Tag Archives: Super Bowl Ad

I thought I had written on the terms "pro-life" and "anti-abortion" before, but there were a few posts that got "lost" when I changed web hosts.  I'll end up writing again, because I do not self-identify as "pro-life", but prefer the term "anti-abortion".

I read an article at "GetReligion.org" about a couple of news stories:

This one is from "Newsbusters":

Christianity Today Favors 'Anti-abortion' Over 'Pro-life' Label?

Evangelical magazine Christianity Today is using the term "anti-abortion," rather than "pro-life," to refer to a CatholicVote.com ad which NBC has refused to air during the Super Bowl. (h/t @pdavidy8)

The term "anti-abortion" isn't used by reporter Sarah Pulliam in the body of her article posted at CTliveblog, but it is used in her January 30 article's headline -- Anti-Abortion Super Bowl Ad Rejected by NBC -- on the magazine's Twitter page (see screencap at right).

By using "anti-abortion" in its headline, Christianity Today appears to be following the lead of the Associated Press. The AP calls for the term "anti-abortion instead of pro-life and abortion rights instead of pro-abortion or pro-choice" in its Stylebook. AP goes further and frowns on the term "abortionist," saying it "connotes a person who performs clandestine abortions," so a reporter should "use a term such as abortion doctor or abortion practitioner," it counsels.

The gist of the story seems to be saying that "Christianity Today" magazine prefers one label over the other.  The reality is that the ad being spoke of is not "pro-life" in general, but is specific to the abortion issue.  Thus, if CT generally uses "pro-life", but for this specific, anti-abortion ad, uses "anti-abortion", it doesn't mean that they prefer the label in general, only that it is more accurate for that particular ad.

Here is the CT story in question.

I think that this is a "not a story", but rather a commentary  on how groups "self-describe".

I self-describe as "anti-abortion".  I also make a distinction between those more general "pro-choice" folks and those who have never seen an abortion that they did not support (pro-abortion).

For example:  Roe v. Wade is "pro-choice".  FOCA is pro-abortion.