What is "intact dilation and extraction"

n. A late-term surgical abortion procedure, involving (in order) dilation of the cervix, removal of the fetus from the uterus to the shoulders, and emptying of the fetal cranium to allow for easier passage of the head through the cervix and vagina.

Intact dilation and extraction (Intact D&E) is a surgical procedure that removes an intact fetus from the uterus. The procedure is used both after late-term miscarriages and in late-term abortions.

It is also known as intact dilation and evacuation, dilation and extraction (D&X, or DNX, disfavored term), and, in the United States, as "partial-birth abortion".

In 2000, 0.17% (2,232 of 1,313,000) of all abortions in the United States were performed using this procedure, however, it has developed into a focal point of the abortion debate. It was outlawed in most cases by the 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which was upheld in the case of Gonzales v. Carhart.