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Abortion access
Definition of terms related
to abortion & pregnancy
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Terms must be used with great care. Because various groups define words differently, misunderstandings are common. Some often used and confused terms related to abortion are:
 | Abortifacient: medication which terminates pregnancy and
induces an abortion. Since the pro-life movement defines the start of
pregnancy differently from that used by the pro-choice movement and the
medical profession, a medication can be considered as an abortifacient
by pro-lifers and a contraceptive by everyone else. | ||||||||
| Abortion: This word has many meanings. Two of the most popular
are:
See also a list of definitions of "abortion"
used by various organizations. | ||||||||
| Anti-abortion: This is a term whose meaning is in flux. Sometimes it is used as a
derogatory synonym for "pro-life." Recently, it has been frequently used to refer to
individuals and groups who take violent action against abortion providers or clinics,
up to and including shooting staff and bombing clinics.
More info. | ||||||||
| Anti-choice: Derogatory term used to refer to pro-life advocates,
implying that their prime motivation is to control women and restrict their
freedom. It is not. Almost all "pro-lifers" appear to be motivated by the
belief that a fertilized ovum, embryo and fetus are a human person whose life
must be protected. More info. | ||||||||
| Baby: Normally, this means a very young child aged from birth to perhaps 1 year.
The term is also sometimes used (particularly by pro-life advocates) to refer to a zygote,
blastocyst, morula, embryo and fetus. | ||||||||
| Blastocyst: A stage of pre-natal mammalian development which (in humans) extends
from the morula stage (a shapeless mass of cells about 4 days after fertilization), to an
bilaminar (two layer) embryo stage (1 week after fertilization). | ||||||||
| Child: Normally, this means a person aged from birth to puberty. Sometimes it is
used to refer to an unborn fetus as well - particularly by pro-life advocates. In legal
usage, it often means a person who has been born but has not attained their 18th birthday. | ||||||||
| Conception: A synonym for "fertilization." | ||||||||
| Embryo: A stage of pre-natal mammalian development which (in humans) extends from
2 to 8 weeks after fertilization. It is termed a "bilaminar" or
two layer embryo during its second week and becomes a trilaminar (3 layer)
embryo during its third week. At 9 weeks it is generally referred to as a fetus. | ||||||||
| Fertilization: The process that starts when a sperm contacts an ovum.
It ends with the intermingling of chromosomes from both the sperm and ovum
to produce a full set of chromosomes - 46 in most humans. The result is a
zygote, often popularly referred to as a "fertilized ovum." If it
has two X chromosomes, then the zygote is a female; if it has an X and Y, it
is male. This is generally
regarded as the start of pregnancy within the pro-life movement. Physicians and the
pro-choice movement regard the start of pregnancy when the ovum develops into a
blastocyst and attaches itself
to the wall of the uterus at about 10 days after fertilization. | ||||||||
| Fertilizational Age is the age of an
embryo, fetus, or newborn as measured from the date of fertilization. It is
sometimes called "conceptional age" or "developmental age." See
gestational age. | ||||||||
| Fetus: From the
Latin fetus,
meaning offspring, bringing forth, hatching of young.
2 A stage of pre-natal mammalian development which (in humans)
starts
9 weeks after fertilization or at the gestational age of 11 weeks. Once born,
the fetus is referred to as a newborn. | ||||||||
| Gestational Age is the age of an embryo,
fetus, or newborn as measured from the first day of the woman's last menstrual
period. This is approximately 2 weeks before conception or fertilization. See
fertilization age. | ||||||||
| Hysterotomy: A surgical procedure which involves cutting through the
woman's abdomen into the uterus (womb) and removing the fetus. It is often
referred to as a Cesarean section. | ||||||||
| Implantation: Attachment of the embryo to the wall of
the uterus. This is generally regarded as the start of pregnancy by medical professionals
and the pro-choice movement. "Attachment starts about 5 to 8 days after
fertilization and is completed by 9 or 10 days..." 3 | ||||||||
| Infant: A child; variously defined as aged from birth to 12
months, seven years, and even (in some
legal applications) as old as 21 years. | ||||||||
| Intact D&X Abortions A rare procedure in which the brain is removed from a fetus
when it is partly born. Perhaps 3,000 out of the 1.8 million yearly abortions
(<0.2%) in the US
use this procedure. The size of the skull is reduced by removing the fetal
brain. This permits the fetus to be removed
more easily through the woman's cervix. Its use is normally restricted to very rare
instances in which:
Testimony before a Senate committee indicated that a few doctors in the United States
routinely performed D&X abortions for reasons other than stated above.
One who did so was a physician in New Jersey. | ||||||||
| Life:
Pro-life advocates typically believe that the transition from human life to human
personhood
happens at fertilization. Pro-choice advocates typically believe that the transition
happens much later (e.g. when the fetus is viable -- capable of living on its own,
or when its higher brain functions start to operate, or when
it is born). | ||||||||
| Meiosis is a process by which the number of chromosomes in a germ
cell are halved. In humans, this is normally a reduction from 46 to 23. This
happens to an ovum after it is fertilized by a sperm. It happens to sperm
before they are released by the testes. | ||||||||
| Miscarriage Interruption of pregnancy prior to the 7th month.
Usually used to refer to an expulsion of the fetus which starts without
being induced by medical intervention. Approximately 25% of all pregnancies
end in a miscarriage. This is a very inexact number, because many embryos
are rejected by the woman's body before she is aware that she is pregnant.
| ||||||||
| Morula: A very early stage of pre-natal mammalian development. This stage starts
when the zygote has developed into a mass of 16 cells. This is typically 4
days after fertilization, and about 6 days before it becomes implanted in
the wall of the womb. | ||||||||
| Oocyte: an ovum | ||||||||
| Ovum: The mature sex cell generated by females in an ovary.
They are about 1/100 inch in diameter and are often (although not necessarily) released from alternate
ovaries about once per month. Probably over 99% of ova die without being fertilized and
given the opportunity to develop into a fetus. It is a form of human life
because it contains human DNA; however, it is not regarded as a human
person. | ||||||||
| Partial Birth Abortion (PBA): A recently coined non-medical synonym for
intact Intact D&X abortion. | ||||||||
| Pregnancy:
| ||||||||
| Pre-embryo: A zygote, morula, blastocyst or embryo before
it develops a "primitive streak" that will eventually form the spinal
column. | ||||||||
| Primitive streak: A marking which appears on an blastocyst about 14 days after fertilization, at about the time that it is implanted in the wall of the uterus. Division into identical twins is very rate after this point. (See "Twinning"). The streak will eventually develop into the fetus' spinal column. |
| Pro-abort, Pro-abortion: Derogatory term used to refer to the pro-choice stance, implying
that they promote abortion. They do not. Their motivation is to give women choice in
controlling their own bodies. More info. |
| Pro-choice: A belief that women should be given free access to abortions
if she wishes to terminate a pregnancy. People
who consider themselves "pro-choice" take many positions. Some believe that a
woman should have free access to abortions up until fetal viability; others say that a
woman should be able to choose to have an abortion later in pregnancy.
More info. |
| Pro-life: In general, this is movement whose members believe that
human life (in the form of a spermatozoon and ovum) becomes a human person at the instant of conception (or
perhaps shortly after when a unique DNA is produced). Thus the lives of all
pre-embryos, embryos and fetuses are to be protected under law
until birth. The term has been embraced by some who feel that abortions
should be totally unavailable, even to save the life of the woman.
Others would allow a woman to have an abortion to avoid disastrous or
disabling health problems. At the other end of the spectrum are persons
who would allow abortions if caused by of rape or incest. According to one Pro-life group, legislators who have vote in favor of a partial birth abortion ban are now calling themselves
"pro-life:" Pastor Matt Trewhella of
www.missionariestopreborn.com noted that now even a person
"who is
only opposed to partial-birth abortions can sell themselves as pro-life."1 |
| Sperm, Spermatozoa: The mature sex cell generated by males. They are about 1/500
inch long. Almost all of their length is formed by a tail. Tens of thousands are generated
every minute by most males, starting at puberty. Over 99.999% of sperm die without being
able to fertilize an ovum. |
| Stages of development: An ovum, after fertilization, is called a
zygote. This becomes, in turn, a morula, blastocyst, embryo and fetus. At
birth, the fetus becomes a newborn. Pro-lifers generally refer to all stages of development
after fertilization as a baby. |
| Trimester: A period lasting nominally 3 months. A human pregnancy is often
divided into three trimesters, from fertilization to birth. U.S. state laws restricting abortions
often differ among the trimesters. Canada is believed to be unique in the world:
it has no laws regulating abortions. However, provincial and territorial medical
associations have established regulations. |
| Twinning: A process by which an morula, blastocyst or embryo
divides in half to produce twins with identical genetic makeup. This
normally happens at some time up to the 14th day after fertilization, before
the "primitive streak" appears. Twinning does rarely happen later
that 14 days and produce conjoined twins; these are popularly called "Siamese
twins' |
| Viability: The ability for the developing fetus to live on its own if it were
delivered by cesarean section or by normal delivery, and given expert
medical care. This typically occurs sometime after
the 21st week after conception. Abortions are allowed by various state and provincial
medical associations only prior to viability. Terminations of pregnancies at or after
viability are not usually performed, except for overwhelming medical reasons (threat to
the woman's life, a dead fetus, or the need to terminate the pregnancy to
avoid a very serious disability to the mother). The US Supreme Court defined viability (Roe v.
Wade, 1973) as "potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with
artificial aid." |
| Zygote: A recently-fertilized ovum. |
References:
Pastor Matt Trewhella, "Coming home to roost: Fruit of the Ill-conceived Partial-Birth Abortion Strategy," at: www.missionariestopreborn.com
-
"Fetus," Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
-
"HON Dossier: Mother & Child Glossary," Health on the Net Foundation, at: http://www.hon.ch/
|
Site navigation: Home page > "Hot" topics > Abortion > Facts > here |
Copyright © 1997 to 2008 by Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Last updated and reviewed on 2008-OCT-19
Author: B.A. Robinson
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