionary

  • abortion — [ə bôr′shən] n. [L abortio: see ABORT] 1. a) any spontaneous expulsion of an embryo or a fetus before it is sufficiently developed to survive; miscarriage b) any deliberate procedure that removes, or induces the expulsion of, a living or dead… …   English World dictionary

  • Abortion — Induced abortion Classification and external resources ICD 10 O04 …   Wikipedia

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