Over the last two weeks, I’ve written a fair amount about abortion jurisprudence and policy. A significant share of the criticism I’ve received concerns a few terms I’ve used. Here I will explain why I will continue to use them.

“Abortionist.” I typically use this term rather than “abortion provider” because a) it means the same thing, b) it’s more succinct, and c) it is neutral where the use of “provider” seems to me like a transparent attempt to brighten the image of people who perform abortions. The term is sometimes used by people who are not against abortion (e.g., here and here).


“Unborn child.” The use of “child” to refer to a human organism in utero goes back to the beginnings of the term. What distinguishes these particular children as a class from other children as a class is that they have not been born; hence the descriptor.

“Baby.” The term is in near-universal use to describe unborn children. People who support liberal abortion laws typically use it themselves when describing human fetuses that are not slated for abortion.

“Late-term abortion.” See here for an attempt to argue that this term should not be used as it has no precise and agreed-upon medical definition. The absurdity of this attempt can be captured by noting that the author describes a prohibition on abortion at 22 weeks’ gestation as a “later abortion ban” while inveighing against the use of the phrase “late-term abortion ban.” There are occasions on which it is necessary to be more precise, and for example refer to “abortions after 22 weeks’ gestation” or to “abortions in the second or third trimester,” or to make clear that references in an article to “late-term abortions” should be understood to have some meaning of that kind. But very often the phrase can be used accurately and without much explanation: E.g., “The new abortion statute in New York protects a right to abortions, even late-term abortions.” That statement is, sadly, true for any time range that might be conjured by “late-term.”

Nobody should be intimidated out of using any of these terms, however unhelpful they may be to partisans of unrestricted and subsidized abortion.

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