- [uncountable] the deliberate ending of a pregnancy at an early stage
- to support/oppose abortion
- a woman’s right to abortion
- the country's strict abortion laws
- Both pro-choice and anti-abortion groups want to ensure their voices are heard.
CultureAbortion is the subject of strong public debate, especially in the US. Some people are in favour of abortion; called pro-choice supporters, they support a woman's right to choose whether to have a baby or not. On the opposite side are the pro-life campaigners, who believe in the right to life of the unborn child and think that abortion is wrong. In 1973 abortion during the first stages of being pregnant became legal all over the US through the Supreme Court decision Roe v Wade. This decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022 and individual states can now decide what the law should be. In Britain the Abortion Act of 1967 made abortion legal. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) was founded to campaign against the Act.Topics Life stagesc1Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- legal
- legalized
- elective
- …
- have
- obtain
- procure
- …
- clinic
- counselling/counseling
- pill
- …
- abortion on demand
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- [countable] a medical operation to end a pregnancy at an early stage synonym termination
- She decided to have an abortion.
- Some medical staff wanted the right to refuse to perform abortions.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- legal
- legalized
- elective
- …
- have
- obtain
- procure
- …
- clinic
- counselling/counseling
- pill
- …
- abortion on demand
- [uncountable] (medical) the process of giving birth to a baby before it is fully developed and able to survive synonym miscarriage
Word Originmid 16th cent.: from Latin abortio(n-), from aboriri ‘miscarry’, from ab- ‘away, from’ + oriri ‘be born’.
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abortion