The New York Times spent months debating before deciding not to ban the term “illegal immigrant” entirely (it’s simply discouraged), but the word “fetus” is used without any alarm. At the top of page A-14 on Wednesday is the headline “Suing to End Life Support for Woman and Fetus.”
It’s an update on the sad story of Marlise Munoz, who is on life support and whose family wants her and her baby removed from life support. The F-bomb (to pro-life people) was dropped three times in the Manny Fernandez story, in addition to the headline:
Nearly two months later, the battle over Ms. Muñoz; her fetus, which is in its 21st week; and an obscure Texas law symbolizing the state's anti-abortion culture has attracted international attention.
....a number of religious leaders and opponents of abortion have commended the hospital for trying to keep the fetus alive long enough to perform a cesarean-section delivery, arguing that the hospital had two patients to treat.
...Illustrating the situation’s complexity, Mr. Muñoz’s lawyers argued that his wife was legally and clinically dead, but they also accused the hospital of violating her constitutionally protected rights. Under the 14th Amendment, Ms. Muñoz has a right to make medical decisions about her own body, even if those decisions affect her fetus, the lawyers said.
As might be expected, the Times had no actual space for quotes from “opponents of abortion.”
On the next page [A-15], Times reporter Lizette Alvarez told the story of Republican David Jolly winning a Republican primary for the U.S. House seat of deceased Rep. Bill Young. Jolly "won the endorsement of National Right to Life, an anti-abortion group."
Jolly "must now turn his attention to a formidable Democratic opponent, Ms. [Alex] Sink," who amassed a million-dollar treasury and "will benefit from the largess of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and women's groups." She was also lauded as "Pragmatic and flashing her bona fides as a businesswoman."
In fact, Sink is endorsed by EMILY's List, an earnest backer of only Democrats who love the freedom to abort in all trimesters.
Alvarez and her editors are incredibly sneaky in treating the two ardently opposed sides as the "anti-abortion" candidate vs. the "pragmatic" candidate backed by "women's groups."
Earlier: Bozell column demands a ban on the word "fetus" in news accounts as "demeaning of human life"
