I noticed that.
...and that definition is not the one that first springs to anyone's mind.
Unless of course they look at the context in which it is used. If that is done, it is clear what is meant by abortionist. And would save "anyone's mind" from jumping to erroneous conclusions
I'm glad you looked it up in at least one dictionary. The second definition doesn't show up in some dictionaries, and it does in others.
Here's something else I found, maybe it will help (I can dream, can't I?)
-ist
a suffix of nouns, often corresponding to verbs ending in -ize or nouns ending in -ism, that denote a person who practices or is concerned with something, or holds certain principles, doctrines, etc: abortionist One that produces, makes, operates, plays, or is connected with a specified thing: abortionist.
-ist
agent noun suffix, also used to indicate adherence to a certain doctrine or custom, from Fr. -iste, from L. -ista, from Gk. -istes, from agential suffix -tes. Variant -ister (e.g. chorister, barister) is from O.Fr. -istre: abortionist
And no, I am not willing to give the benefit of the doubt to anyone
No one asked you to. There is no doubt what was meant.
I was merely trying to help you see the post in question from a non-histrionical viewpoint.
I have to post the last quote in context, it is classic:
And no, I am not willing to give the benefit of the doubt to anyone, calling anyone else an abortionist, or a "baby killer", which is also a term flung about here, now.
Rudy Giuliani by his own words is an abortionist (see above which way this word is used here) and so he has been described as such.
I certainly hope you (or Rudy) haven't been called a baby killer. He may be an abortionist, but he doesn't preform the procedure. He's a lawyer, not a doctor.
Oh yes, I and Rudy and others on this site have indeed been called babykillers; amongst many other vile, spurious things.
I haven't killed a baby and as far as I know, neither has Rudy. But then, neither am I any of the other things that have been hurled at me, these past two months.