Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Causing abortion.
- noun A substance or device used to induce abortion.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Producing abortion: said of drugs and operative procedures.
- noun In medicine, whatever is or may be used to produce abortion.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Producing miscarriage.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a drug (or other chemical agent) that causes abortion
- adjective causing abortion
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Apparently you have never heard of the term abortifacient?
The Catholic Version: Do pro-life policies reduce abortion? Or, Why Good Catholics can be Pro-Choice 2004
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The question of a woman's right to choose is going to be a basic issue of the upcoming election with the recent position of the Bush administration grouping birth control with abortion and McCain's VP selection of Sarah Palin who belongs to a group called Feminists for Life, their idea of feminism being outlawing both abortion and what they call abortifacient birth control which pretty much includes everything except rhythm and prayer they even object to condoms because they feel that form of male birth control usually becomes the woman's responsibility.
republican Birth Control: Health Insurance Rules Force Family Planning and Leave Pregnant Mothers in a Financial Bind Ellen Beth Gill 2008
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Taking herbs like pennyroyal—known as an abortifacient—can be dangerous without expert guidance.
OUR BODIES, OURSELVES The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective 2005
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In the first instance it was shown that the use of so-called abortifacient drugs was extensively practised and was usually a first resort.
Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Various Aspects of the Problem of Abortion in New Zealand New Zealand. Committee of Inquiry into various aspects of the Problem of Abortion in New Zealand 1927
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It's true that some abortion opponents say the pill, along other forms of birth control, is an abortifacient, which is a drug that induces abortion.
USATODAY.com News 2012
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But instead I suffered through that Vaseline ad with the female vocalist clicking her tongue like an experimental psychiatry enthusiast and that absolute abortifacient which is the soundtrack to the Ford Kuga ad.
Arse End Of Ireland 2009
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(the term "abortifacient birth control" is a codephrase in the dominionist "pro-life" community for hormonal birth control -- partly due to a unique urban legend claiming "the pill" and other hormonal birth control causes abortion and partly because of a unique definition of pregnancy beginning at conception rather than at implantation (the latter is what most mainstream OB / GYNs use) and thus making anything preventing implantation potentially "abortifacient").
scams 2008
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So you see, one can claim that a drug is not an abortifacient if one defines pregnancy at implantation of the blastocyst.
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Also Randy Alcorn, a well-known pro-life apologist and Protestant pastor, published a booklet in 1998 in which he gave the reasons for why the pill is an abortifacient and he has actually counselled couples in his ministry against using the pill for that reason.
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One may claim that it is an an abortifacient if one defines pregnancy at conception.
she commented on the word abortifacient
Oh dear. This word has rather mischievous potential!
July 16, 2008
mialuthien commented on the word abortifacient
It does! The context from which I acquired it, is a clear proof of it.
July 16, 2008
reallifepixel commented on the word abortifacient
"Nutmeg was once considered an abortifacient, but may be safe for culinary use during pregnancy."
Nutmeg - Wikipedia
November 24, 2008