abortionist

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English

Etymology

abortion +‎ -ist. First attested in 1872.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

abortionist (plural abortionists)

  1. (now often historical) One who performs an illegal abortion in a non-medical setting (a back street, a hotel room, etc).
    • 2005, Paul Krassner, One Hand Jerking: Reports from an Investigative Satirist, →ISBN, page 24:
      In 1962, when abortion was still illegal, I published an anonymous interview with Dr. Robert Spencer, a humane abortionist who was known as “The Saint.”
    • 2009-2010, Roger Ebert, Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2010, review of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, page 146:
      Then she asks her to go first to meet the abortionist. Then she neglects to make a reservation at the hotel the abortionist specifies. That almost sinks the arrangement: The abortionist has experience suggesting that hotel will be a safe venue, and suspects he may be set up for a police trap.
  2. (chiefly in anti-abortion discourse, derogatory) An abortion provider; one who performs a legal abortion.
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    • 2003, Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, →ISBN, page 24:
      According to Bray, "there is a difference between taking a retired abortionist and executing him, and killing a practicing abortionist who is regularly killing babies." The first act is in Bray's view retributive, the second defensive.
    • 2009, Dinesh D'Souza, Letters to a Young Conservative, →ISBN, page 191:
      [] a gruesome procedure in which the abortionist dismembers a child who could survive outside the womb.
  3. (in anti-abortion discourse, offensive) One who favors abortion being legal. [since the late 19th century][1]

Antonyms

  • (one who favours abortion being legal): anti-abortionist (one who opposes abortion being legal)

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abortionist”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 7.

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