Editing Abortion (section)

=== Maternal health ===
Some abortions are performed due to concerns over [[maternal health]]. In 1990s, women cited maternal health as their main motivating factor in about a third of abortions in three of 27 countries analyzed. In seven additional countries, about 7% of abortions were maternal health related.<ref name="guttmacher" /><ref name="bankole98"/><!-- Quote = Risk to maternal health. This reason was somewhat important overall, having been cited as the main reason by 5-10% in seven countries and by 20-38% in three (Kenya, Bangladesh and India). -->

In the U.S., the Supreme Court decisions in ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' and ''[[Doe v. Bolton]]'': "ruled that the state's interest in the life of the fetus became compelling only at the point of viability, defined as the point at which the fetus can survive independently of its mother. Even after the point of viability, the state cannot favor the life of the fetus over the life or health of the pregnant woman. Under the right of privacy, physicians must be free to use their "medical judgment for the preservation of the life or health of the mother." On the same day that the Court decided Roe, it also decided Doe v. Bolton, in which the Court defined health very broadly: "The medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors—physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age—relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health. This allows the attending physician the room he needs to make his best medical judgment."<ref>George J. Annas and Sherman Elias. "Legal and Ethical Issues in Obstetrical Practice". Chapter 54 in ''Obstetrics: Normal and Problem Pregnancies'', 6th edition. Eds. Steven G. Gabbe, et al. 2012 Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier. {{ISBN|978-1-4377-1935-2}}</ref>{{rp|1200–1201}}

====Cancer====
{{Update section|date=September 2022}}<!-- Sources here are >10 years old, and should be updated with new ones -->
The rate of cancer during pregnancy is 0.02–1%, and in many cases, cancer of the mother leads to consideration of abortion to protect the life of the mother, or in response to the potential damage that may occur to the fetus during treatment. This is particularly true for [[cervical cancer]], the most common type of which occurs in 1 of every 2,000–13,000 pregnancies, for which initiation of treatment "cannot co-exist with preservation of fetal life (unless [[neoadjuvant chemotherapy]] is chosen)". Very early stage cervical cancers (I and IIa) may be treated by [[radical hysterectomy]] and pelvic [[lymph node]] dissection, [[radiation therapy]], or both, while later stages are treated by radiotherapy. Chemotherapy may be used simultaneously. Treatment of breast cancer during pregnancy also involves fetal considerations, because [[lumpectomy]] is discouraged in favor of modified [[radical mastectomy]] unless late-term pregnancy allows follow-up radiation therapy to be administered after the birth.<ref name=Weisz>{{cite journal | vauthors = Weisz B, Schiff E, Lishner M | title = Cancer in pregnancy: maternal and fetal implications | journal = Human Reproduction Update | volume = 7 | issue = 4 | pages = 384–393 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11476351 | doi = 10.1093/humupd/7.4.384 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Exposure to a single chemotherapy drug is estimated to cause a 7.5–17% risk of [[teratogenic]] effects on the fetus, with higher risks for multiple drug treatments. Treatment with more than 40&nbsp;[[gray (unit)|Gy]] of radiation usually causes spontaneous abortion. Exposure to much lower doses during the first trimester, especially 8 to 15 weeks of development, can cause [[intellectual disability]] or [[microcephaly]], and exposure at this or subsequent stages can cause reduced intrauterine growth and birth weight. Exposures above 0.005–0.025&nbsp;Gy cause a dose-dependent reduction in [[IQ]].<ref name=Weisz /> It is possible to greatly reduce exposure to radiation with abdominal shielding, depending on how far the area to be irradiated is from the fetus.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Mayr NA, Wen BC, Saw CB | title = Radiation therapy during pregnancy | journal = Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America | volume = 25 | issue = 2 | pages = 301–321 | date = June 1998 | pmid = 9629572 | doi = 10.1016/s0889-8545(05)70006-1 }}</ref><ref name="pmid11237773">{{cite journal | vauthors = Fenig E, Mishaeli M, Kalish Y, Lishner M | title = Pregnancy and radiation | journal = Cancer Treatment Reviews | volume = 27 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–7 | date = February 2001 | pmid = 11237773 | doi = 10.1053/ctrv.2000.0193 }}</ref>

The process of birth itself may also put the mother at risk. According to Li ''et al.'', "[v]aginal delivery may result in dissemination of neoplastic cells into lymphovascular channels, haemorrhage, cervical laceration and implantation of malignant cells in the episiotomy site, while abdominal delivery may delay the initiation of non-surgical treatment."<ref name="pmid19197101">{{cite journal | vauthors = Li WW, Yau TN, Leung CW, Pong WM, Chan MY | title = Large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the uterine cervix complicating pregnancy | journal = Hong Kong Medical Journal = Xianggang Yi Xue Za Zhi | volume = 15 | issue = 1 | pages = 69–72 | date = February 2009 | pmid = 19197101 }}</ref>