Last updated: 02/17/2009

An abortion may be performed whenever there is some compelling reason to end a pregnancy. An abortion is termed "induced" to differentiate it from a spontaneous abortion in which the products of conception are lost naturally (also called a miscarriage).

An abortion is considered to be elective if a woman chooses to end her pregnancy, and it is not for maternal or fetal health reasons. Some reasons a woman might choose to have an elective abortion are:

• Continuation of the pregnancy may cause emotional or financial hardship.
• The woman is not ready to become a parent.
• The pregnancy was unintended.
• The woman is pressured into having one by her partner, parents, or others.
• The pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.

A therapeutic abortion is performed in order to preserve the health or save the life of a pregnant woman. A health care provider might recommend a therapeutic abortion if the fetus is diagnosed with significant abnormalities or not expected to live, or if it has died in utero. Therapeutic abortion may also be used to reduce the number of fetuses if a woman is pregnant with multiples; this procedure is called multifetal pregnancy reduction (MFPR).

A therapeutic abortion may be indicated if a woman has a pregnancy-related health condition that endangers her life. Some examples of such conditions include:

• severe hypertension (high blood pressure)
• cardiac disease
• severe depression or other psychiatric conditions
• serious kidney or liver disease
• certain types of infection
• malignancy (cancer)
• multifetal pregnancy