What is meant by the term abortion?

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GCSE Religious Studies

What is meant by the term abortion?

The dictionary definition of abortion is “the induced expulsion of a foetus from the womb before it is able to survive independently”. The medical definition of abortion can apply to either a spontaneous abortion (a miscarriage) or a medically induced termination of pregnancy.

Abortion today involves the mother of an unborn child arranging to see a doctor to ask for the foetus in her womb to be terminated. Before 1967 abortions in the U.K were illegal and were considered criminal. In 1967 the Liberal, and Christian, MP David Steel introduced a Bill in the House of Commons which then became The Abortion Act. Except in a life-threatening emergency, two doctors must sign a certificate specifying the reason for the abortion. Under the Act an abortion may be performed early in the pregnancy if the pregnancy would involve risk to the woman’s life or if there is a risk to the mental or physical health of the woman or her existing children, or if there is a substantial risk of serious handicap to the unborn baby. In all cases the risks of having the abortion are balanced against the risks above.

However, the law allows an abortion to take place at any stage of the pregnancy if the doctors agree that continuing the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the mother, or if they agree that an abortion is necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman, or if there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from ‘such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped’.

The 1967 Abortion Act originally used the twenty eighth week to define early pregnancy because this was considered to be the point of viability, where a foetus can be born and remain alive. Now, thanks to improvements in medical technology, the point of viability is earlier, at twenty-four weeks, and subsequently the act was amended in 1990. Even so, abortions anywhere near twenty-four weeks are very rare indeed.

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Abortion is a controversial issue, and people often have very strong views. Some people with extremely strong and passionately held views form what are known as pressure groups. Pressure groups are organisations that try to persuade people to agree with their view on abortion. There are two poles of opinion, one is pro-life, this is against any abortion, and the other is pro-choice, which holds that the woman should have the right to choose what happens to her baby. The pressure groups organise campaigns for changes in the law by lobbying politicians, holding demonstrations and taking other direct action.

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