Semantic Victory
I think this is BIG.
Sad that it's big news for a respected journalism outlet to do the right thing after doing the wrong thing for so long, but still, BIG.
Here’s the story abstract from (FishbowlLA) NPR Stops Using 'Pro-Life' and 'Pro-Choice' Terms NPR's managing editor David Sweeney sent a memo about language relating to abortion: "On the air, we should use 'abortion rights supporter(s)/advocate(s)' and 'abortion rights opponent(s)' or derivations thereof (for example: 'advocates of abortion rights'). It is acceptable to use the phrase 'anti-abortion', but do not use the term 'pro-abortion rights.'"
If truth is the first casualty of war, language is surely second. Abortion rights opponents long ago won a big battle when they got the media to call them "pro-life," insinuating that abortion rights advocates are both pro-abortion (really, do you know anyone who is "pro-abortion"?), and "anti-life."
Soon after, they turned a sturdy, medically-reliable phrase, "late term abortion" into the more sensational and visual "partial birth abortion." That seemingly small change charged the legislative arena and made it very difficult for mothers-to be to make a difficult, medically-sound choice, whether their own lives were at risk, or if they discovered belatedly that they were carrying a profoundly damaged child.
So semantics matter. It’s another in the laundry list of examples that show the conservative right is simply more disciplined and better prepared than the left where persuasion and perception are concerned. Thank pollster/linguist Frank Luntz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Luntz for that.