流产；堕胎(abortion)

胎儿发育到能独立生存阶段之前被分娩出子宫外的过程。流产可自然发生，称自然流产（miscarriage）。人工流产（induced abortion）是刻意药物干扰胎儿生长，目的大致有下列几种︰为挽救母亲的生命或维护其健康；中止因强奸或乱伦造成的妊娠；预防生出有严重畸形、精神缺陷或遗传异常的胎儿。扩张（dilation）及抽取（extraction）术则被认为是部分生产堕胎（partial birth abortion），这项极受争议的医疗方式通常於怀孕第三期时使用。怀孕满十九周後，则可注射盐水或激素（荷尔蒙，hormone）来引发子宫收缩，排出胚胎（fetus）。满六个月（第二期）或晚期可使用子宫切开术（hysterectomy）。在历史上，社会是否接纳流产为控制人口的一种手段因时、地而异。在古希腊罗马时代，流产似乎是一种很常见且为社会所接受的节育方法，即使基督教神学家早就激烈谴责流产。中世纪时，欧洲普遍接受人工流产的观念。到了19世纪以後才普遍以重罚来阻止人工流产，但在20世纪时这些处罚在许多国家中又作了修正。1973年美国最高法院在「罗伊诉韦德案」（Roe v. Wade）中裁定孕期三个月做人工流产手术是合法的，但1995年这个案件中的珍.罗伊（Jane Roe）诺玛.麦考薇（Norma Mccorvey）则一反先前的立场，宣称不再支持堕胎权。

English version：

abortion

Expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before it can survive on its own. Spontaneous abortions are called miscarriages. Induced abortions occur today through intentional medical intervention and are performed to preserve the mother's life or health, to prevent the completion of a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, to prevent the birth of a child with serious medical problems, or because the mother does not believe she is in a position to rear a child properly. The drug RU 486, if taken within a few weeks of conception, will trigger a miscarriage. Up to about 19 weeks of pregnancy, injections of saline solutions or hormones may be used to stimulate uterine contractions that will expel the fetus. Hysterotomy, the surgical removal of the contents of the uterus, may be used in the second trimester or later. Dilation and extraction procedures, known as partial-birth abortions, have been very controversial and may occur in the third trimester. The social acceptability of abortion as a means of population control has varied from time to time and place to place throughout history. It was apparently a common method of family limitation in the Greco-Roman world, but Christian theologians early and vehemently condemned it. It became widely accepted in Europe in the Middle Ages. Severe criminal sanctions to deter abortion became common in the 19th century, but in the 20th century those sanctions were gradually modified in many countries. In the U.S., the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision had the effect of legalizing abortion on demand through the first three months of pregnancy; the decades since have seen fierce debate between supporters and opponents of a liberalized abortion policy. In 1995 Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” of that case, reversed her position by saying she no longer supported the right to abortion.