Daily Texan Student Reporter Uses 'Pro-abortion' Label in Story; Editors Scrub Term After Uproar
A reporter for The Daily Texan, the student newspaper for the University of Texas, got it right when calling abortion supporters what they are – “pro-abortion” – five times in an article about a counter-demonstration held during the annual pro-life Texas Rally for Life on January 24.
The term even made the article’s headline.
But she infuriated those who support abortion but who strangely aren’t proud of it. Complaints poured in:
- “First, someone who supports reproductive rights and access to abortion is not ‘pro-abortion.’”
- “The ‘pro-abortion’ label is completely inaccurate…. [O]ne can be personally opposed to abortion for themselves while still being comfortable supporting another person to make that choice for her own body.”
- “I just saw our paper’s “news” article about the pro-choice rally that was held on Saturday…. No one at that rally was pro abortion.”
- ”I found that the title ‘Pro-abortion rally draws support…’ to be inappropriate. I am a pro-choice person, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I am pro-abortion.”
- “I was horrified to see today’s headline at the top of The Daily Texan…. I find this headline to be insulting and embarrassing, not just to your paper but to those of us on campus who call ourselves pro-choice. To be clear, there is no such thing as a ‘pro-abortion’ group. No one is pro-abortion. To characterize the pro-choice movement in such a way is to demonize those involved….”
Seems to me they doth protest a tad too much. What other supposed constitutional right are supporters so uncomfortable with?
At any rate, the headline and terminology were quickly removed from the online story….
… and replaced with “abortion rights.” The only evidence remaining is the hard copy of the newspaper, snapshot above.
I certainly didn’t mind that the story’s author labeled us as “anti-abortion.” It is the fair counterpart to “pro-abortion.” And I’m proud of it. But it was overused a bit…
But the newspaper’s real bias was making a protest by 200 abortion supporters a front page story, while that which they were protesting – a pro-life rally with 4,000 in attendance, was only mentioned at the end, after a warning to watch out, they could be violent.
Further, the author totally misrepresented why the pro-lifers gathered in the first place. It wasn’t “to protest Texas Judge R. H. Wallace Jr.’s order to take pregnant and brain-dead Marlise Munoz off life support.” To be sure, pro-lifers opposed Wallace’s decision, but the Texas Rally for Life is an annual event.
[HT and photos via Jill's Wilberforce mentee Rachel Bush, a pro-life leader at UT]
No comments:
Post a Comment