Definition Abortion is the removal of a fetus from the uterus before it is mature enough to live on its own. When this happens spontaneously we call it a miscarriage.
Induced abortion is brought about deliberately by a medical procedure that ends pregnancy.
Legal abortion, carried out by trained medical practitioners, is one of the most common and safest surgical procedures. About 1.5 million American women choose to have induced abortions each year. Before an abortion is performed, it is important to establish that the woman is indeed pregnant and to measure as accurately as possible how far along her pregnancy is. The woman is given a pregnancy test, then examined physically. Surgical Methods Two methods can be used to induce surgical abortion.