Intact dilation and extraction
Intact dilation and extraction (D&X, IDX, or intact D&E) is a surgical procedure that removes an intact fetus from the uterus. The procedure is used both after miscarriages and for abortions in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.
| IDX, intact D&X, et al. | |
| Background | |
|---|---|
| Abortion type | Surgical |
| First use | 1983 |
| Gestation | >16 weeks |
| Usage | |
| United States | 0.17% (2000) |
| Infobox references | |
In United States federal law, it is known as a partial-birth abortion, although this latter term is not an accepted medical term and is not used by abortion practitioners or the medical community at large.
In 2000, although only 0.17% (2,232 of 1,313,000) of all abortions in the United States were performed using this procedure, it developed into a focal point of the abortion debate. Intact D&E of a fetus with a heartbeat was outlawed in most cases by the 2003 federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Gonzales v. Carhart.