Abortion Definition

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The termination of a pregnancy. A spontaneous abortion (also called a "miscarriage") happens when a pregnancy ends without medical intervention. An induced abortion is when medication or a medical procedure is used to intentionally end a pregnancy.

In 1973, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that the U.S. Constitution guarantees a fundamental right to privacy that includes a woman's right to choose to have an abortion until a fetus is "viable" (capable of surviving outside of the uterus). Roe was overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022.