The word “fetus” isn’t very descriptive. There will be things called POCs or product of conception. The general public often think that abortions are these distinctly human looking things, but the ones that end up in the lab will have been developed enough look like a blood clot about one inch or less with no definable features. I remember learning that almost 2/3 of embryos don’t stick to the wall of the uterus which is why abortions happen more than people may think, it’s actually more the rule than the later which is a bit scary if you think about it. I like to keep this mind frame in order to deal with POCs because its easier to think about it as part of the nature.

Also as others have said, in medicine, abortion does not mean the same as the social, political, or religious definition that the general public have. Abortion simply means that the pregnancy stopped and something was produced. It is this way for legal reasons. What that can look like can be anything from looking like a blood clot all the way to a almost to term stillborn. Also the more developed the fetus, the more likely a pathologist assistant will gross it, not the tech. You won’t know what it is by looking at it by the time it is at the microtome where you do most of your work. I’m not saying this to be insensitive but because every tech has that one special type of tissue that they have issues working with. For my work friend it was hair, for me it was nails. We tend to swap cases if the other can’t handle it but you will need to compartmentalize sometimes. Tissue is tissue. Medicine is not pretty, but you are helping others. I can tell you right now that if a fetus comes through your lab and you can tell what it is, it’s not there by choice. The mother is going to be going through a deeply traumatic experience and you are there to help find out why it happened in order to protect that mother from possible conditions that caused the stillbirth and can potentially cause more or harm her. You are literally saving lives.

Sorry if this was a lot or if I came across as a bit preachy, I just want you to know what to expect and that biology and medicine isn’t black and white. There is a lot of nuance whether we like it or not. I hope this helped give some context.