From: kristyp@coos.dartmouth.edu (Kristy Patterson)
Newsgroups: talk.abortion
Subject: Definition of Abortion
Date: 27 Jul 92 18:45:50 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Originator: kristyp@coos.dartmouth.edu

All this talk about what we mean by abortion, "induced" or "spontaneous," etc.
motivated me to look in my handy-dandy Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary
for a medical definition of abortion (working for doctors is apparently
good for something). Unfortunately, in this case, the Medical definition
makes things more confusing than ever. Without further ado:

From Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, Edition 14.

abortion (a-bor'shun) [L. abortio]. 1. The arrest of any physical action or
disease. 2. The termination of pregnancy before the stage of viability, i.e.,
sometime between the twentieth and twenty-eighth week of gestation.
SEE: miscarriage.
a., accidental.  Abortion which occurs spontaneously.
a., ampullar. Tubal abortion occurring from the ampulla of the oviduct.
a., artificial.  Abortion induced or performed purposely, as by a surgeon.
a., cervical. Abortion in which the ovum is retained in the cervical canal.
a., complete. Abortion in which the complete product of conception has
    been expelled.
a., criminal. Illegal abortion.
a., habitual. Three or more consecutive, spontaneous abortions.
a., imminent. Impending abortion characterized by bleeding and colicky pains
    that increase. Cervix usually effaced and patulous.
a., incomplete. Abortion in which part of the product of conception has been
    retained in the uterus.
a., induced. Abortion brought on intentionally. Abortions may be induced by
    use of drugs, use of suction for removal of the product of conception, or
    by injection of sterile hypertonic solutions into the amniotic cavity.
    SEE: curettage.
a., inevitable. Abortion which cannot be halted.
a., infected. Abortion accompanied by infection of retained material with
    resultant febrile reaction.
a., missed. Abortion in which the fetus has died prior to the twentieth
    completed week of gestation but the products of conception are retained in
    the uterus for eight weeks or longer.
a., septic. Abortion in which there is an infection of the product of
    conception and the endometrial lining of uterus.
a., spontaneous. Abortion occurring without apparent cause.
a., therapeutic. Abortion performed when the mental or physical health of
    the mother is endangered by continuation of the pregnancy.
a., threatened. The appearance of signs and symptoms of possible loss of
    embryo.
a., tubal. 1. A spontaneous abortion in which the fetus has been expelled
    through the distal end of a uterine tube. 2. The escape of the product of
    conception into the peritoneal cavity by way of the uterine tube.

Whew.  That was long. Things I found interesting; in the main definition,
third-trimester abortions are not acknowledged. "2. The termination of
pregnancy before the stage of viability, i.e., sometime between the twentieth
and twenty-eighth week of gestation."  What are abortions *after* viability
considered? I also found it interesting that the primary (first) definition
doesn't mention pregnancy at all.

Just food for thought for those who define abortion as "simply..." anything.

-Kristy

-- 
 +================+===========================================================+
 |Kristy Patterson|Now it's over, I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I |
 |    FIEYRNT     |want,for I'm still alive, and there's nothing I want to do.|
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