什麼是流產；墮胎

胎兒發育到能獨立生存階段之前被分娩出子宮外的過程。流產可自然發生，稱自然流產（miscarriage）。人工流產（induced abortion）是刻意藥物干擾胎兒生長，目的大致有下列幾種︰為挽救母親的生命或維護其健康；中止因強姦或亂倫造成的妊娠；預防生出有嚴重畸形、精神缺陷或遺傳異常的胎兒。擴張（dilation）及抽取（extraction）術則被認為是部分生產墮胎（partial birth abortion），這項極受爭議的醫療方式通常於懷孕第三期時使用。懷孕滿十九周後，則可注射鹽水或激素（荷爾蒙，hormone）來引發子宮收縮，排出胚胎（fetus）。滿六個月（第二期）或晚期可使用子宮切開術（hysterectomy）。在歷史上，社會是否接納流產為控制人口的一種手段因時、地而異。在古希臘羅馬時代，流產似乎是一種很常見且為社會所接受的節育方法，即使基督教神學家早就激烈譴責流產。中世紀時，歐洲普遍接受人工流產的觀念。到了19世紀以後才普遍以重罰來阻止人工流產，但在20世紀時這些處罰在許多國家中又作了修正。1973年美國最高法院在「羅伊訴韋德案」（Roe v. Wade）中裁定孕期三個月做人工流產手術是合法的，但1995年這個案件中的珍.羅伊（Jane Roe）諾瑪.麥考薇（Norma Mccorvey）則一反先前的立場，宣稱不再支持墮胎權。

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.