Photos, Words, and Physicians

Some who are interested in thwarting the anti-prenatal homicide movement, or, simply not interested in helping it will say that the words we use are not value-neutral, either at all or enough, that we are injecting bias into the discussion by the words we use. No doubt some words may go too far, but it does not follow that most words do. In fact, those who typically argue this way are generally begging the very question at hand. If abortion is homicide, what is the problem with using the term homicide to talk about it? I can think of none. But, for those who are still not convinced-- those who still think the words are too strong, I would ask: what about the photos of people who have been aborted? Are those too strong? If the language is a problem, we can always turn to the photos, and if the photos are a problem, we can always turn to the actual event-- the actual reality. 

When we do just that, we realize that many times our language is not strong enough. For photos, see this site. 

Most who argue that the language is too strong are not interested in looking at the photos either. Nor are they interested in watching the actual reality. In fact, they are not interested in the topic much at all, many times. But a lack of interest is not a refutation. Nor is it proof that the language used to describe these things is not appropriate. 

As one friend said about this site: the photos are graphic, but, so is homicide. I think the language, the photos, and the reality should, to a large degree, correspond or be proportionate to one another. That is what gives the photos and words validity-- that they do correspond to the reality and represent it fairly. That is not a problem with photos, though they do fall short to some degree of the actual reality, i.e., video footage may be closer, though still one step removed. It can be more of a problem with words, and, if anything, I would say that given what is actually happening, we need to make sure that we do not error on the side of watering down our words under the pressure of those who want to discredit or dismiss what we say without dealing directly with the evidence. Whenever someone points to your words on this topic, be careful that they are appropriate to the reality being discussed, but also point the person back to the reality itself, and, if not the reality, to photos of the reality. 

Physicians must be careful here---careful, on the one hand, to not go too far with the words they use, and, on the other, to not go far enough. When in doubt, go back to the actual reality, to video footage of that reality, or to photos of that reality. That will help to keep us properly grounded.