therapeutic abortion

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Any of various procedures resulting in the termination of a pregnancy by a physician.
• noun Any of various procedures resulting in the termination of a pregnancy in order to save the life of the mother, preserve her health, or prevent the birth of a severely ill or deformed infant.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun medicine An abortion indicated by need for the health of the mother or due to the inviable nature of the fetus.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a legally induced abortion for medical reasons (as when the mother's life is threatened)