The AP Stylebook: Don’t Call Them 'Late-Term Abortions!'

[HARK!]

The AP Stylebook has now ventured into the political hot potato that is abortion, and is seeking to obfuscate the practice of late-term abortion by instructing journalists not to use the term at all in favor of “abortion later in pregnancy.”

The AP Stylebook: Don’t Call Them 'Late-Term Abortions!'

George Orwell warned us about how the manipulation of language could be used to control people, and we are now seeing how dictionary publishers and the Associated Press Stylebook have been making Orwe...

pjmedia.com

 

[iluvatar5150]

From the “article”:

For starters, late-term abortion is not a standardized medical term, but has traditionally meant abortions performed at 24 weeks (late second trimester) or later in pregnancy—when an unborn baby is typically viable outside the womb. So, the AP Stylebook is trying to move the goalposts on the definition of late-term abortion.

So, it’s not a standardized term, but they’re still somehow trying to shift the goalposts by making it less confusing and harder to conflate with an actual term used by doctors? Is that about it?

How do you move the goalposts on something that isn’t standardized in the first place? “Moving the goalposts” doesn’t even make sense in this context.

Is there really nothing substantive out in the world for you to complain about? You have to start threads fueled by a bunch of smooth brain outrage mill nonsense?

 

[Pommer]

From the “article”:


So, it’s not a standardized term, but they’re still somehow trying to shift the goalposts by making it less confusing and harder to conflate with an actual term used by doctors? Is that about it?

How do you move the goalposts on something that isn’t standardized in the first place? “Moving the goalposts” doesn’t even make sense in this context.

Is there really nothing substantive out in the world for you to complain about? You have to start a bunch of threads fueled by a bunch of smooth brain outrage mill nonsense?

“Things change” is anathema to the Conservative mind.
Be that is it may, she has a good point, if the term isn’t “late term abortion” then people might get the idea that the only post 24-week terminations happen in cases where it is medically necessary (to remove a dead or non-viable fetus) or to save the life of the woman.

 

[Tuur]

The AP has a long history of this sort of thing. It's subtle spin through word choice. Oddly, style guides usually seem to address things like punctuation and grammar, not specific terms.

 

[KCfromNC]

I'm impressed at the attempt to complain about others using questionable phrasing in an article which itself uses "unborn baby".

 

[HARK!]

I'm impressed at the attempt to complain about others using questionable phrasing in an article which itself uses "unborn baby".

Questionable?

STDs during Pregnancy - CDC Basic Fact Sheet - Centers for Disease ...​

www.cdc.gov/std/pregnancy/stdfact-pregnancy.htm
Yes. Testing and treating pregnant women for STDs is a vital way to prevent serious health complications to both mother and baby that may otherwise happen with infection. The sooner you begin receiving medical care during pregnancy, the better the health outcomes will be for you and your unborn baby.

Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies | FDA​

www.fda.gov/food/people-risk-foodborne-illness/food-safety-pregnant-women-and-their-unborn-babies
Food Safety Booklet for Pregnant Women, Their Unborn Babies, and Children Under Five This booklet is designed to provide practical guidance on how to reduce your risk of foodborne illness....