Let's stop using the word "abortion"

[mathematoons]

Let’s call it what it is: baby-killing. The fact that we use another word shows that we don’t really think of the two as morally equivalent. Murdering a baby x months before birth is no better than doing so x months after.

Wrong: She had an abortion.
Right: She killed her baby.

While we’re at it, let’s get rid of anti-life speech in general:

Wrong: They have 4 children and one on the way.
Right: They have 5 children.

Wrong: She miscarried/had a miscarriage.
Right: Her baby died.

Wrong: She is going to be a mother (said of a pregnant woman).
Right: She is a mother.

Wrong: God became man at Bethlehem.
Right: God became man at Nazareth.

Wrong: She’s 6 months pregnant.
Right: Her baby is minus (or negative) 3 months old.

You get the idea. We’ve all heard variations of these errors, maybe even made them. Let’s stop. When I was an atheist, I cited examples like these to “prove” that Christians didn’t really believe the pro-life idea. Don’t prove my pre-Christian self right.

 

[brian_custer]

i’ll let the board “big guns” handle this

i am 100% pro-life

but i am not sure this type of dialogue will work…

7sorrows?

 

[TK421]

Baby-killing is both vulgar and provocative and will harden the hearts of the pro-choice side.

Abortion is an old & perfectly acceptable word in the English language.

 

[drac16]

'nuff said.

 

[xNoOnex]

“Wrong: She miscarried/had a miscarriage.
Right: Her baby died.”

Knowing people who actually miscarried… No. Just. No.

That’s like correcting someone, who had a family member pass away, and telling them it’s more correct to say that they died. It’s patronizing at best, callous and uncaring at best.

I’m 100% against abortion. I believe that abortion is murder… But I also know that many people that have abortions aren’t doing so lightly and you’re not going to win them over with hostile language.

 

[BryantJ33]

I believe the term is “interruption of pregnancy,” as per the Vatican website.

press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/02/05/170205b.html

 

[Rosebud77]

Reminds me of one housing agent here who is brutally honest in his appraisals.

" we call a spade a spade, not a long handled digging implement".

What irks me is when abortion is called a “termination” So let us continue to call a spade a spade please , not indulge in semantics.

 

[BryantJ33]

Reminds me of one housing agent here who is brutally honest in his appraisals.

" we call a spade a spade, not a long handled digging implement".

What irks me is when abortion is called a “termination” So let us continue to call a spade a spade please , not indulge in semantics.

“…let us be close to and together pray for the babies who are at risk of the interruption of pregnancy.”

His Holiness Pope Francis

 

[Rosebud77]

“…let us be close to and together pray for the babies who are at risk of the interruption of pregnancy.”

His Holiness Pope Francis

He is addressing people of faith and prayer. Who are not about to take life.

We are talking of the people who may well abort babies. And who would laugh at the phrase you use.

In any speaking it is vital to be where your audience is. In this case, tiny lives depend on it.

And of course let us pray. Of course and let us weep for the tiny lives lost.

 

[randomuser]

I have a better idea: Let’s (seriously) take steps to make delivery and adoptions more affordable and accessible, including adoption by gay couples – something even the pro-life governor of Arizona took steps to make easier – and then, once there are no more financial obstacles to having a baby – there was nothing in your post about childbirth more affordable and accessible – when the state has taken a more active interest in seeing those babies get to born – then, and then only then, you can stop using the word “abortion.” Deal?

 

[BoomBoomMancini]

Let’s call it what it is: baby-killing. The fact that we use another word shows that we don’t really think of the two as morally equivalent. Murdering a baby x months before birth is no better than doing so x months after.

Wrong: She had an abortion.
Right: She killed her baby.

While we’re at it, let’s get rid of anti-life speech in general:

Wrong: They have 4 children and one on the way.
Right: They have 5 children.

Wrong: She miscarried/had a miscarriage.
Right: Her baby died.

Wrong: She is going to be a mother (said of a pregnant woman).
Right: She is a mother.

Wrong: God became man at Bethlehem.
Right: God became man at Nazareth.

Wrong: She’s 6 months pregnant.
Right: Her baby is minus (or negative) 3 months old.

You get the idea. We’ve all heard variations of these errors, maybe even made them. Let’s stop. When I was an atheist, I cited examples like these to “prove” that Christians didn’t really believe the pro-life idea. Don’t prove my pre-Christian self right.

All of this is technically correct, but it doesn’t persuade anyone. It might be cathartic to say what you really think, but all you’re doing is guaranteeing the discussion gets hostile and goes nowhere.

 

[cthulhubryan]

Wrong: They have 4 children and one on the way.
Right: They have 5 children.

 

[jaimeleglise]

Let’s call it what it is: baby-killing. The fact that we use another word shows that we don’t really think of the two as morally equivalent. Murdering a baby x months before birth is no better than doing so x months after.

Wrong: She had an abortion.
Right: She killed her baby.

While we’re at it, let’s get rid of anti-life speech in general:

Wrong: They have 4 children and one on the way.
Right: They have 5 children.

Wrong: She miscarried/had a miscarriage.
Right: Her baby died.

Wrong: She is going to be a mother (said of a pregnant woman).

Right: She is a mother.

Wrong: God became man at Bethlehem.
Right: God became man at Nazareth.

Wrong: She’s 6 months pregnant.
Right: Her baby is minus (or negative) 3 months old.

You get the idea. We’ve all heard variations of these errors, maybe even made them. Let’s stop. When I was an atheist, I cited examples like these to “prove” that Christians didn’t really believe the pro-life idea. Don’t prove my pre-Christian self right.

I agree

 

[Tarpeian_Rock]

All of this is technically correct, but it doesn’t persuade anyone. It might be cathartic to say what you really think, but all you’re doing is guaranteeing the discussion gets hostile and goes nowhere.

Agreed. For that matter, like it or not, “abortion” is the correct medical term. Even what is called a “miscarriage” is technically a “spontaneous abortion.” Starting off a discussion with “You baby killer” is guaranteed to go nowhere.

 

[nodito]

Meh.

“Baby” usually connotes the particular age of child, one who was recently born. To be precise, we would need to say “She killed her fetus” or “She killed her embryo” and do we really think that’s more effective than saying “She had an abortion”?

A miscarriage is the correct term for losing one’s child in the womb, (actually, the medical term is spontaneous abortion, but I prefer miscarriage). Miscarriage, although devastating, is also relatively common (I’ve had three). And I would imagine experiencing a first-term miscarriage is a vastly different experience than having a stillborn child, or losing a child after birth, or losing a toddler. The latter two might even elicit a police investigation, whereas a miscarriage is so “normal” that I’d bet the majority of sexually-active women have had one. “She had a miscarriage” is more precise than “Her baby died” because it describes the situation more specifically. And again, if we want to be accurate, you would really need to say “Her fetus died” or “Her embryo died” in most cases.

I fail to see how “She’s 6 months pregnant” is anti-life. Since we don’t know the baby’s future birthdate, there’s no good way to say how many months “negative” that child is. I routinely carry to 42 weeks. Some women deliver at 36. So is the child I’m carrying now a different age than the child of a woman who conceived the same day I did but will deliver earlier? For fun, we might instead consider “adding” time to people’s ages. So on a child’s 2nd birthday, we actually celebrate 2.9 or whatever. In practice, I think this would be difficult, because many people do not know when they were conceived, whereas a birthdate can often be verified by third parties.

I do agree that a woman is a mother from the moment she conceives.

 

[exnihilo]

I agree that abortion is baby killing. It is our word for intentionally killing a baby. It is just like homicide is our word for intentionally killing a man. But not all homicides are murder. Some are manslaughter and some are self defense.

If I happened to kill a man who broke into my house while my wife and I slept and you told me I murdered him I’d think you are nuts. I wouldn’t listen to you. I’d think you are a fanatic who doesn’t understand the finer points of moral theology.

Those who support abortion will be the same way, even though they are wrong. If your goal is to win them over then you will most likely fail. Is your goal to be technically right or to save souls? I’m sure it is to save souls. That being the case you have to meet people where they are and take them, usually gently, to where they need to be. At least that is my experience.

 

[Bonnie]

Technically, a miscarriage is an abortion. But using that word for a miscarriage can really hurt. My miscarriage was called an abortion by an unthinking person - & I still remember it after all these years.

Words can hurt - be kind. Even if a woman chose to end her pregnancy, you don’t know what kind of pain she felt made it necessary, nor what she is feeling now. If you call her a baby killer, you could well push her away from God & the possibility of forgiveness.

 

[Rosebud77]

I have a better idea: Let’s (seriously) take steps to make delivery and adoptions more affordable and accessible, including adoption by gay couples – something even the pro-life governor of Arizona took steps to make easier – and then, once there are no more financial obstacles to having a baby – there was nothing in your post about childbirth more affordable and accessible – when the state has taken a more active interest in seeing those babies get to born – then, and then only then, you can stop using the word “abortion.” Deal?

They did a survey here in Ireland re reasons for choosing abortion and one couple said that this year they were having a holiday abroad so they chose that above the life of the baby. Maybe next year they said.

 

[PRmerger]

All of this is technically correct, but it doesn’t persuade anyone. It might be cathartic to say what you really think, but all you’re doing is guaranteeing the discussion gets hostile and goes nowhere.

Right.

The prochoice world would love us to get sidetracked into a discussion of semantics rather than being able to really get into the matter at hand.

 

[porthos11]

Let’s call it what it is: baby-killing. The fact that we use another word shows that we don’t really think of the two as morally equivalent. Murdering a baby x months before birth is no better than doing so x months after.

Wrong: She had an abortion.
Right: She killed her baby.

While we’re at it, let’s get rid of anti-life speech in general:

Wrong: They have 4 children and one on the way.
Right: They have 5 children.

Wrong: She miscarried/had a miscarriage.
Right: Her baby died.

Wrong: She is going to be a mother (said of a pregnant woman).
Right: She is a mother.

Wrong: God became man at Bethlehem.
Right: God became man at Nazareth.

Wrong: She’s 6 months pregnant.
Right: Her baby is minus (or negative) 3 months old.

You get the idea. We’ve all heard variations of these errors, maybe even made them. Let’s stop. When I was an atheist, I cited examples like these to “prove” that Christians didn’t really believe the pro-life idea. Don’t prove my pre-Christian self right.

Talk of the wrong hill to die on.

“Abortion”, “miscarriage”, “pregnant”, and “on the way”, are all terms that are definitively entrenched and accepted in current English usage, on both sides of the abortion fence. “She had an abortion” is a perfectly legitimate English statement of exactly what happened.

Six months pregnant is just that. Six months pregnant. Minus three months is just…weird.

Oh, and about Jesus becoming man at Bethlehem? Be sure to get in touch with the Fathers currently holding council at Constantinople. Make sure they get their Creed right. Because the rumour is they’re going to issue a statement that states Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. They should order the words properly.

And even today, I do not add nine months to the day I celebrate my birthday, despite being alive that long.

I will continue to use the term abortion to refer to an abortion, and not make an abortion of the English language to further one’s zeal.