A little media criticism

I read this headline and lede from a NBC news feed:

ABORTION RIGHTS BACKERS GET ASSURANCES

The White House scrambles to assuage liberal groups that Judge Sonia Sotomayor agrees with Obama's belief in protections for women's right to choose.

Now, at first read, nothing seems amiss. Pretty straightforward, yeah?
But at second look I saw what frustrates me most about the abortion debate and the biased language media often use.

"...protections for women's right to choose."

The reporter of this article has taken a position whether he or she knows it or not. The language speaks of abortion as a right to be protected. By labeling abortion as a woman's right, the reporter makes those against abortion look like the bad guys. After all, we Americans have always been fiercely protective of our rights and demonize anyone who would take them away.

But for those against abortion, the debate has never been about a woman's right to choose--it is about a child's right to live (and that right is in the Declaration of Independence). For them, abortion is no more a right than is genocide. You wouldn't say it's a mother's right to murder her 4-year-old son, would you?

People on both sides of the abortion debate use euphemisms to make their side sound better and the other side worse. The label "pro-choice" makes abortion supporters sound like the noble protector of rights, while at the same time implying the other side is full of women oppressors. The label "pro-life" makes the anti-abortion crowd sound like saviors, while implying the others side is full of murderers.

Both labels are unhelpful. The anti-abortion crowd doesn't see abortion as an issue of women's rights. The pro-abortion crowd doesn't believe a fetus is a legitimate life, so they don't see abortion as murder. A false dichotomy is created with these labels. You're either for rights or you're for life. There is no reason you should have to choose between those fundamental concepts.

The debate truly is about when life begins, not about women's rights. The debate will move nowhere while both sides continued to miscategorize one another. And reporters need to be more careful with their language.