Etymology

From abortion +‎ -istCategory:English terms suffixed with -ist#ABORTIONIST.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈbɔɹ.ʃə.nɪst/Category:English 4-syllable words#ABORTIONISTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#ABORTIONIST

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#ABORTIONIST

Noun

abortionist (plural abortionists)Category:English lemmas#ABORTIONISTCategory:English nouns#ABORTIONISTCategory:English countable nouns#ABORTIONISTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#ABORTIONISTCategory:Pages with entries#ABORTIONISTCategory:Pages with 1 entry#ABORTIONIST

1. (now sometimes offensiveCategory:English offensive terms#ABORTIONIST) A person who performs abortions, especially illegally or secretly. [from 1844]

   Synonyms: (rare) aborter, (historical, euphemistic) angel maker, (UK) jack-knife barber

   • 1844 March 26, New-York Daily Tribune:

     Mad. Restell, the celebrated Abortionist [is arrested].

     Category:English terms with quotations#ABORTIONIST

   • 1848 October 7, “Morals and Murder – the Case of Eliza Wilson”, in The Medical Times‎, volume 18, number 471, London, page 373:

     The quack abortionist, with “a little knowledge,” impudently, remorselessly, and secretly employs his craft for filthy lucre’s sake, perpetrating one crime to conceal another, at which science and charity blush.

     Category:English terms with quotations#ABORTIONIST

   • 1998, J. David Bleich, Bioethical Dilemmas: A Jewish Perspective, volume 1, Hoboken, New Jersey: KTAV Publishing House, →ISBN, page 277:

     Such a fetus is perfectly viable save for the act of the abortionist.

     Category:English terms with quotations#ABORTIONIST

   • 2003, Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, 3rd edition, Berkeley, California: University of California Press, →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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#ABORTIONIST

   • 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.”

     Category:English terms with quotations#ABORTIONIST

   • 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#ABORTIONIST

   • 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#ABORTIONIST

2. (chiefly derogatoryCategory:English derogatory terms#ABORTIONIST) A person who advocates for or supports the legality of abortion.

   Synonyms: pro-abortionist, pro-choicer, (derogatory) pro-deather

   Antonyms: anti-abortionist, (derogatory) anti-choicer, (derogatory) fetus fetishist, (derogatory) forced-birther, pro-lifer, right-to-lifer

References

• “abortionist, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2021.

Anagrams

• birotations