Abortionist

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /əˈbɔɹ.ʃə.nɪst/

Origin

abortion + -ist. First attested in 1872.

SOED5|page=7

Full definition of abortionist

Noun

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 1583226966), 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, pejorative) An abortion provider; one who performs a legal abortion.
• Bioethical Dilemmas: A Jewish Perspective
• 2003, Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence (ISBN 0520240111), 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 0786739096), 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 19^th century

Antonyms

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