BODY

Types

A 10-week-old fetus removed via a therapeutic abortion from a 44-year-old woman diagnosed
with early-stage uterine cancer. The uterus (womb), included the fetus.

Spontaneous

Spontaneous abortion (also known as miscarriage) is the expulsion of an embryo or fetus due to
accidental trauma or natural causes before approximately the 22nd week of gestation; the
definition by gestational age varies by country. Most miscarriages are due to incorrect replication
of chromosomes; they can also be caused by environmental factors. A pregnancy that ends
before 37 weeks of gestation resulting in a live-born infant is known as a "premature birth".
When a fetus dies in utero after about 22 weeks, or during delivery, it is usually termed
"stillborn". Premature births and stillbirths are generally not considered to be miscarriages
although usage of these terms can sometimes overlap.

Between 10% and 50% of pregnancies end in clinically apparent miscarriage, depending upon
the age and health of the pregnant woman. Most miscarriages occur very early in pregnancy, in
most cases, they occur so early in the pregnancy that the woman is not even aware that she was
pregnant. One study testing hormones for ovulation and pregnancy found that 61.9% of
conceptuses were lost prior to 12 weeks, and 91.7% of these losses occurred subclinically,
without the knowledge of the once pregnant woman.

The risk of spontaneous abortion decreases sharply after the 10th week from the last menstrual
period (LMP). One study of 232 pregnant women showed "virtually complete [pregnancy loss]
by the end of the embryonic period" (10 weeks LMP) with a pregnancy loss rate of only 2
percent after 8.5 weeks LMP.

The most common cause of spontaneous abortion during the first trimester is chromosomal
abnormalities of the embryo/fetus,[10] accounting for at least 50% of sampled early pregnancy
losses Other causes include vascular disease (such as lupus), diabetes, other hormonal problems,
infection, and abnormalities of the uterus.[10] Advancing maternal age and a patient history of
previous spontaneous abortions are the two leading factors associated with a greater risk of
spontaneous abortion. A spontaneous abortion can also be caused by accidental trauma;
intentional trauma or stress to cause miscarriage is considered induced abortion or feticide.

Induced

A pregnancy can be intentionally aborted in many ways. The manner selected depends chiefly
upon the gestational age of the embryo or fetus, which increases in size as the pregnancy
progresses. Specific procedures may also be selected due to legality, regional availability, and
doctor-patient preference. Reasons for procuring induced abortions are typically characterized as
either therapeutic or elective. An abortion is medically referred to as a therapeutic abortion when
it is performed to:

• save the life of the pregnant woman;

• preserve the woman's physical or mental health;
• terminate pregnancy that would result in a child born with a congenital disorder that
would be fatal or associated with significant morbidity; or
• selectively reduce the number of fetuses to lessen health risks associated with multiple
pregnancy.

An abortion is referred to as elective when it is performed at the request of the woman "for
reasons other than maternal health or fetal disease."

Methods

Gestational age may determine which abortion methods are practiced.

Medical

"Medical abortions" are non-surgical abortions that use pharmaceutical drugs. As of 2005,
medical abortions constitute 13% of all abortions in the United States. Combined regimens
include methotrexate or mifepristone, followed by a prostaglandin (either misoprostol or
gemeprost: misoprostol is used in the U.S.; gemeprost is used in the UK and Sweden.) When
used within 49 days gestation, approximately 92% of women undergoing medical abortion with a
combined regimen completed it without surgical intervention. Misoprostol can be used alone, but
has a lower efficacy rate than combined regimens. In cases of failure of medical abortion,
vacuum or manual aspiration is used to complete the abortion surgically.

Surgical

A vacuum aspiration abortion at eight weeks gestational age (six weeks after fertilization).
1: Amniotic sac
2: Embryo
3: Uterine lining
4: Speculum
5: Vacurette
6: Attached to a suction pump

In the first 12 weeks, suction-aspiration or vacuum abortion is the most common method.
Manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) abortion consists of removing the fetus or embryo, placenta
and membranes by suction using a manual syringe, while electric vacuum aspiration (EVA)
abortion uses an electric pump. These techniques are comparable, and differ in the mechanism
used to apply suction, how early in pregnancy they can be used, and whether cervical dilation is
necessary. MVA, also known as "mini-suction" and "menstrual extraction", can be used in very
early pregnancy, and does not require cervical dilation. Surgical techniques are sometimes
referred to as 'Suction (or surgical) Termination Of Pregnancy' (STOP). From the 15th week
until approximately the 26th, dilation and evacuation (D&E) is used. D&E consists of opening
the cervix of the uterus and emptying it using surgical instruments and suction.

Dilation and curettage (D&C), the second most common method of surgical abortion, is a
standard gynecological procedure performed for a variety of reasons, including examination of
the uterine lining for possible malignancy, investigation of abnormal bleeding, and abortion.
Curettage refers to cleaning the walls of the uterus with a curette. The World Health
Organization recommends this procedure, also called sharp curettage, only when MVA is
unavailable.

Other techniques must be used to induce abortion in the second trimester. Premature delivery can
be induced with prostaglandin; this can be coupled with injecting the amniotic fluid with
hypertonic solutions containing saline or urea. After the 16th week of gestation, abortions can be
induced by intact dilation and extraction (IDX) (also called intrauterine cranial decompression),
which requires surgical decompression of the fetus's head before evacuation. IDX is sometimes
called "partial-birth abortion," which has been federally banned in the United States. A
hysterotomy abortion is a procedure similar to a caesarean section and is performed under
general anesthesia. It requires a smaller incision than a caesarean section and is used during later
stages of pregnancy.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has recommended that an injection be
used to stop the fetal heart during the first phase of the surgical abortion procedure to ensure that
the fetus is not born alive.

Other methods

Bas-relief at Angkor Wat, Cambodia, c. 1150, depicting a demon inducing an abortion by

pounding the abdomen of a pregnant woman with a pestle.

Historically, a number of herbs reputed to possess abortifacient properties have been used in folk
medicine: tansy, pennyroyal, black cohosh, and the now-extinct silphium (see history of
abortion). The use of herbs in such a manner can cause serious—even lethal—side effects, such
as multiple organ failure, and is not recommended by physicians.

Abortion is sometimes attempted by causing trauma to the abdomen. The degree of force, if
severe, can cause serious internal injuries without necessarily succeeding in inducing
miscarriage. Both accidental and deliberate abortions of this kind can be subject to criminal
liability in many countries. In Southeast Asia, there is an ancient tradition of attempting abortion
through forceful abdominal massage. One of the bas reliefs decorating the temple of Angkor Wat
in Cambodia depicts a demon performing such an abortion upon a woman who has been sent to
the underworld.

Reported methods of unsafe, self-induced abortion include misuse of misoprostol, and insertion
of non-surgical implements such as knitting needles and clothes hangers into the uterus. These
methods are rarely seen in developed countries where surgical abortion is legal and available.

Health risks
Abortion, when legally performed in developed countries, is among the safest procedures in
medicine. In such settings, risk of maternal death is between 0.2–1.2 per 100,000 procedures. In
comparison, by 1996, mortality from childbirth in developed countries was 11 times greater.
Unsafe abortions (defined by the World Health Organization as those performed by unskilled
individuals, with hazardous equipment, or in unsanitary facilities) carry a high risk of maternal
death and other complications. For unsafe procedures, the mortality rate has been estimated at
367 per 100,000 (70,000 women per year worldwide).

Physical health

Surgical abortion methods, like most minimally invasive procedures, carry a small potential for
serious complications.

Surgical abortion is generally safe and the rate of major complications is low but varies
depending on how far pregnancy has progressed and the surgical method used.Concerning
gestational age, incidence of major complications is highest after 20 weeks of gestation and
lowest before the 8th week. With more advanced gestation there is a higher risk of uterine
perforation and retained products of conception and specific procedures like dilation and
evacuation may be required.

Concerning the methods used, general incidence of major complications for surgical abortion
varies from lower for suction curettage, to higher for saline instillation.Possible complications
include hemorrhage, incomplete abortion, uterine or pelvic infection, ongoing intrauterine
pregnancy, misdiagnosed/unrecognized ectopic pregnancy, hematometra (in the uterus), uterine
perforation and cervical laceration. Use of general anesthesia increases the risk of complications
because it relaxes uterine musculature making it easier to perforate.

Women who have uterine anomalies, leiomyomas or had previous difficult first-trimester
abortion are contraindicated to undertake surgical abortion unless ultrasonography is
immediately available and the surgeon is experienced in its intraoperative use.Abortion does not
impair subsequent pregnancies, nor does it increase the risk of future premature births, infertility,
ectopic pregnancy, or miscarriage.

In the first trimester, health risks associated with medical abortion are generally considered no
greater than for surgical abortion.

Although some epidemiological studies suggest an abortion – breast cancer hypothesis, the
World Health Organization has concluded that there is "no consistent effect of first trimester
induced abortion upon a woman's risk of breast cancer later in life".The National Cancer
Institute,The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,[53] the Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and other major medical bodies have also concluded that
abortion does not cause breast cancer.

Mental health

No scientific research has demonstrated that abortion is a cause of poor mental health in the
general population. However there are groups of women who may be at higher risk of coping
with problems and distress following abortion. Some factors in a woman's life, such as emotional
attachment to the pregnancy, lack of social support, pre-existing psychiatric illness, and
conservative views on abortion increase the likelihood of experiencing negative feelings after an
abortion. The American Psychological Association (APA) concluded that abortion does not lead
to increased mental health problems.

Some proposed negative psychological effects of abortion have been referred to by pro-life
advocates as a separate condition called "post-abortion syndrome." However, the existence of
"post-abortion syndrome" is not recognized by any medical or psychological organization.

A January 2011 study in the New England Journal of Medicine concludes that women who have
had a first-trimester abortion are no more likely to seek psychiatric care after the procedure than
before -- but the risk of a mental health problem increases if the woman gives birth.

Incidence
There are two commonly used methods of measuring incidence of abortion:

• Abortion rate - number of abortions per 1000 women between 15 and 44 years of age
• Abortion ratio - number of abortions out of 100 known pregnancies (excluding
miscarriages and stillbirths)

The number of abortions performed worldwide has decreased between 1995 and 2003 from
45.6 million to 41.6 million, which means a decrease in abortion rate from 35 to 29 per 1000
women. The greatest decrease has occurred in the developed world with a drop from 39 to 26 per
1000 women in comparison to the developing world, which had a decrease from 34 to 29 per
1000 women. Out of a total of about 42 million abortions 22 million occurred safely and 20
million unsafely.

On average, the frequency of abortions is similar in developing countries (where abortion is

generally restricted) to the frequency in developed countries (where abortion is generally much
less restricted).Abortion rates are very difficult to measure in locations where those abortions are
illegal, and pro-life groups have criticized researchers for allegedly jumping to conclusions about
those numbers.According to the Guttmacher Institute and the United Nations Population Fund,
the abortion rate in developing countries is largely attributable to lack of access to modern
contraceptives; assuming no change in abortion laws, providing that access to contraceptives
would result in about 25 million fewer abortions annually, including almost 15 million fewer
unsafe abortions.

The incidence of induced abortion varies regionally. Some countries, such as Belgium (11.2 out
of 100 known pregnancies) and the Netherlands (10.6 per 100), had a comparatively low ratio of
induced abortion. Others like Russia (62.6 out of 100), Romania (63 out of 100) and Vietnam
(43.7 out of 100) had a high ratio (data for last three countries of unknown completeness). The
estimated world ratio was 26%, the world rate - 35 per 1000 women.

By gestational age and method

Histogram of abortions by gestational age in England and
Wales during 2004. Average is 9.5 weeks. (left) Abortion in
the United States by gestational age, 2004. (Data source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) (right)

Abortion rates also vary depending on the stage of pregnancy and the method practiced. In 2003,
from data collected in those areas of the United States that sufficiently reported gestational age, it
was found that 88.2% of abortions were conducted at or prior to 12 weeks, 10.4% from 13 to 20
weeks, and 1.4% at or after 21 weeks. 90.9% of these were classified as having been done by
"curettage" (suction-aspiration, Dilation and curettage, Dilation and evacuation), 7.7% by
"medical" means (mifepristone), 0.4% by "intrauterine instillation" (saline or prostaglandin), and
1.0% by "other" (including hysterotomy and hysterectomy).The Guttmacher Institute estimated
there were 2,200 intact dilation and extraction procedures in the U.S. during 2000; this accounts
for 0.17% of the total number of abortions performed that year.Similarly, in England and Wales
in 2006, 89% of terminations occurred at or under 12 weeks, 9% between 13 to 19 weeks, and
1.5% at or over 20 weeks. 64% of those reported were by vacuum aspiration, 6% by D&E, and
30% were medicalLater abortions are more common in China, India, and other developing
countries than in developed countries.

By personal and social factors

A bar chart depicting selected data from the 1998 AGI meta-study on the reasons women stated
for having an abortion.

A 1998 aggregated study, from 27 countries, on the reasons women seek to terminate their
pregnancies concluded that common factors cited to have influenced the abortion decision were:
desire to delay or end childbearing, concern over the interruption of work or education, issues of
financial or relationship stability, and perceived immaturity.A 2004 study in which American
women at clinics answered a questionnaire yielded similar results.In Finland and the United
States, concern for the health risks posed by pregnancy in individual cases was not a factor
commonly given; however, in Bangladesh, India, and Kenya health concerns were cited by
women more frequently as reasons for having an abortion.1% of women in the 2004 survey-
based U.S. study became pregnant as a result of rape and 0.5% as a result of incest.Another
American study in 2002 concluded that 54% of women who had an abortion were using a form
of contraception at the time of becoming pregnant while 46% were not. Inconsistent use was
reported by 49% of those using condoms and 76% of those using the combined oral
contraceptive pill; 42% of those using condoms reported failure through slipping or
breakage.The Guttmacher Institute estimated that "most abortions in the United States are
obtained by minority women" because minority women "have much higher rates of unintended
pregnancy."

Some abortions are undergone as the result of societal pressures. These might include the
stigmatization of disabled people, preference for children of a specific sex, disapproval of single
motherhood, insufficient economic support for families, lack of access to or rejection of
contraceptive methods, or efforts toward population control (such as China's one-child policy).
These factors can sometimes result in compulsory abortion or sex-selective abortion.

Unsafe abortion

Soviet poster circa 1925, warning against midwives performing abortions. Title translation:
"Abortions performed by either trained or self-taught midwives not only maim the woman, they
also often lead to death."
Main article: Unsafe abortion

One of the main determinants of the availability of safe abortions is the legality of the procedure.
Forty percent of the world's women are able to access therapeutic and elective abortions within
gestational limits. Women seeking to terminate their pregnancies sometimes resort to unsafe
methods, particularly where and when access to legal abortion is restricted. The World Health
Organization (WHO) defines an unsafe abortion as being "a procedure ... carried out by persons
lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical
standards, or both."Unsafe abortions are sometimes known colloquially as "back-alley"
abortions. They may be performed by the woman herself, another person without medical
training, or a professional health provider operating in sub-standard conditions. Unsafe abortion
remains a public health concern due to the higher incidence and severity of its associated
complications, such as incomplete abortion, sepsis, hemorrhage, and damage to internal organs.
While maternal mortality seldom results from safe abortions, unsafe abortions result in 70,000
deaths and 5 million disabilities per year.Complications of unsafe abortion are said to account,
globally, for approximately 13% of all maternal mortalities, with regional estimates including
12% in Asia, 25% in Latin America, and 13% in sub-Saharan Africa.Although the global rate of
abortion declined from 45.6 million in 1995 to 41.6 million in 2003, unsafe procedures still
accounted for 48% of all abortions performed in 2003.Health education, access to family
planning, and improvements in health care during and after abortion have been proposed to
address this phenomenon.

History

"French Periodical Pills." An example of a clandestine advertisement published in an 1845

edition of the Boston Daily Times.
Main article: History of abortion

Induced abortion can be traced to ancient times.There is evidence to suggest that, historically,
pregnancies were terminated through a number of methods, including the administration of
abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and
other techniques.

The Hippocratic Oath, the chief statement of medical ethics for Hippocratic physicians in
Ancient Greece, forbade doctors from helping to procure an abortion by pessary. Soranus, a 2nd-
century Greek physician, suggested in his work Gynaecology that women wishing to abort their
pregnancies should engage in energetic exercise, energetic jumping, carrying heavy objects, and
riding animals. He also prescribed a number of recipes for herbal baths, pessaries, and
bloodletting, but advised against the use of sharp instruments to induce miscarriage due to the
risk of organ perforation. It is also believed that, in addition to using it as a contraceptive, the
ancient Greeks relied upon silphium as an abortifacient. Such folk remedies, however, varied in
effectiveness and were not without risk. Tansy and pennyroyal, for example, are two poisonous
herbs with serious side effects that have at times been used to terminate pregnancy.

During the Islamic Golden Age, physicians there documented detailed and extensive lists of birth
control practices commenting on their effectiveness and prevalence. They listed many different
birth control substances in their medical encyclopedias, such as Avicenna's list of twenty in The
Canon of Medicine (1025 CE) and Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi's list of 176 substances in
his Hawi (10th century CE) This was "unparalleled in European medicine until the 19th
century".

During the Middle Ages, abortion was toleratedand there were no laws against it.A medieval
female physician, Trotula of Salerno,[85] administered a number of remedies for the “retention of
menstrua,” which was sometimes a code for early abortifacients. Pope Sixtus V (1585–90) is
noted as the first Pope to declare that abortion is homicide regardless of the stage of
pregnancy.Abortion in the 19th century continued, despite bans in both the United Kingdom and
the United States, as the disguised, but nonetheless open, advertisement of services in the
Victorian era suggests.

In the 20th century the Soviet Union (1919), Iceland (1935) and Sweden (1938) were among the
first countries to legalize certain or all forms of abortion. In 1935 Nazi Germany, a law was
passed permitting abortions for those deemed "hereditarily ill," while women considered of
German stock were specifically prohibited from having abortions.

However, the procedure remained relatively rare until the late 1960s. In late 1960s and early
1970s, due to a confluence of factors, the number of abortions exploded worldwide. In West
Germany, the number of reported abortions spiked from 2,800 in 1968 to 87,702 in 1980.In the
United States, some sources show an even greater increase, from 4,600 in 1968 to 1.5 million in
1980. However, the fact that abortion remained illegal in many states prior to the landmark 1973
decision of Roe v. Wade may have affected the number of reported abortions prior to 1973.

Society and culture

Abortion debate

Pro-choice activists near the Washington Monument at the

March for Women's Lives in 2004. (left) Pro-life activists near
the Washington Monument at the annual 2009 March for Life
in Washington, DC. (right)

In the history of abortion, induced abortion has been the source of considerable debate,
controversy, and activism. An individual's position on the complex ethical, moral, philosophical,
biological, and legal issues is often related to his or her value system. The main positions are one
that argues in favor of access to abortion and one argues against access to abortion. Opinions of
abortion may be described as being a combination of beliefs on its morality, and beliefs on the
responsibility, ethical scope, and proper extent of governmental authorities in public policy.
Religious ethics also has an influence upon both personal opinion and the greater debate over
abortion (see religion and abortion).

Abortion debates, especially pertaining to abortion laws, are often spearheaded by groups
advocating one of these two positions. In the United States, those in favor of greater legal
restrictions on, or even complete prohibition of abortion, most often describe themselves as pro-
life while those against legal restrictions on abortion describe themselves as pro-choice.
Generally, the former position argues that a human fetus is a human being with a right to live
making abortion tantamount to murder. The latter position argues that a woman has certain
reproductive rights, especially the choice whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term.

In both public and private debate, arguments presented in favor of or against abortion access
focus on either the moral permissibility of an induced abortion, or justification of laws permitting
or restricting abortion.

Debate also focuses on whether the pregnant woman should have to notify and/or have the
consent of others in distinct cases: a minor, her parents; a legally married or common-law wife,
her husband; or, for any case, the biological father. In a 2003 Gallup poll in the United States,
79% of male and 67% of female respondents were in favor of legalized mandatory spousal
notification; overall support was 72% with 26% opposed.

Abortion law

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the
subject

International status of abortion law:

Legal on request
Illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, mental health, fetal defects, and/or
socioeconomic factors
Illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, mental health, and/or fetal defects
Illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, and/or mental health
Illegal with exception for maternal life, health, and/or mental health
Illegal with no exceptions
Varies by region
No information
The earliest secular laws regulating abortion reflect a concern with class and caste purity and
preservation of male prerogatives. Abortion as such was not outlawed, but wives who procured
abortions without their husband's knowledge could be severely punished, as could slaves who
induced abortions in highborn women. Generally, abortions prior to quickening were treated as
minor crimes, if at all.

The new philosophies of the Axial Age, which began discussing the nature and value of human
life in abstract terms, had little impact on existing abortion laws. Even the Christian ecclesiastical
courts of the Middle Ages imposed penance and no corporal punishment for abortion, and
retained the pre- and post-quickening distinction from the ancient philosophies.

With the sole exception of Bracton, commentators on the English common law formulated the
born alive rule, excluding feticide from homicide law, using language dating back to the Leges
Henrici Primi.

In the late 18th century, it was claimed that scientific knowledge of human development
beginning at fertilization,justified stricter abortion laws. This was part of a larger struggle on the
part of the medical profession to distinguish modern, theory based medicine from traditional,
empirically based medicine, including midwifery and herbalism.

Both pre- and post-quickening abortions were criminalized by Lord Ellenborough's Act in
1803.In 1861, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Offences against the Person Act
1861, which continued to outlaw abortion and served as a model for similar prohibitions in some
other nations.

The Soviet Union, with legislation in 1920, and Iceland, with legislation in 1935, were two of the
first countries to generally allow abortion. The second half of the 20th century saw the
liberalization of abortion laws in other countries. The Abortion Act 1967 allowed abortion for
limited reasons in the United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland). In the 1973 case, Roe v. Wade,
the United States Supreme Court struck down state laws banning abortion, ruling that such laws
violated an implied right to privacy in the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court of
Canada, similarly, in the case of R. v. Morgentaler, discarded its criminal code regarding
abortion in 1988, after ruling that such restrictions violated the security of person guaranteed to
women under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Canada later struck down
provincial regulations of abortion in the case of R. v. Morgentaler (1993). By contrast, abortion
in Ireland was affected by the addition of an amendment to the Irish Constitution in 1983 by
popular referendum, recognizing "the right to life of the unborn".

Current laws pertaining to abortion are diverse. Religious, moral, and cultural sensibilities
continue to influence abortion laws throughout the world. The right to life, the right to liberty,
the right to security of person, and the right to reproductive health are major issues of human
rights that are sometimes used as justification for the existence or absence of laws controlling
abortion. Many countries in which abortion is legal require that certain criteria be met in order
for an abortion to be obtained, often, but not always, using a trimester-based system to regulate
the window of legality:
 • In the United States, some states impose a 24-hour waiting period before the procedure,
prescribe the distribution of information on fetal development, or require that parents be
contacted if their minor daughter requests an abortion.
• In the United Kingdom, as in some other countries, two doctors must first certify that an
abortion is medically or socially necessary before it can be performed.

Other countries, in which abortion is normally illegal, will allow one to be performed in the case
of rape, incest, or danger to the pregnant woman's life or health.

• A few nations ban abortion entirely: Chile, El Salvador, Malta, and Nicaragua, with
consequent rises in maternal death directly and indirectly due to pregnancy.However, in
2006, the Chilean government began the free distribution of emergency contraception.
• In Bangladesh, abortion is illegal, but the government has long supported a network of
"menstrual regulation clinics", where menstrual extraction (manual vacuum aspiration)
can be performed as menstrual hygiene.

In places where abortion is illegal or carries heavy social stigma, pregnant women may engage in
medical tourism and travel to countries where they can terminate their pregnancies. Women
without the means to travel can resort to providers of illegal abortions or try to do it themselves.

In the US, about 8% of abortions are performed on women who travel from another
state.However, that is driven at least partly by differing limits on abortion according to
gestational age or the scarcity of doctors trained and willing to do later abortionsThousands of
women every year travel from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Poland, and other
countries where elective abortion is illegal, to Britain or other countries with less restrictive laws,
in order to obtain abortions.

In the United States and some Canadian localities, it is a legal offense to obstruct access to a
clinic or doctor's office where abortions are performed. "Buffer zones," regulating how close
protesters can come to the clinic or to the patients, may exist.

Other issues in abortion law may include the requirement that a minor obtain the consent of one
or both parents to the abortion or that she notify one or both parents, the requirement that a
woman obtain the consent of her husband to the abortion and the question of whether the fetus's
father can prohibit an abortion, the requirement that abortion providers inform patients of the
supposed health risks of the procedure, and wrongful birth laws.

Sex-selective

Sonography and amniocentesis allow parents to determine sex before childbirth. The
development of this technology has led to sex-selective abortion, or the targeted termination of
female fetuses.

It is suggested that sex-selective abortion might be partially responsible for the noticeable
disparities between the birth rates of male and female children in some places. The preference for
male children is reported in many areas of Asia, and abortion used to limit female births has been
reported in China, Taiwan, South Korea, and India.

In India, the economic role of men, the costs associated with dowries, and a common Indian
tradition which dictates that funeral rites must be performed by a male relative have led to a
cultural preference for sons. The widespread availability of diagnostic testing, during the 1970s
and '80s, led to advertisements for services which read, "Invest 500 rupees [for a sex test] now,
save 50,000 rupees [for a dowry] later." In 1991, the male-to-female sex ratio in India was
skewed from its biological norm of 105 to 100, to an average of 108 to 100.Researchers have
asserted that between 1985 and 2005 as many as 10 million female fetuses may have been
selectively aborted.The Indian government passed an official ban of pre-natal sex screening in
1994 and moved to pass a complete ban of sex-selective abortion in 2002.

In the People's Republic of China, there is also a historic son preference. The implementation of
the one-child policy in 1979, in response to population concerns, led to an increased disparity in
the sex ratio as parents attempted to circumvent the law through sex-selective abortion or the
abandonment of unwanted daughters.Sex-selective abortion might be an influence on the shift
from the baseline male-to-female birth rate to an elevated national rate of 117:100 reported in
2002. The trend was more pronounced in rural regions: as high as 130:100 in Guangdong and
135:100 in Hainan.A ban upon the practice of sex-selective abortion was enacted in 2003.

Anti-abortion violence

Doctors and facilities that provide abortion have been subjected to various forms of violence,
including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, stalking, assault, arson, and bombing. Anti-
abortion violence has been classified by governmental and scholarly sources as terrorism.Only a
small fraction of those opposed to abortion commit violence, often rationalizing their actions as
justifiable homicide or defense of others, committed in order to protect the lives of fetuses.

In the United States, four abortion providers—Drs. David Gunn, John Britton, Barnett Slepian,
and George Tiller—have been assassinated. Attempted assassinations have also taken place in
the United States and Canada, and other personnel at abortion clinics, including receptionists and
security guards, have been killed in the United States and Australia. Hundreds of bombings,
arsons, acid attacks, invasions, and incidents of vandalism against abortion providers have also
occurred.Notable perpetrators of anti-abortion violence include Eric Robert Rudolph, Scott
Roeder, Shelley Shannon, and Paul Jennings Hill, the first person to be executed in the United
States for murdering an abortion provider.