Pro-life? Pro-choice? Pro-abortion? Anti-abortion?
How about “abortion rights advocate” and “abortion rights opponent“?
I am against this twisting of language. One, it’s unreadable. Two, it encourages a lie, since there is no such thing as a right to abortion or “abortion rights.” Oi ve.
by 
How about “fetal rights advocate” because the other terms phrase it always with respect to the woman. While the child is ignored, until we recognize that this “unborn” being is another person, we cannot overcome abortion. It is the final reason why abortion is and always will be wrong.
I like that! Abortion rights advocate versus fetal rights advocate!
I agree that there are too many words, too much is lost in verbal gymnastics… however I have a HUGE problem with the term “pro-choice”, since I consider myself to be a proponent of freedom and choice…just not when it comes to killing people.
There’s the rub, some things are just not a choice. And everyone knows it. (“Don’t want a slave! Just don’t buy one!”)
The verbal gymnastics are on the other side, though, since they are the ones trying to make death look and feel great! So I am not too vexed when I hear about the latest manifestation of this. They may end up doing themselves a disservice, the further they go. Vicki Saporta was using “abortion care” for a while and that did not exactly catch on like wildfire.
I don’t think there is ever such a thing as neutral language when it comes to journalism. Especially not in the abortion debate. And I especially resent attempts by editors to try to make their articles neutral. It is impossible to be unbiased, rather, I think journalists should use whatever damn term they want, and trust that their readers can sort through their rhetoric to figure out what position they are coming from.
And Julie, we aren’t fetal rights advocates. We advocate for the right to life for all humans, including embryos, fetuses, the disabled… The pro-choice side often complains that all we care about is the fetus, a claim that I find absurd, but whatever. We’re human life advocates.
Of course, if you frame the debate as one pitted between human life advocates and abortion rights advocates, which side are you going to pick? Which is exactly why language matters.