The term fetus as applied to human beings refers to the body of an unborn child.
One of the sharpest divisions in US politics is over whether "human life begins at conception" and what this means.
Legally, in most jurisdictions, it is considered permissible to terminate the life of the fetus at any point in the pregnancy (see abortion) provided the unborn child's head has not emerged from the mother's body (see partial-birth abortion).
Many Americans say that "Abortion is murder" and vigorously oppose laws which view the matter as "a women's right to choose".