Below is a list of words and phrases most commonly used in the world of reproductive health and justice. The definitions should be helpful if some things in the guide are unfamiliar to you. Pro tip: use the words and phrases with the Library catalog for more resources!
- Abortion: Ending a pregnancy
- Abstinence: Not having sex with anyone. You can be abstinent if you’ve had sex before, are in a relationship, or have never had sex
- Age of consent: The age at which state law considers a person old enough to decide to have sex with someone
- Anti-choice/right to life: Opposed to the belief that people have the right to make their own choices about whether and when to have a child
- Conception: The beginning of pregnancy. The moment when the pre-embryo attaches to the lining of the uterus and pregnancy begins
- Contraception: Any behavior, device, medication, or procedure used to prevent pregnancy. Also known as birth control
- Doula: A person who gives emotional support during pregnancy, labor, and childbirth and for some time after. Can also be used for abortions.
- Ectopic Pregnancy: A life-threatening pregnancy that develops outside the uterus, often in a fallopian tube
- Emergency contraception: A safe and effective way to prevent pregnancy up to 5 days after unprotected penis-in-vagina sex. Emergency contraception pills made from hormones and certain IUDs are types of emergency contraception. Also known as the "morning-after pill."
- Eugenics: A racist, classist, and ableist movement to control who should and shouldn’t have children (See Sterilization page for more)
- Medication/Medical abortion: The use of a combination of drugs to end a pregnancy. Also called the “abortion pill.”
- Miscarriage: A miscarriage is the spontaneous loss of a fetus before the 20th week of pregnancy. Pregnancy losses after the 20th week are called "stillbirths". Miscarriage is a naturally occurring event.
- Parental consent: A requirement that 1 or both parents give permission for a minor (someone under the age of 18) to do something. Many states have mandatory parental consent laws regarding abortion services for minors.
- Plan B: A brand of emergency contraception pill made from levonorgestrel, the same kind of hormone found in birth control pills. Available over the counter to anyone of any age or gender in the US
- Pro-choice: Supporting the right to a safe, legal abortion
- Roe v. Wade: The 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, and which was overturned in June 2022
- Surgical abortion: The use of suction and medical tools to remove tissue from the uterus during an abortion. Also called a "D+E" and/or "D+C"
- Ultrasound: A medical test that creates an image of internal organs by bouncing sound waves off the internal organs. Frequently used to find or monitor a pregnancy, but has a variety of medical uses
Credit: https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/glossary