Abortion terminology glossary
Plain definitions of terms used when discussing abortion, including the ones public conversation uses inconsistently. Each entry states the clinical meaning, how the term is commonly misused, and which source the definition comes from.
These are definitions of terms. They are not instructions, and they do not describe what applies to any individual.
Definitions here are versioned. When a definition changes in a way that alters its meaning, the version number changes and the change is recorded, so that anyone citing this glossary can tell whether they are citing the same text.
C
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Cervical preparation definition 1.0
Softening or gradually opening the cervix before a procedure, using medicines, small devices that expand slowly, or both.
Whether it is used, and how far in advance, is a clinical decision that depends on the procedure and on the individual situation.
Commonly misused: Sometimes described as part of the procedure itself. It usually happens hours or a day beforehand, which is why it can mean an extra appointment.
Last updated .
D
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D and C definition 1.0
Short for dilation and curettage. A procedure that opens the cervix and removes tissue from the lining of the uterus, historically using a curette.
Because the term is used inconsistently, a reference to a D&C does not tell you which procedure was actually performed or why. If it matters, ask the clinician which procedure is meant.
Curettage and vacuum aspiration are not interchangeable, and abortion procedures earlier in pregnancy generally use aspiration.
Commonly misused: Used loosely in public conversation to mean almost any procedure involving the uterus, including vacuum aspiration and including procedures that have nothing to do with abortion.
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Dilation and evacuation definition 1.0
The procedure most often used for abortion later in pregnancy. Dilation refers to opening the cervix and evacuation refers to emptying the uterus. Written as D&E after the first mention.
The cervix is normally prepared in advance, which can mean more than one appointment. Sedation or anaesthesia is usually part of the procedure.
Commonly misused: Sometimes conflated with induction abortion, which is a different approach.
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E
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Ectopic pregnancy definition 1.0
A pregnancy that implants and grows outside the uterus, most often in a fallopian tube. It cannot continue safely, and it is a medical emergency if it ruptures.
Sudden severe abdominal or pelvic pain, shoulder pain, weakness, dizziness, or fainting can be signs of rupture. Call 911 or go to an emergency department.
Abortion medicines do not treat an ectopic pregnancy.
Commonly misused: Sometimes confused with a normal early pregnancy that has not yet been located on an ultrasound. Those are different situations, and only clinical assessment can tell them apart.
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Emergency contraception definition 1.0
Medicine or a device used after sex with the intention of preventing pregnancy. It is not abortion medication and does not end an existing pregnancy.
The two are not interchangeable, and one cannot be substituted for the other.
Commonly misused: Called the morning-after pill, and often confused with abortion medication in political conversation. They are different products with different purposes.
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G
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Gestational age definition 1.0
How long a pregnancy has lasted, conventionally counted from the first day of the last menstrual period rather than from conception.
Because ovulation usually occurs about two weeks into a cycle, the clinical count is normally about two weeks ahead of the time since fertilisation. Dating is usually confirmed with an ultrasound rather than by relying on a remembered date alone.
Commonly misused: Frequently treated as interchangeable with time since conception. It is normally about two weeks greater.
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I
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Incomplete abortion definition 1.0
A situation in which pregnancy tissue remains in the uterus after an abortion or a miscarriage, which may need further treatment.
Bleeding patterns do not confirm or rule this out. Assessment by a clinician does. This site never tells a reader that an abortion is or is not complete.
Commonly misused: Sometimes assumed to be detectable from symptoms. It is not, which is why medication abortion includes follow-up.
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Informed consent definition 1.0
Agreeing to a medical treatment or procedure after being told what it involves, what the alternatives are, and what the risks are, with the opportunity to ask questions and to decline.
Consent can be withdrawn. Asking for something to be repeated, or asking for more time, is a normal part of the process.
Commonly misused: Sometimes used as a label for material a person is required by law to receive, which is a different thing from the clinical process.
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L
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Last menstrual period definition 1.0
The first day of the most recent menstrual period, used as the conventional starting point for counting the weeks of a pregnancy.
This site never asks for this date. Collecting it would mean collecting sensitive health information, and a calculation made from it without clinical checks can be wrong by weeks.
Commonly misused: Assumed to be reliable for everyone. It is a poor guide when cycles are irregular, when the date is uncertain, or when early bleeding was mistaken for a period.
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M
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Medication abortion definition 1.0
Abortion using prescribed medicines rather than a procedure. In the United States the standard approach uses two different medicines taken in sequence.
The medicines are prescribed after an assessment that confirms how long the pregnancy has lasted and reviews health history. Follow-up is part of the process because completion cannot be confirmed from symptoms alone.
See medication abortion for the full explanation.
Commonly misused: Often called the abortion pill, which is misleading because the usual approach uses two medicines, not one.
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Mifepristone definition 1.0
One of the two medicines used in the standard United States approach to medication abortion. It is taken first.
Approved use, the conditions attached to it, and current safety information are published by the Food and Drug Administration. This site links that material rather than restating doses or schedules.
Commonly misused: Sometimes described as the whole of medication abortion. It is one of two medicines in the usual approach.
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Miscarriage definition 1.0
The loss of a pregnancy before it is far enough along to survive, occurring without an intervention intended to end it. Called spontaneous abortion in some clinical writing.
Some of the same treatments are used for miscarriage and for induced abortion, including vacuum aspiration and the same medicines. That overlap is why a person's records may use terms they did not expect.
Commonly misused: The clinical term spontaneous abortion causes confusion, because in medical usage abortion covers both spontaneous and induced pregnancy loss.
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Misoprostol definition 1.0
A medicine used in medication abortion, taken after mifepristone in the standard United States approach. It has other clinical uses as well.
Instructions come from the prescribing clinician and from the material supplied with the prescription. This site does not state doses, timings, or routes.
Commonly misused: Its use in abortion is sometimes assumed to be its only use. It is also used in other obstetric and gastrointestinal contexts.
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Noindex definition 1.0
An instruction that asks search engines not to list a page in their results. The page still works normally for anyone who visits it directly.
This site applies it to pages that have not cleared the applicable publication checks and to pages whose facts are past their verification window.
Commonly misused: Sometimes assumed to mean a page is hidden or private. It is neither. It only affects search listings.
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P
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Procedural abortion definition 1.0
Abortion completed with a procedure carried out by trained clinicians in a clinic, health centre, or hospital.
The specific procedure depends mainly on how far the pregnancy has progressed. See procedural abortion.
Commonly misused: Often called surgical abortion. Professional language guidance discourages that as a blanket term, because the most common procedure earlier in pregnancy involves no incision.
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T
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Telehealth abortion definition 1.0
Medication abortion where the assessment and the prescription happen through a remote consultation rather than an in-person visit.
Availability depends on the service and on the legal rules that apply where the person is. Those rules are separate from medical facts and change over time.
Commonly misused: Sometimes described as unsupervised. It involves a clinician, an assessment, a prescription, and a follow-up arrangement.
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V
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Vacuum aspiration definition 1.0
A short procedure that empties the uterus using gentle suction applied through the cervix. Also called aspiration abortion or suction abortion.
There is no incision. The suction may be produced by a hand-held device or an electric pump. The same procedure is also used to complete a miscarriage and to manage some other conditions of the uterus.
See vacuum aspiration.
Commonly misused: Frequently called a D&C in conversation. The two are not the same procedure, although they are related and both are used in more than one clinical situation.
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Viability definition 1.0
The point in pregnancy at which a fetus might survive outside the uterus. Clinicians describe it as a range that depends on the individual pregnancy and on available neonatal care.
Anyone quoting a specific week should say what they are describing and in what setting. A number quoted without that context is not a clinical statement.
Commonly misused: Frequently stated as a single fixed week. That is not how clinicians use the term, and outcomes near the edges of the range vary considerably.
Last updated .
Sources for these definitions
Each entry states what the source supports on this page and what it cannot support. Where a source and this page disagree, read the source.
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World Health Organization Primary source
Abortion care guideline, second edition (opens www.who.int)
- Publisher date
- 24 August 2025
- Checked by this publication
- What it supports here
- Supports method categories, recommended clinical practice at a high level, and the distinction between abortion in recommended conditions and abortion outside them.
- What it cannot support
- A clinical guideline written for health systems and providers. It is not a patient instruction sheet, and its recommendations are conditioned on setting, training, and pregnancy duration.
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American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Primary source
Abortion Care frequently asked questions (opens www.acog.org)
- Publisher date
- Last updated October 2022, last reviewed May 2026
- Checked by this publication
- What it supports here
- Supports patient-facing descriptions of medication and procedural abortion, what an appointment can involve, general recovery expectations, and when a patient should contact a clinician.
- What it cannot support
- Patient education for a United States audience. It describes usual practice rather than what any specific clinic offers, and it does not replace the instructions a treating clinician gives.
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American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Primary source
Ectopic Pregnancy frequently asked questions (opens www.acog.org)
- Publisher date
- Published April 2020, last reviewed April 2026
- Checked by this publication
- What it supports here
- Supports the description of ectopic pregnancy, the warning signs listed in the emergency panel, and the statement that abortion medication does not treat an ectopic pregnancy.
- What it cannot support
- Describes signs that can occur. It does not allow anyone, including this site, to rule an ectopic pregnancy in or out without clinical evaluation.
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American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Primary source
Guide to Language and Abortion (opens www.acog.org)
- Publisher date
- Not stated by the publisher at the last check
- Checked by this publication
- What it supports here
- Supports the terminology contract, including the preference for procedural abortion over surgery as a blanket term and the treatment of late-term abortion as an imprecise phrase.
- What it cannot support
- A language guide, not clinical evidence. It cannot support any statement about how a procedure is performed or how safe it is.
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American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Primary source
Person-Centered Pregnancy Options Counseling (opens www.acog.org)
- Publisher date
- July 2026
- Checked by this publication
- What it supports here
- Supports the non-directive structure of the pregnancy options page and the rule that this publication does not recommend an outcome.
- What it cannot support
- Written for clinicians providing counseling. It describes a professional standard of care, not a self-guided process a reader completes alone.
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United States Food and Drug Administration Primary source
Questions and Answers on Mifepristone for Medical Termination of Pregnancy Through Ten Weeks Gestation (opens www.fda.gov)
- Publisher date
- 8 April 2026
- Checked by this publication
- What it supports here
- Supports every statement about United States approved use, the approved pregnancy duration limit, and the current regulatory status of mifepristone.
- What it cannot support
- Regulatory status changes. This source is checked weekly, and a detected change requires human review before any page that relies on it is republished.
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United States Food and Drug Administration Primary source
Mifepristone Medication Guide (opens www.fda.gov)
- Publisher date
- January 2023
- Checked by this publication
- What it supports here
- Supports the description of what a Medication Guide is and why a reader should read the current one supplied with their own medication.
- What it cannot support
- A document supplied with a prescription. This site links it rather than restating it, and never converts it into instructions for an individual reader.
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AbortionFinder Navigation or context only
United States abortion clinic locator (opens www.abortionfinder.org)
- Publisher date
- Not stated by the publisher at the last check
- Checked by this publication
- What it supports here
- Used only to route a reader to a verified provider search. It never supports a clinical or legal claim on this site.
- What it cannot support
- An external service with its own data practices and its own privacy policy. This site does not maintain, verify, or mirror its listings.
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World Wide Web Consortium Government or professional source
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 (opens www.w3.org)
- Publisher date
- 12 December 2024
- Checked by this publication
- What it supports here
- Defines the conformance target stated on the accessibility page.
- What it cannot support
- A technical standard. Conformance claims on this site describe testing that was performed, not a certification issued by the publisher.