What’s the newest and most absurd field of battle in the never-ending fight over abortion in America? The word “abortion” itself, apparently, as now Rep. Kathleen Rice, a Democrat from New York, is claiming that the word has been “weaponized” by the right and needs to be done away with.
That comment of Rep. Rice’s came during a Tuesday House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. Rep. Rice was responding to Dr. Christina Francis, and started complaining, saying that she’s tired of hearing “abortion” used as a pejorative and thus that a new word needs to be used, as “abortion” puts the killing of fetuses in a negative light.
Dr. Francis is an Indiana-based OB/GYN who also is chairman of the board of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG)
Watch the spat between Rep. Rice and Dr. Francis here:
Democrat Rep. Kathleen Rice insists we need to “stop using” the word “abortion” when talking about abortion because it raises negative emotions pic.twitter.com/ENBbU9YHed
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 19, 2022
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As you can hear in the hearing, Rep. Rice attacked Dr. Francis for her use of the term “abortion” and called for an end of the use of the “weaponized” term, saying:
“[My niece] sees these issues, in her 16-year-old mind, as smart as she is, as a healthcare issue.
“And all I hear is a bunch of conversations where the word, ‘abortion, abortion, abortion’ is meant as a negative term. And Dr. Francis, you just said one of the benefits of Roe [being overturned], in your mind, is that we can now have a ‘robust conversation’ about this issue.
“I would suggest that you stop throwing the word ‘abortion’ around, because you think it’s one that is going to raise the emotions above having a reasonable conversation, and a word that has been weaponized, in my opinion, by certain people in this country.
“Because if we’re going to have a real conversation about this, we have to stop using language that is, you know, going to prevent an actual meaningful conversation from happening.”
Ignored in that ridiculous comment is the idea that perhaps it’s not the word that’s the problem, but the procedure itself. People who are against “abortion” because they view it as infanticide will almost certainly be against it whatever it’s called.
Further, if anything it is the continued use of euphemisms and words that sanitize what’s really going on with abortions that infuriates many conservatives; terminology like “pregnancy intervention” or some other highly sanitized phrase is infuriating to many who view it as nothing less than “murder.”
So while Rep. Rice, wants to talk about “abortions” for her niece and her niece’s generation, saying that they are “the first generation of young women in this country who are going to have fewer rights than the women who came before them,” perhaps she should think through if she really wants a different term used. If that’s what happens, many will just start saying “infanticide” or “murder.”
Presumably, that’s not what Rice wants, so maybe the word “abortion” isn’t the best fight for her to pick.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Facebook and Subscribe to My Email List
