-
SEQUESTER: The Horror!
March 1, 2013 | 4 comments
-
SOTU Preview: Human Props, Budget Fights, and Wedge Issues
February 12, 2013 | 0 comments
-
Hello, I Must Be Going
August 14, 2012 | 18 comments
-
Weekend Political Wrap-Up, Paul Ryan Edition
August 12, 2012 | 16 comments
-
Esquire Blogger Sees Paul Ryan, Shreds His Safety Net
August 11, 2012 | 13 comments
The Spectacle Blog
I have an op-ed in today’s Politico on the decline and fall of the pro-life Democrat. Which, according to their house style is rendered “anti-abortion Democrat.” Support for legal abortion is described as “abortion rights.”
My first experience with such style guides was as a college freshman in an intro-level journalism class. Our professor, who was also a working journalist, preferred the use of “anti-abortion” in the place of “pro-life” but wanted supporters of legal abortion called “pro-choice.” I argued, unsuccessfully of course, that allowing one side to choose what it will be called but denying that choice to the other sides of the debate was inherently biased.
In my own writing, while I do at times describe people as “pro-abortion,” I tend to use “pro-life” as the label for my side of the debate and “pro-choice” for the other side. Which happens to be what advocates on both sides call themselves.
Dai Alanye| 4.14.10 @ 2:06PM
There is an error in the address of this site—nrg instead of org.
WM| 4.14.10 @ 2:39PM
Politico is correct in their choice of terminology, because compound terms should reflect their meaning, not the whims and arbitrary desires of partisans. Anti-abortionists are not "pro-life." To be pro-life, you must respect an actual person's right to take action in furtherance of their own lives. It is not for you to decide what actions an individual must take to support his or her life across all their years.
To be anti-abortion is to advocate sacrificing the rights of a woman over her own body for the sake of an unformed, unconscious fetus. It is an attempt to force a woman to be an involuntary incubator for a non-person. You are therefore anti-life not pro-life, because the life implicit in the term is that of actual human beings, not non-persons. Calling a fetus a human being or person does not make it so. You are attempting to enslave a person to a non-person, so you are anti (human) life.
And the correct term for the opposing position is pro-choice or pro-abortion rights, not pro-abortion, because what is being advocated is the right to take action, not necessarily the action itself.
Jacobse | 4.14.10 @ 4:46PM
Three labored paragraphs to pretend that human beings don't really have human offspring. What really happens at birth? Spontaneous generation? No wonder you do back-flips to deny the meaning of "pro-life."
scott| 4.14.10 @ 5:24PM
Three responses for WM
Response 1) The title Pro-life comes from "we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are LIFE, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" . The baby in the womb is alive and therefore has life which ought not be taken away. It matters not one wit whether the baby in the womb meets some philosophically convenient and ever changing definition of 'person'. The baby never gets the ability to raise counterpoints to the argument and is stuck with the worst ends of the results.
Response 2) Individuals can rightly chose to call themselves pro-life if they are against the killing of a baby that has a chance, however slim, of surviving on his/her own outside the womb.
Individuals can further claim the title pro-life if they rightly recognize that baby in the womb as nothing more or less than a human in it's early stages. Killing the baby is killing a human. The baby isn't a fully functioning adult, but biologically it is human.
Response 3) Pregnancy, which is normally an effect of a voluntary cause, is temporary while death is permanent. Contrary to popular spin those who are Pro-Life are very much Pro-Life birth to death. This is born out in adoption statistics, and are quite staggering when you consider both the costs involved and all of the legal requirements. This suggests that it is far better for a woman to go through 10 months of a temporary situation, and have the biological father engaged at least financially, and then turn the baby over for adoption rather then solving a temporary issue with the ultimately permanent solution of killing the baby.
Pingback| 4.14.10 @ 5:28PM
How To Find The Best Prices For DSL Internet | Online Green Home Business links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.14.10 @ 7:53PM
The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Pro-Choice of Words | Calling Card Pro links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.14.10 @ 8:08PM
Does anyone know what this bird is? ( Ohio)? links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.14.10 @ 9:41PM
The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Pro-Choice of Words Tools links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.15.10 @ 1:03AM
Cool Tips To Design Your Garden In A Mexican Style links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.15.10 @ 6:29AM
sport fishing florida | Fly Fishing Tips | Fishing Leisure Knowledge links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.15.10 @ 11:58AM
What is the difference between paper mario and super paper mario? links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.16.10 @ 7:45PM
sea world san diego_sea animals_sea world san antonio_sea temperature_sea world orlan links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.17.10 @ 2:11PM
Gillani: Jaffer touted links :The Longtail Music Catalog links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.22.10 @ 4:50PM
What is the difference between paper mario and super paper mario? links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 5.8.10 @ 10:57PM
What is the difference between paper mario and super paper mario? links to this page. Here’s an excerpt: