pro-life

this term is preferred by men and women who oppose abortion; pro-life stances range from rejecting abortion for any reason whatsoever and also opposing birth control to favoring birth control and accepting abortion as a possibility in a few narrowly delimited instances. Most pro-life individuals are one-issue-oriented (abortion only) while some define "pro-life" by a spectrum of concerns (death penalty, poverty and justice, global peace). Newspapers prefer "anti-abortion" because "pro-life" implies others are anti-life; it also focuses on the group's principal objective: although some people in the movement may be dedicated to other issues, all pro-life individuals oppose abortion. "Pro-lifer" is derogatory. One of the problems not yet defused by the pro-life movement is that "those most obsessed with saving it also oppose doing anything for this 'person' once it becomes a real person in need of food, clothing, shelter, education and health care. In nine months it goes from being a 'miracle of life' to a 'welfare cheat'" (Marie Alena Castle, "Fertility Worship: Alive and Well and Turning Primitive Beliefs Into Law," The Moral Atheist, 2011). The terms "pro-life" and "pro-choice" have been problematic. They are best replaced by "anti-abortion" and "reproductive rights." See also abortion, abortionist, anti-choice, fetus, reproductive rights.