A post on the Abortion Gang blog earlier this week laments how the word “abortion” has come to be used as a slang term in pop culture.
The writer, Shayna, begins by saying:
It seems like every decade has its non-PC, misused term to indicate failure. The ’90s had “gay” and the ’00s had “retarded” and now it seems that ’10 is starting off this decade with “abortion,” as in “that movie was an abortion” or “you’re a failed abortion.”
It should go without saying that serious pro-lifers aren’t going to be keen on someone referring to someone else as a “failed abortion.” Making light of abortion in this manner is in horribly bad taste.
But Shayna’s objection to the trivialization of the word is different, for, she says, “‘abortion’ has always meant ending a pregnancy – and it is the only word for it.”
(As an aside: Abortion is hardly the only thing that brings an end to a pregnancy. So does a natural miscarriage. So too, does birth. Remember this the next time you’re in a conversation with a self-labeled pro-choicer who uses the non-specific and vague phrase “termination of pregnancy”.)
In other words, Shayna tells us, everyone knows what abortion is, and use of the word should be limited to its literal meaning, lest those who use it as a slang term “push abortion – and every reproductive justice activist, woman who has had an abortion, doctor who performs these procedures, and pro-choice politicians further out of the realm of mainstream acceptance.”
She then goes on to say:
We don’t need the word “abortion” to become more used unless it is used to describe a procedure to end a pregnancy. I would rather the term “abortion” remain spoken out loud only in the safe haven that clinics and select OB/GYN offices have become than be bastardized by those ignorant individuals prone to outrageous overstatement and exaggeration.
For years, pro-lifers have, with good reason, observed that certain segments of our opposition approach abortion with a pseudo-religious devotion.
And remarks like Shayna’s provide further evidence thereof, as the crux of her message is, essentially: Thou shalt not take the word “abortion” in vain.
