As opposed to the force of the decision, which is significant, the text of Anthony Kennedy's dry Gonzales v. Cahart opinion is noteworthy only in that it refers to the victim of a partial-birth abortion as "a child." In abortionese, a fetus is a child only when outside of the mother. But, if the baby fetus is being forcibly held in the birth canal, even if all but the baby's fetus's head, is outside, then the baby is merely a fetus. Justice Kennedy, apparently, made a faux pas in his use of English instead of abortionese, a tongue in which abortions become "medical miscarriages," babies "fetuses," abortionists "women's health providers," and terminating life a "reproductive" right. (And I suppose I have committed my own faux pas in my use of the possessive to refer to the fetus's head; it's the woman's body, not the fetus's, right?)

And Kennedy didn't just offend on that memorable "baby" count. He had the gall to call a partial-birth abortion by its name. Why? "A description of the prohibited abortion procedure demonstrates the rationale for the congressional enactment," Kennedy explains. "The Act proscribes a method of abortion in which a fetus is killed just inches before completion of the birth process." Put another way, a child is partially delivered and then aborted, i.e., a partial-birth abortion has occured.

Kennedy's indelicate use of language incensed Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a fluent speaker of high abortionese. Surrounding partial-birth abortion with scare-quotes, the Clinton apointee sniffs that the term is "neither recognized in the medical literature nor used by physicians who perform second-trimester abortions." But the truth is, as Justice Thomas pointed out in his dissent in the initial Stenberg v. Carhart case, "When the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995 was introduced in Congress, the term 'dilation and extraction' did not appear in any medical dictionary." "Throughout, the opinion refers to obstetrician-gynecologists and surgeons who perform abortions not by the titles of their medical specialties, but by the pejorative label 'abortion doctor,'" Ginsburg notes of Kennedy's opinion in disbelief. "A fetus is described as an 'unborn child,' and as a 'baby,'; second-trimester, previability abortions are referred to as 'late-term,'; and the reasoned medical judgments of highly trained doctors are dismissed as 'preferences' motivated by 'mere convenience.'" It's not that Kennedy mislabelled anything that has angered Ginsburg; it's that he's got it right.

Using appropriate terms, rather ones cleansed of any meaning, is crucial in the abortion debate. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, perhaps more so than anyone on the court, recognizes the importance of language. Unfortunately, this leads her to misuse and abuse the English language.

Excellent post, Dan.

http://impactglassman.blogspot.com/2007/01/hand-waving-physics-of-911.html