Baby vs. fetus: A question of morality, not ‘terminology’
Hot Air's Ed Morrissey highlighted this story earlier today about a 19-year-old high school student facing charges for concealing the death of a child she delivered in the school bathroom. Ed noted that the original source -- the Central PA Patriot-News -- used the term "fetus" in its story to describe the newborn, rather than refer to it as a human being.
The story's original headline reflected this mentality:
From the original story:
A 19-year-old McCaskey East High School student was charged with concealing the death of a child after she reportedly gave birth to a fetus that was found dead in a school bathroom Tuesday night.
Cherlie LaFleur, of the 300 block of North Marshall Street, was identified by police and school resource Officer David Shell after they reviewed school surveillance footage and conducted extensive interviews at the school where the male infant was apparently born prematurely Tuesday night, according to a Lancaster city police press release.
After giving birth in the bathroom, LaFleur allegedly tried to flush the infant down a toilet and, when that failed, she put it in a trash can, police said.
The graphic article garnered many comments from readers, making it one of the Patriot-News' most popular stories this week. But just like Ed, readers were quick to point out that a child born is much more than a "fetus."
By Friday afternoon, the news site updated the story to remove references to a "fetus", replacing the old story with this more accurately titled article:
Along with a new headline, the story featured this update:
This story has been changed from an earlier version to correct terminology.
Congratulations to Planned Parenthood and all the other abortion advocates out there who have been fighting for years to belittle the concept of humanity to just a "fetus" or a "clump of cells." Fortunately, not all of us are convinced by this word play and recognize life where it exists.
The evil of Kermit Gosnell isn't confined to his house of horrors. If this story teaches us anything, it's that a similarly cold and complacent attitude toward human life is becoming increasingly mainstream -- from the abortionist, to the media who cover it up and the pregnant teenager desperate to snuff it out. It's clear we are headed down a very dark path and terminology should be the least of our worries.
