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FIRST-PERSON: The media’s inconsistent logic on abortion


UPDATE: The university originally referenced in the first paragraph when this column was posted 4/29/13 has been corrected to Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania.

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) — The Seton Hill University woman’s lacrosse team was involved in a bus accident in March. The bus driver and head coach for the Pennsylvania university were killed, and many players were injured. This is a horrific event for the families of the deceased, the injured and the university community. Our hearts go out to them and prayers go up for them. May God sustain them through the pain

The news reporting of this accident caught my attention. The two large, local newspapers in my area reported coach Kristina Quigley, who was pregnant, was killed — along with her “unborn son” (San Francisco Chronicle) or “unborn child” (San Jose Mercury News). Ms. Quigley was about six months pregnant. Multiple other Internet news sources reported two people were killed in the accident – referring only to the driver and the coach without mentioning the child

The media, who largely support abortion on demand, don’t know exactly how to handle the death of an unborn son/child/fetus. They can’t really report it as another “person” killed in the accident — which would be inconsistent with their position that abortion doesn’t really take a life, just eliminates tissue. By reporting the “unborn” as a “son” or “child,” they seem to be actually acknowledging that some “one,” not some “thing,” actually died in the accident.

Confusing!

Many who support abortion would argue a fetus this developed is, of course, a child. They would reject late-term abortions as outside what should be “on demand.” But that raises the inevitable question, “how late in the term?” Which day, exactly, does tissue turn into a child? The only answer that makes sense to me is the day he or she is conceived.

When an unborn child dies in an accident, the media, most people (and probably most abortionists) call it a tragedy. If this woman had aborted the child a few weeks earlier, the same people would have called it a choice.

Tragedy or choice — it can’t be both.
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Jeff Iorg is president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif. This column first appeared at his website, JeffIorg.com. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress ) and in your email ( baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).