At its root, to abort simply means “to stop,” but the word abortion has come to be commonly associated with induced abortion.

Induced Abortion is the separation of mother and child prior to birth in order to end the life of the child. 

Therapeutic Abortion is the separation of mother and child prior to birth in order to save the life of the mother.

Spontaneous Abortion, commonly called miscarriage, is a naturally occurring loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks gestation. After 20 weeks, loss of a pregnancy is considered pre-term delivery.