The late Dr. Barnard Nathanson, abortionist turned pro-life activist, discussed how terms used to describe the unborn baby change based on whether they are a target for abortion or not. Obviously, no one throws “fetus” showers.
“We have moved into a gray world where we change our labels by intent. If the doctor wants to kill off [the unborn baby] (being sure to use the most deadly technique) then [the fetus] becomes an “abortus.” If he wants to preserve it, it is an “immature” or “premature.” In late abortions, if he wants it to die, the operation it is labeled a “hysterotomy”; if he wanted to live, it becomes a “cesarean section.”
Bernard N Nathanson, M.D. with Richard N Ostling. Aborting America (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1979)276
A hysterotomy, by the way, is a little used abortion procedure where the mother’s womb is cut open and the baby is removed and allowed to die from prematurity (or sometimes killed by direct action)
