Pro-Lexicon "Pro-life," "pro-abortion," "anti-life," and "abortionist" are all terms coined by the people we like to think of as: pro-poverty, pro-unwanted-children, pro-subjugation-of-women, and pro-white-male-supremacy. The use of language is a very powerful weapon, it not only reflects a culture, it can reinforce its beliefs and values. The "war of words" is a major part of the anti-choicers' public relations battle against a woman's right to choose. When anti-choicers use the term "pro-life," they are trying to imply that to be pro-choice is to be "anti-life." In fact, it's the other way around - to be pro-choice is to be in favour of women having children when they're ready, which is almost a guarantee that the child - and the woman - will have a better quality of life. The reason we call them anti-choice (and not pro-life or anti-abortion), is to emphasize the fact that they do not recognize the full range of legal choices available to women. (Calling anti-choicers "anti-abortion" isn’t entirely accurate either, since the word "abortion" can refer both to natural and medically-induced processes. Thus, to be anti-abortion would also imply being anti-miscarriage.) Anti-choicers are constantly trying to assert their moral superiority through the use of emotionally loaded words. By using the term "pro-abortion," they imply that women are being coerced into terminating their pregnancies, without considering all the options. This simply isn't true. Counsellors in clinics have always helped women grapple with the reality of all available options. Reflecting this, counsellors in abortion clinics are not "abortion counsellors," but "pregnancy options counsellors." The term "abortionist" was coined by anti-choicers to categorize and dehumanize abortion providers. In fact, there is no such thing as an "abortionist." Doctors are not titled by the operations they perform - for instance, there is no such thing as a "tonsilectomist," an "appendectomist," or a "hysterectomist." Anti-choicers often refer to women who have had an abortion as "aborted women." This is bad English, and bad logic. Foetuses can be aborted - but women carrying foetuses cannot be aborted. The word "abortion" refers to the expulsion of the foetus, and by definition, an "aborted woman" would be a woman who was never born. For women who are genuinely pro-choice, and not savvy to word-politics, commonly used anti-choice terms can actually seem benign upon first impression. But as we become more aware of the words we use, we realize that language is a powerful tool for anti-choicers to colour abortion in the public's eye.
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