Abortion meaning / Abortion definition

Abortion means / involves deliberate (wilful) termination of human pregnancy by removing the foetus (or embryo) from the uterus before it has reached the stage of viability, typically before 20 weeks from the day of conception.

In India, any woman who is 18 years or older (considered an ‘adult’ legally) can abort her pregnancy at her will before 24 weeks. Abortion can be done after 24 weeks of normal pregnancy but that would require legal approval from court and a couple of doctors. If you are an adult, you need no one else’s consent to terminate your pregnancy. Most often, medical termination of pregnancy is performed as an outpatient procedure unless surgical procedure is required.

Can you perform abortion at home?

“I understand that many women out there are looking for terminating pregnancy at home or searching online for safe abortion pills in India. I strongly recommend, not to self medicate or abort pregnancy by yourself but to take the help of a good gynaecologist near you to get the procedure done. There are chances that you may damage your uterus and health in the process if you try to do it all by yourself.”

“As a woman, I understand the concerns of unmarried women who want to get their unwanted pregnancy terminated and of those who are not yet ready to become a mother/parent. Your information regarding your visit and treatment is 100% confidential at my clinic and I assure you that your pregnancy will be safely terminated with near zero complications” – Dr. Deepa Ganesh, Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, Chennai.

YOUR BODY, YOUR CHOICE*

* within legal limits.

Abortion terminology

Induced Abortion

When a woman gets her pregnancy terminated at her will by a trained doctor, it is called Induced Abortion.

Spontaneous Abortion

Loss of pregnancy involuntarily due to complications that arise inside the body of the pregnant woman or due to an injury etc. This is called ‘miscarriage’ in common language.

Unsafe Abortion

World Health Organization (WHO) has defined unsafe abortion as “a procedure for termination of a pregnancy done by an individual who does not have the necessary training or in an environment not conforming to minimal medical standards”  – source ‘Wikipedia on Abortion in India‘.

Due to the advancement in medical science, more finer definitions have been laid out for Safe abortion, less-safe abortion and least-safe abortion. You can refer to the above wikipedia link to know more.