{"id":316406,"date":"2024-07-31T06:49:11","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T11:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=316406"},"modified":"2024-07-30T13:42:19","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T18:42:19","slug":"author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Author worried that describing miscarriage as ‘intrauterine death’ threatens abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Secular Pro-Life<\/a>) In 2023, Jessalyn Bohn wrote \u201cWhen Words Fail: \u2018Miscarriage,\u2019 Referential Ambiguity, and Psychological Harm<\/a>.\u201d She called for more precision and sensitivity when describing pregnancy loss.<\/p>\n

About a year later, Belinda Alievska wrote some reflections of Bohn\u2019s work: The Implications of Revising The Terminology of Pregnancy Loss<\/a>. Specifically Alievska worried that Bohn\u2019s proposed phrase \u201cintrauterine death\u201d has \u201cpotential to influence debates surrounding pregnancy amidst a highly charged political atmosphere.\u201d In particular, Alievska was concerned the phrase could \u201cfundamentally alter the public and political discourse surrounding abortion.\u201d She elaborated:<\/p>\n

Adopting terminology [for miscarriage] that emphasizes the loss of life, such as \u201cintrauterine death,\u201d could shift the perception of abortion from a medical procedure to an act with more profound moral and emotional weight.<\/p>\n

Belinda Alievska<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Further, Alievska observed:<\/p>\n

The term \u201cdeath\u201d is often reserved for the loss of life. We use the term death to speak of humans, pets and other animals, and other living entities (such as plants).<\/p>\n

Belinda Alievska<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s difficult to imagine an argument that explains why \u201cdeath\u201d could fairly describe the end of a plant\u2019s life but not an embryo\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Alievska noted, correctly, that Secular Pro-Life has referenced Bohn\u2019s work before<\/a>, although she may not be sure what precisely our point was when we did so. This is the passage from Bohn that I quoted:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the experience of losing one\u2019s child or delivering prematurely is traumatic on its own, those bereaved by intrauterine death suffer additional, mitigatable, psychological harm. Specifically, they often struggle with disenfranchised grief\u2013\u2018grief that persons experience when they incur a loss that is not or cannot be openly acknowledged, publicly mourned, or socially supported\u2019\u2013misplaced guilt, and shock at preterm delivery\u2019s physical reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessalyn Bohn<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I highlighted this quote to emphasize the phenomenon of loss parents feeling unsupported and silenced as we navigate our anguish. This is an extension of my prior discussion about how some more strident defenses of abortion involve gaslighting<\/a> loss parents<\/a> and minimizing<\/a> our<\/a> grief<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[Read more \u2013 Our cultural gaslighting of women who miscarry before 20 weeks<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n

And then Alievska wrote an article hesitating over whether society should clearly and sensitively acknowledge the losses that parents experience, because doing so risks undermining abortion rights.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s making my point for me.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was published at Secular Pro-Life<\/a> and is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

The DOJ put a pro-life grandmother in jail for protesting the killing of preborn children. Please take 30-seconds to TELL CONGRESS: STOP THE DOJ FROM TARGETING PRO-LIFE AMERICANS.<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Secular Pro-Life) In 2023, Jessalyn Bohn wrote \u201cWhen Words Fail: \u2018Miscarriage,\u2019 Referential Ambiguity, and Psychological Harm.\u201d She called for more precision and sensitivity when describing pregnancy loss. About a year later, Belinda Alievska wrote some reflections of Bohn\u2019s work: The Implications of Revising The Terminology of Pregnancy Loss. Specifically Alievska worried that Bohn\u2019s proposed phrase […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":619,"featured_media":187833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAuthor worried that describing miscarriage as 'intrauterine death' threatens abortion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The author says that portraying miscarriage as "death" could make people see abortion as an act with more of a "moral and emotional weight."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Author worried that describing miscarriage as 'intrauterine death' threatens abortion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The author says that portraying miscarriage as "death" could make people see abortion as an act with more of a "moral and emotional weight."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-31T11:49:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-30T18:42:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1129284797-miscarriage-pregnancy-loss-e1564967701187.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1197\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"570\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Monica Snyder\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Monica Snyder\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Monica Snyder\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/24eafb4cc86a18446a11b6f0093f8f99\"},\"headline\":\"Author worried that describing miscarriage as ‘intrauterine death’ threatens abortion\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-31T11:49:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-30T18:42:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/\"},\"wordCount\":433,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Guest Column\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/\",\"name\":\"Author worried that describing miscarriage as 'intrauterine death' threatens abortion\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-31T11:49:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-30T18:42:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"The author says that portraying miscarriage as \\\"death\\\" could make people see abortion as an act with more of a \\\"moral and emotional weight.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Author worried that describing miscarriage as ‘intrauterine death’ threatens abortion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/24eafb4cc86a18446a11b6f0093f8f99\",\"name\":\"Monica Snyder\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2fbbbe89cb1f22eeb5856a11108e56b1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2fbbbe89cb1f22eeb5856a11108e56b1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Monica Snyder\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/monica-snyder\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Author worried that describing miscarriage as 'intrauterine death' threatens abortion","description":"The author says that portraying miscarriage as \"death\" could make people see abortion as an act with more of a \"moral and emotional weight.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Author worried that describing miscarriage as 'intrauterine death' threatens abortion","og_description":"The author says that portraying miscarriage as \"death\" could make people see abortion as an act with more of a \"moral and emotional weight.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2024-07-31T11:49:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-07-30T18:42:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1197,"height":570,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1129284797-miscarriage-pregnancy-loss-e1564967701187.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Monica Snyder","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Monica Snyder","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/"},"author":{"name":"Monica Snyder","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/24eafb4cc86a18446a11b6f0093f8f99"},"headline":"Author worried that describing miscarriage as ‘intrauterine death’ threatens abortion","datePublished":"2024-07-31T11:49:11+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-30T18:42:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/"},"wordCount":433,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Guest Column"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/","name":"Author worried that describing miscarriage as 'intrauterine death' threatens abortion","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-07-31T11:49:11+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-30T18:42:19+00:00","description":"The author says that portraying miscarriage as \"death\" could make people see abortion as an act with more of a \"moral and emotional weight.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-worried-miscarriage-intrauterine-death-abortion\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Author worried that describing miscarriage as ‘intrauterine death’ threatens abortion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/24eafb4cc86a18446a11b6f0093f8f99","name":"Monica Snyder","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2fbbbe89cb1f22eeb5856a11108e56b1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2fbbbe89cb1f22eeb5856a11108e56b1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Monica Snyder"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/monica-snyder\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316406"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/619"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316407,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316406\/revisions\/316407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}