pro-life and pro-choice

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Two terms that co-exist as a pair of very uneasy bedfellows in the depiction of the opposing sides of the abortion debate. Like many such terms - for instance the unrepentently right-wing 'Freedom Association' - both are wilfully disingenuous and grossly euphemistic. Pro-life, a term coined in America in the early 1970s, means in fact anti-abortion; the term is carefully crafted to place the moral onus on those who favour abortions, who are thus smeared as "pro-death". A synonym, equally weighted, is "right to life". Pro-choice, coined in response, conversely, means pro abortion. Once again there are moral overtones: supporters claim the right to choosing whether or not to abort the foetus, but the underlying assumption is that the choice they make will invariably be yes.