The Associated Press Stylebook, a style and usage guide used by news organizations, forbade the use of the phrase “late-term abortion,” and many on social media found its decision to be politically motivated.
“Do not use the term ‘late-term abortion.’ The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists defines late term as 41 weeks through 41 weeks and 6 days of gestation, and abortion does not happen in this period,” the official account for the stylebook tweeted.
“Instead, use the term ‘abortion later in pregnancy’ if a general term is needed, but be aware that there are varying definitions of the time period involved,” the organization added. “Be specific when possible.”
Many lashed out at the AP for politicizing speech.
“‘Late-term abortion’ is too aggressive a way to describe stabbing a viable unborn baby in the heart with a needle containing potassium chloride & delivering its lifeless corpse. The absolute ghouls populating our elite class traffic in euphemism because they have nothing else,” read one response.
“Again definitions are being changed in blatant attempts to mitigate the horror of what ppl are actually doing,” read another reply.
“People are sensitive about abortion because, generally, they prefer to pretend it doesn’t involve killing a human. Much less a baby,” said another critic.
“Call it crushing a baby’s skull and tearing it limb from limb,” said another detractor.
The pro-life website LifeNews.org responded by criticizing the stylebook for relying on a group it considered left-wing.
“ACOG is a pro-abortion group. As a supposedly unbiased news source you shouldn’t rely on partisan groups to determine your terminology,” it tweeted and later added a link to prove its case.
The pro-abortion movement got a boost during the midterms when many states voted to codify abortion rights after the pivotal Dobbs Supreme Court decision overturned the rights granted in the Roe v. Wade ruling from 1973. Many on the left credit the response to the Dobbs decision as a reason the expected “red wave” of Republican victories didn’t materialize.
Here’s more about late-term abortion:
Debunking Late-Term Abortion Mythswww.youtube.com