AP Stylebook Goes to Bat for Dems on ‘Pregnant People’ Having Abortions

AP Stylebook Goes to Bat for Dems on ‘Pregnant People’ Having Abortions

It never fails to amaze me how often dictionary publishers alter their definitions of certain words and the Associated Press Stylebook updates their guidance on the use of certain terminology whenever Democrats are on the ropes, have made themselves look foolish, and need an assist.

For instance, in September 2020 after several months of violent looting and rioting in Democrat-run cities by Antifa/BLM-led “protesters,” the AP changed their guidelines to suggest the use of the word “riots” was incorrect when referring to the Black Lives Matter riots, claiming “riots” had “been used in the past to stigmatize broad swaths of people.”

Instead, they recommended terms like “unrest,” “revolt,” and “uprising” to describe “protests” and “demonstrations” that they acknowledged “can be legal or illegal, organized or spontaneous, peaceful or violent, and involve any number of people.”

Conveniently, just a few months earlier as the George Floyd riots and looting sprees were just beginning to take place, a reminder was posted about how it was important to “limit” the use of the word “looting” because it supposedly carried “racial overtones” with it:

Feels like a good time to post AP’s guidance on the word looting: pic.twitter.com/hjxQWbSYAx

— Kimberlee Kruesi (@kkruesi) May 31, 2020

In April 2013 under then-President Obama’s administration and at a time when illegal immigrants were pouring over our southern border like Niagara Falls, the Associated Press banned the use of the term “illegal immigrant” in their reporting:

The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term 「illegal immigrant」 or the use of 「illegal」 to describe a person. Instead, it tells users that 「illegal」 should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally.

[…]

illegal immigration Entering or residing in a country in violation of civil or criminal law. Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant. Acceptable variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission.

Except in direct quotations, do not use the terms illegal alien, an illegal, illegals or undocumented.

And right on cue, just two days after the story that recently broke about the Supreme Court leak regarding the draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito in which he declared that “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” the AP has made some style changes to how they refer to pregnant women:

New AP style guidance alert: pic.twitter.com/bCYr8KExr2

— Kimberlee Kruesi (@kkruesi) May 4, 2022

There was also this from earlier this week:

Use the modifiers anti-abortion or abortion-rights; don't use pro-life, pro-choice or pro-abortion unless they are in quotes or proper names.
Avoid the term abortionist, which connotes a person who performs clandestine abortions.

— APStylebook (@APStylebook) May 3, 2022

None of this is coincidental, of course.

At first glance on the “pregnant people” guidelines, some might think “well, this is the right approach to differentiate stories specific to women born women versus stories specific to transgender men and ‘binary people.'” But what happens when these stories intersect, which is often the case? You better believe they’ll use “pregnant people” as the default because they want to appear inclusive and woke, regardless of how in doing so it helps erase women from the public discourse over time.

And as for stories specific to pregnant transgender men, why not just refer to them as “pregnant transgender men” instead of “pregnant people”? Perhaps because even the Associated Press knows how ridiculous that will sound (even more so than “pregnant people”) to the average reader of their news reporting, most of whom know that actual men cannot bear children. That will lead to a number of uncomfortable questions and comments from readers that they don’t want to answer. Case in point:

Well. Time to mute this.

— Kimberlee Kruesi (@kkruesi) May 5, 2022

Relatedly, the Associated Press’ virtue signaling about “pregnant people” comes at a time when many Democratic “leaders” have conveniently re-embraced the use of the word “woman” to describe women, while others like California Gov. Gavin Newsom apparently have forgotten the absurd and unscientific talking point about how men can get pregnant:

If men could get pregnant, this wouldn’t even be a conversation.

This decision isn’t about strengthening families – it’s about extremism. It’s about control.

We will fight for the right to choose. pic.twitter.com/Yky1Q3RNqJ

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 4, 2022

On the other hand, some female members of the party that like to proclaim they are defenders and protectors of women have chosen to be complete sellouts to their gender with the use of words like “birthing bodies”:

Birthing bodies have the right to freedom.

Deciding if or when to become a parent is one of the most personal, life-changing decisions. Access to abortion & reproductive care is a decision we must trust each person to make based on what’s best for their health & their future.

— Rep. Francesca Hong 홍윤정 (@StateRepHong) May 3, 2022

Oh well. At least she didn’t refer to them as “bodies with vaginas” or “bleeders” as other supposedly “progressive” women have.

All of this is gaslighting in the extreme, which the hard left was getting away with as recently as a couple of years ago but not anymore as the cultural shifts in this country are favoring conservatives. Also, an increasing number of people are refusing to be gaslit and are more frequently calling this stuff out on social media (“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling comes to mind as one example) and bringing it to the attention of people who otherwise might look away.

In response to the news of the AP revising its guidelines on how to refer to pregnant women, one frustrated Twitter user had the following suggestion:

It is time for news publishers with integrity (and common sense, eg @wsj) to abandon the AP Style Guide

— Mike Moss (@_MikeMoss) May 5, 2022

Endorsed.

— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —

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