David Mills, over at Mere Comments, reminds us of a very important principle in this illuminating post: that it matters how we say what we say. If words are units of thought, then the word choices one makes presumably reflect particular ideas.
He cites two Associated Press articles from August 3, 2005.
"A 13-year-old giant panda gave birth to a cub at San Diego Zoo, but a second
baby died in the womb, officials said Wednesday."--Associated Press, Aug. 3
"A cancer-ravaged woman robbed of consciousness by a stroke has given birth after being kept on life support for three months to give her fetus extra time to develop."--Associated Press, Aug. 3
A number of years ago, I read the book by Dr. Jean Garton called Who Broke the Baby? It opened my eyes to the importance of the language we choose to employ, particularly in controversial debates.
So am I pro-life or anti-abortion? Actually, I am both. But being pro-life includes so much more than just being opposed to abortion. Is it a fetus or a baby? It's both, but to exclusively use the word "fetus" for a pre-born child when the common parlance would be to call it a baby (as the panda story demonstrates) is to reflect a certain bias.
This is also why we should call the process of baby-making procreation rather than reproduction. The first term suggests the miracle of life, that a man and a woman participate in God's creation of a new human being. The second term is about production. A baby is a product. It brings to mind assembly lines and heavy industry.
Sphere: Related Content
