An abortion is the medical process of ending a pregnancy so it does not result in the birth of a baby.
It is also sometimes known as a 'termination' or a 'termination of pregnancy'.
Depending on how many weeks you have been pregnant, the pregnancy is ended either by taking medication or by having a surgical procedure.
An abortion is not the same as a miscarriage, where the pregnancy ends without medical intervention (although medical treatment may be needed after a miscarriage).
Why an abortion may be needed
There are many reasons why a woman might decide to have an abortion including: personal circumstances a health risk to the mother a high probability that the baby will have a medical condition
A hard look at Abortion in the Philipines
MANILA, Philippines - At the height of the debates surrounding the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law (RH law), many pro-life groups vowed that passing the law could signal the country’s transition to legalized abortion.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), for instance, warned the public that a “contraceptive mentality” preceded “abortion mentality.”
Statistics on induced abortion in the Philippines, however, paint a different reality. Although induced or elective abortion has never been legal in the country, thousands of women every year choose to terminate their pregnancy, with most of these procedures being performed unsafely.
Recent estimates
Researchers from the Guttmacher Institute and the University of the Philippines Population Institute estimated that over 470,000 induced abortions were performed in the Philippines in 2000.
This translates to almost a third of women aged 15 to 44 choosing to have an abortion after getting pregnant.
Boots and WebMD's: ‘ Abortion’2012[Online] Available &http://www.webmd.boots.com/women/tc/abortion-introduction(march