Reviewing NPR's Language For Covering Abortion

The debate over abortion rights is emotionally charged. The language NPR uses to discuss the issue should not add to the drama.

This principle applies, of course, to any number of topics in the news that NPR covers. But the legal battle over the right to an abortion is particularly fraught, and the language used to discuss it has become a key tactical weapon used by both sides as they seek to tap into those emotions.

For months we have heard concerns from NPR listeners and readers on both sides of the issue, and they continue to come in as the legislative and legal challenges to abortion are in the news. The complaints are flip sides of a coin. We get complaints that NPR is using the language of "the other side" (whatever the other side is, depending on the affiliation of the letter writer) and thus giving the other side an advantage. An example: a recent letter from a New Hampshire listener noted that NPR had referred to pregnant women as mothers. He called that "a politically loaded term, since a pregnant woman is not a mother until she gives birth."

Conversely, we get complaints that NPRusing the emotionally charged language that proponents of one side or the other prefer. The main example: We regularly hear from those who say they are "pro-life" and wonder why NPR won't give them the respect of calling them by their preferred label (NPR's policy is not to use "pro-life" or "pro-choice;" more on that below). Some on this side argue that it's not just a matter of respect; that by taking the emotion out of the debate it's also taking the side of those who favor legalized abortion.