First off, thank you for the newsletters - I appreciate the effort that you put into these and have enjoyed the guests as well.
I am curious about your use of the phrases "unborn baby" and "unborn child" in this newsletter and another recent one. I am no longer current with the CP style guide, and couldn't find a copy of the CBC style guide (which I would believe you would be familiar with), but I would think that using a politically-charged and non-scientific euphemism for a fetus would not match their guidance - not that you are bound by either here.
I note that both phrases were used in the original reporting by CKPG and CBC, based off of communications from the RCMP - so potentially it was just the usage of the phrases that the police had used.
The usage struck out to me in both instances as the phrases are associated with anti-abortion language twisting. It is a tactic of anti-abortion and anti-women groups to use terms like "unborn child" instead of fetus to elicit an emotional reaction in people and sway them over to their opinions and ideologies. I don't believe that was your intent - and, as I said, I'm out of the loop with current guidelines, but it stuck out to me, so I thought I would ask you about it.
Once again, I really enjoy your work and appreciate the effort you have put into this.
I am using the language directly from the news copy.
That said, the guidance that advises writers to refer to fetuses rather than unborn children is specifically centered around coverage of abortions, not a blanket rule for how you must or should always write about pregnancy.
Hello Andrew.
First off, thank you for the newsletters - I appreciate the effort that you put into these and have enjoyed the guests as well.
I am curious about your use of the phrases "unborn baby" and "unborn child" in this newsletter and another recent one. I am no longer current with the CP style guide, and couldn't find a copy of the CBC style guide (which I would believe you would be familiar with), but I would think that using a politically-charged and non-scientific euphemism for a fetus would not match their guidance - not that you are bound by either here.
I note that both phrases were used in the original reporting by CKPG and CBC, based off of communications from the RCMP - so potentially it was just the usage of the phrases that the police had used.
The usage struck out to me in both instances as the phrases are associated with anti-abortion language twisting. It is a tactic of anti-abortion and anti-women groups to use terms like "unborn child" instead of fetus to elicit an emotional reaction in people and sway them over to their opinions and ideologies. I don't believe that was your intent - and, as I said, I'm out of the loop with current guidelines, but it stuck out to me, so I thought I would ask you about it.
Once again, I really enjoy your work and appreciate the effort you have put into this.
Thank you,
Tyler
I am using the language directly from the news copy.
That said, the guidance that advises writers to refer to fetuses rather than unborn children is specifically centered around coverage of abortions, not a blanket rule for how you must or should always write about pregnancy.
Thank you for the answer and explanation Andrew.