The big announcement that Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge and the wife of Great Britain’s Prince William, was pregnant came with much fanfare last December. Almost instantly, headlines around the world heralded the news of the “royal baby.” Congratulatory messages poured in from high-ranking government officials and celebrities. #Royalbaby was trending on Twitter within minutes of the news breaking. There’s even a “Baby Watch” app available for download.
People should rejoice. Babies are a blessing, and it’s a delight to see a young couple like Prince William and Kate Middleton excitedly anticipating the birth of their child. Television networks from around the world have descended upon England and are standing by on “Royal Baby Watch.”
Did you get that?
Baby watch.
What strikes me is that the very same media rarely, if ever use the term “baby” when talking about tough issues like abortion. While the AP’s headline read “US Reacts with Joy to Royal Baby News,” it reports on abortion bills by discussing whether the “fetus” feels pain or not. The New
York Times, in an article about the Kermit Gosnell conviction, went as far as to refer to babies who had been born alive, and were therefore infants, as “fetuses.”
Is the logic that when the pregnancy is wanted we say “baby” and when it’s allegedly unwanted or attached to the abortion debate we say “fetus”?
You and I know it’s a baby in either case.
And whether or not they say so, the media does, too.
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