{"id":268148,"date":"2022-05-14T11:30:57","date_gmt":"2022-05-14T16:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=268148"},"modified":"2022-05-13T20:21:41","modified_gmt":"2022-05-14T01:21:41","slug":"pro-choice-caucus-language-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-choice-caucus-language-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Pro-Choice Caucus’ announces abortion language change, says ‘choice’ is now harmful"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The House Pro-Choice Caucus, a coalition of members of the House of Representatives dedicated to protecting and expanding access to abortion, has announced changes in the language used around abortion. In a memo sent to House Democrats and\u00a0obtained by Politico<\/a>, caucus members called for pro-abortion activists to stop using terms like “choice,” and to frame conscience protections for medical workers as the “denial of care.”<\/p>\n

Sarah Ferris, a congressional reporter for Politico, tweeted an image of the memo, which included a chart of phrases to ban, and the preferred substitutions. Instead of using the word “choice,” the “Pro-Choice” Caucus wants people to say “decision;” instead of advocating for abortion to be “safe, legal, and rare,” they want people to say “safe, legal, and accessible.” Furthermore, “conscience clauses” or “conscience protections,” which are laws designed to protect health care professionals who are morally opposed to abortion, should instead be called “refusal of care” or “denial of care” laws, according to the caucus.<\/p>\n

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Photo shared on Sarah Ferris’ Twitter page.<\/p><\/div>\n

Some of the verbiage immediately came under scorn, though House Democrats have already begun falling in line. In a recent protest, for example, they chanted<\/a>, “My body, my decision,” a change from the well-known “My body, my choice” phrasing that the abortion industry has used for so long.<\/p>\n

But as some\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0users pointed out, if the term “choice” is now harmful, then the very name of the caucus itself — the Pro-Choice Caucus — is harmful as well and would need to be changed. Others noted that the caucus seems to have taken direction specifically from Planned Parenthood, which previously called for abortion activists to stop using the word “choice”\u00a0last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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I assume the Pro Choice Caucus will soon be renamed the Pro Decision Caucus? <\/p>\n

If we're talking language changes, maybe just stop the euphemism game and name yourself the <\/p>\n

Pro Abortion Caucus. <\/p>\n

Or even more accurate would be the <\/p>\n

Pro Dismembering and Poisoning Children Caucus. https:\/\/t.co\/1iA3bMLfnG<\/a><\/p>\n

— Noah Brandt (@NoahBrandt_) May 12, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n