From WWW.FOXNEWS.COM
The Associated Press announced this week it doesn’t find terms like “fetal heartbeat” and “late-term abortion” to be journalistically acceptable, leaving pro-life advocates outraged at what they view as another example of institutional bias on the issue.
The news agency announced Tuesday, “a new entry has been added to the stylebook” in what the company calls the “abortion topical guide.” Regarding fetal heartbeat bills and six-week abortion bans, the AP told reporters to avoid the phrases, saying, “The terms are overly broad and misleading given the disagreement over details, such as what constitutes a heartbeat at varying gestational ages.”
The international wire service has a vast reach, noting that “more than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.” Additionally, the AP style guide instructs journalists around the industry on phrases to use and avoid, making any of its language choices notable.
The guide continued, “Advanced technology can detect a flickering as early as six weeks, when the embryo isn’t yet a fetus, and it has only begun forming a rudimentary heart. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists [ACOG] says it is not accurate to call that a heartbeat. Use the term cardiac activity instead.”
Journalists are instructed to call attention to anti-abortion efforts in states by putting them in quotation marks: “If quoting someone using the terms ‘fetal heartbeat bill,’ ‘heartbeat bill’ and ‘six-week abortion ban,’ enclose the terms in quotation marks and provide explanation.”
The AP is promoting its changes, tweeting out the new language on its @APStylebook account.
Dr. Christina Francis, CEO-Elect for the American Association of Pro Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists (AAPLOG), told Fox News Digital the AP’s reliance on the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is flawed: “ACOG only denies the existence of the embryonic heart when it inconveniences the pro-abortion agenda.”… (Read more)
