6 Things To Understand When Talking About Abortion

Recently, a talk radio host interviewed me about abortion. He asked me repeatedly, "What about these abortions of babies at 8.5 months!" I tried to explain that his question had two misnomers that needed correcting before I could comment further. As this example illustrates, the terminology surrounding abortion can be treacherous. Errors are sometimes due to naiveté; at other times the misuse is intentional. Even medical professionals commonly misuse abortion terminology. Here are some common problems in the lexicon of abortion.
What is abortion?
Abortion is the removal of a fetus or embryo from the uterus prior to the stage of viability. (1) Definitions vary as to the timing of viability, with some using gestational age and others using fetal weight. In general, independent life outside the uterus becomes possible around 23-24 weeks of gestation at the earliest. (2)
"Third-trimester" abortion: an oxymoron
Any termination of pregnancy after viability is not an abortion, according to medical (1) and lay (3) dictionaries. If a pregnancy is terminated at 8.5 months because of fetal anencephaly (no brain), then that obstetric intervention is not an abortion. It might be a labor induction, a hysterotomy (a mini-cesarean delivery), or pregnancy termination, but not an abortion. This fact is not widely appreciated; the medical literature has articles with "third-trimester" abortion in the title. (4)
Abortion opponents have claimed that large numbers of "third-trimester" abortions were being done. In response, investigators at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed all reported pregnancy terminations at 25 weeks and greater in Georgia over a two-year period. (5) Nearly all reports proved to be clerical errors. Three pregnancy terminations were correctly coded: Two were done because of fetal anencephaly, and the indication could not be determined for the third.
"Late-term" abortion: another oxymoron
In obstetrics, "term" delivery means delivery after 260 to 294 days of pregnancy (37-42 weeks from last menstrual period). (6) Thus, "late-term" abortion would be near 42 weeks. As explained above, this is not an abortion. "Late abortion" is imprecise but acceptable language, but "late-term" is a misnomer.
Who resides in the pregnant uterus?
The occupant in the uterus is first an embryo. After its organs have formed (around eight weeks), the embryo becomes a fetus, a status that it holds until birth. Contrary to the talk radio host, the occupant is not a baby, child, or infant. (3) Once a fetus is born, it graduates to one of these designations. Thus, one cannot abort a baby, child, or infant; they do not reside in the uterus.
Some abortion opponents use even stranger terms: the "pre-born" or "unborn." In general, we are characterized by what we are, not by what we are not. I am not designated "post-born" or "pre-deceased." When I die, my status will change to cadaver or corpse. However, calling me a "pre-cadaver" or "un-dead" today would be confusing.
"Partial-birth" abortion: a distinct non-entity
This is a political, not a medical, neologism designed to inflame. The term is not found in medical texts or coding manuals. It was coined by opponents to describe an uncommon procedure for second-trimester abortion, intact dilation and evacuation. A brilliant public relations ploy, the term conflated two diametrically opposed conclusions of pregnancy, birth and abortion, in a single term. (7) Thanks to politicians, a procedure that has been in obstetric texts (6) for centuries has been made illegal, based esthetics and not on safety.
"Pro-life"?
Opponents of abortion are commonly called "pro-life." In my experience as a physician, a more accurate designation would be "pro-birth." Interest in the life of the child (and especially his or her mother) usually dwindles soon thereafter.
Incorrect, misleading, and inflammatory language obfuscates, rather than illuminates, the discussion around abortion. Words matter. We should all choose them carefully.

Cull

Tortured Ejigbo Women: N1.25Million placed for Perpetrators Arrest-Lagos House Of Assembly

In a stakeholders' meeting in Lagos Nigeria, Ikeja Lateef Jande Auditorium Alausa secretariat,  the Chairman of the five-man ad hoc committee incharge of the investigation, Mr Ajibayo Adeyeye said N1.25 Million has been set aside to help fish out the Hoodlums. In a statement he released thus: “Anybody that gives information that leads to the arrest of the perpetrators of the heinous act shall be given N1 million. And I will add the sum of 250,000 from my private account to increase the sum N1.25million.”

The President of Women Arise Initiative, Dr. Joe  Odumakin, who had initiatly led a protest to the House on the matter, said that she saw the video for the first time on December 7, 2013.
Odumakin said in a plead that the greatest gift anyone could give the women was to get justice for them.

Legislation to stop the practice of "Moroccan teen, forced to marry her rapist"- Justice Minister

Justice minister says legislation to stop the practice is still underway

Last year Amina Filali, 16, killed herself after being forced to marry the man who had raped her. Here her sister, Hamida, protests outside the local courthouse that approved the marriage deal.

Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images

A Moroccan teen committed suicide last month after her family forced her to marry her rapist, rights activists told Al Jazeera after reports of her death surfaced in the North African kingdom's media on Friday.
The suicide happened amid protracted efforts to repeal a law, Article 475 of the Moroccan Penal Code, exonerating rapists who marry their victims, after the high-profile suicide last year of another teen, Amina Filali.
In March 2012, 16-year-old Filali killed herself in the northern town of Larache by taking rat poison after she was forced to marry her rapist. Her death provoked several demonstrations and the Twitter hashtag #RIPAmina to demand the repeal of Article 475.
The 16-year-old girl who died last month was from the northern port city of Tetouan and was raped by another minor, according to Abdel Ali El-Allawi, director of the local chapter of the international NGO the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH).
The girl's family has refused to grant interviews to the press.
"He was put in prison," said Allawi. "The family of the rapist entered negotiations with the family of the victim. They proposed the two get married."
"These are things that are common here in Morocco. When a man rapes a woman or girl, the justice authorities say, you have a choice — you can marry the girl or go to prison."
According to Article 475, a rapist can avoid a prison sentence by marrying his victim. The law is based on a similar measure in France, repealed in 1994. Morocco was a protectorate of France until 1956.
In Moroccan society, a woman who loses her virginity — even by rape — is considered unmarriageable, explained AMDH president Khadija Riyadi.
"There's a mentality that says that a girl that's no longer a virgin is worthless," she said.
For families who cannot afford to financially support an unmarriageable daughter, arranging for her to marry her assailant may feel like the only solution, Riyadi added.
"The girl is a victim of tradition and society — but also the law," said Allawi.
Both Riyadi and Allawi thought Article 475 had already been modified to bar rapists from escaping prison terms, but Morocco's justice minister told Al Jazeera the legislation is still waiting to be passed by lawmakers.
"Until now, it's still just a law project that's being considered by parliament but hasn't been rectified. We have not yet formally edited the article," Justice Minister Mustapha Ramid told Al Jazeera on the phone from Rabat.
On Friday, Morocco's King Mohamed VI is scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama in Washington to further relations between the two nations. Despite a number of concerns raised by international human rights advocates about Mohamed's kingdom, Morocco enjoys strong diplomatic ties with the United States, primarily based on its cooperation in efforts to combat North African armed groups.

Aljazeera