Medico-Legal Aspects of Abortion: Updates of the Literature

BACKGROUND: Abortion is an increasingly important issue since it is discussed from multiple points of view including medical, social, religious, and legal aspects. Abortion is an old topic that is continuously discussed from various perspectives including medicine, laws, and society. Abortion is an illegal in general terms, but it can be carried out under certain medical conditions for the interest of pregnant woman, if the pregnancy is threatening her life. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is updates of the literature about medico-legal aspects of the abortion. METHODS: This is descriptive study about medico-legal aspects of the abortion based on searching this topic in the scientific literature deposited in on-line databases. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: . At global level, more and more women are opting to terminate their pregnancies for societal reasons. It is estimated that 50 million unborn babies are terminated every year across the globe, causing the lives of 200,000 pregnant women and the agony of millions more people. It is a difficult decision to conduct abortion. In this study, a comprehensive review of the literature was made to discuss abortion from medical, legal, and cultural points of view. In general, abortion was legally discussed because legal aspects involve the various perspectives. CONCLUSION: From religious points of view, abortion implies ending the life of the fetus. The right of life is to be kept. The international laws do not permit abortion and criminalize the parties involved in its existence unless it is recognized it is crucial to save the life of pregnant woman..