Terms Used In Iowa Code > Chapter 146B - Abortion -- Postfertilization Age

• Abortion: means the termination of a human pregnancy with the intent other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• Attempt to perform an abortion: means an act, or an omission of a statutorily required act, that, under the circumstances as the actor believes them to be, constitutes a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in the performing of an abortion. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• Child: includes child by adoption. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of public health. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• Fertilization: means the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Major bodily function: includes but is not limited to functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, and digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• Medical emergency: means a situation in which an abortion is performed to preserve the life of the pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy, or when continuation of the pregnancy will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• Medical facility: means any public or private hospital, clinic, center, medical school, medical training institution, health care facility, physician's office, infirmary, dispensary, ambulatory surgical center, or other institution or location where medical care is provided to any person. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• Person: means a natural person. See Iowa Code 154A.1
• Physician: means a person licensed under chapter 148. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Postfertilization age: means the age of the unborn child as calculated from fertilization. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• Probable postfertilization age: means what, in reasonable medical judgment, will with reasonable probability be the postfertilization age of the unborn child at the time the abortion is to be performed. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• Reasonable medical judgment: means a medical judgment made by a reasonably prudent physician who is knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities with respect to the medical conditions involved. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
• Unborn child: means an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization until live birth. See Iowa Code 146B.1
• year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1