Before abortion was so heavily politicized by the right-wing, "abortion" used to simply be referred to as a miscarriage, in all circumstances, regardless of whether it was spontaneously or voluntarily induced.

Referring to the 1820's Connecticut law above, note that being "quick with child" means that the fetus has actually started to move around in the mother's womb, which happens certainly no earlier than the 2nd trimester (12 weeks), and typically around 18-20 weeks. Abortions/miscarriages taking place before that point were not regulated at all. These contemporary GOP attempts at complete and total abortion bans from the moment of conception (so early in pregnancy that no woman can actually know she's pregnant at all) are a newfangled creation.

Many anti-choicers are now trying to make the futile argument that only voluntarily terminations that don't "save the life" of the mother are properly characterized as "abortions." Abortions that *do* save the life of the mother are... I don't know? Something else?

All this semantic wordplay is intended to place the blame squarely on doctors for failing to properly interpret ambiguous and poorly-worded anti-abortion laws. Anti-choicers trying to rescue their anti-woman laws from their own cruel logic. Who's surprised?