Medical Issues Regarding Therapeutic Abortion
Medical Issues Introduction Definitions Reasons Procedures |
What is a therapeutic abortion?
As with virtually any topic, various sites on the internet define therapeutic abortion in completely different ways, and this can be confusing. Perhaps the best way to understand the definition is to break the term apart. An abortion is simply the termination of pregnancy resulting in the death of the embryo or fetus. "Therapeutic" refers to something intended to cure or treat a medical condition, disease, or disorder. A therapeutic abortion, then, is the termination of a pregnancy in order to treat the woman's health or to prevent a negative health condition from arising as a result of the pregnancy. How is a therapeutic abortion different from an elective abortion? Generally, an elective abortion refers to any abortion performed for any other reason. For instance, if a woman obtains an abortion because she does not want a child, her abortion would be elective, not therapeutic. Are therapeutic abortions spontaneous or induced? A spontaneous abortion is commonly referred to as a miscarriage if it occurs within the first 20 weeks of development or a stillbirth any time after, which can occur either do to natural causes or some form of trauma, either accidental or intentional. Therapeutic abortions, on the other hand, like elective abortions, are induced. Induced abortion generally requires surgery or chemical drugs. A woman obtaining a therapeutic abortion will be surgically operated on or given a drug treatment to terminate the pregnacy for various medical reasons. |