Church's Abortion Statement and the Last Paragraph

[smac97]

2 hours ago, Obehave said:

Easier to think of pro choice as pro abortion or pro death.

This may be an example of what is styled the "Euphemism Treadmill":

Quote

Frequently, over time, euphemisms themselves become taboo words, through the linguistic process of semantic change known as pejoration, which University of Oregon linguist Sharon Henderson Taylor dubbed the "euphemism cycle" in 1974,^[18] also frequently referred to as the "euphemism treadmill". For instance, toilet is an 18th-century euphemism, replacing the older euphemism house-of-office, which in turn replaced the even older euphemisms privy-house and bog-house.^[19] 
...
Another example in American English is the replacement of "colored people" with "Negro" (euphemism by foreign language), which itself came to be replaced by either "African American" or "Black".^[21]

Venereal disease, which associated shameful bacterial infection with a seemingly worthy ailment emanating from Venus the goddess of love, soon lost its deflective force in the post-classical education era, as "VD", which was replaced by the three-letter initialism "STD" (sexually transmitted disease); later, "STD" was replaced by "STI" (sexually transmitted infection).^[22] (This disease/infection is not the only one that is transmissible through sexual contact, so the terms STD and STI are also more general.)
...
Mentally disabled people were originally defined with words such as "morons" or "imbeciles", which then became commonly used insults. The medical diagnosis was changed to "mentally retarded", which morphed into a pejorative against those with mental disabilities. To avoid the negative connotations of their diagnoses, students who need accommodations because of such conditions are often labeled as "special needs" instead, although the word "special" has begun to crop up as a schoolyard insult.^{[24][better source needed]} As of August 2013, the Social Security Administration replaced the term "mental retardation" with "intellectual disability".^[25] Since 2012, that change in terminology has been adopted by the National Institutes of Health and the medical industry at large.^[26] There are numerous disability-related euphemisms that have negative connotations.

I think we are better off letting each side choose their principal identifier, as ideological opponents are not really in a position to objectively/fairly formulate such a designation.

I have no particular qualm with being described as "anti-abortion," nor do I think "pro abortion" is problematic.  But "Pro Life" and "Pro Choice" seem to be the most stable euphemisms.  I propose we just stick with them, at least as far as capitalized designations. 

Thanks,

-Smac

[CV75]

4 hours ago, Calm said:

What if they believe abortions protect life more than they harm it (the benefit to lives of the born vs the lives of the unborn)?  Not wanting to get into an argument about that belief as that would be a repeat so won’t be responding to any challenges or other comments on that, but just wondering if this Church position is open to personal interpretation like some others are (tithing jumps to mind).

I don't think the Church polices beliefs until they are expressed in behavior and ways that warrant discipline. We sometimes have disconnects between the member and their ecclesiastical leaders on what constitutes "disciplinable" action, and I believe there are enough checks and balances to resolve the vast majority of those kinds of situations. The most important and powerful check and balance, in my opinion, is the gift and companionship of the Holy Ghost. Once a member, or leaders start getting angry about a topic, and justifying their anger more than accessing the Lord to sue for peace, it is time for them to recalibrate. The basic, private religious observances help us do that.

[The Nehor]

3 hours ago, teddyaware said:

The only way there could possibly be any “wiggle room” in the last sentence is if it would have been worded as follows: 

“As states work to enact laws related to abortion, Church members may appropriately choose to participate in efforts to protect life or advocate for the right to abortion.”

They could believe that criminalizing abortion is likely to cause more overall death amongst both mothers and the unborn.

[Chum]

3 hours ago, bluebell said:

But I also got from it that the church did not define "these" in my statement above but purposefully left it vague so that we each must define it for ourselves. 

This describes what I expect (and usually get) from Church communication. In this case the vagueness didn't extend to the topics themselves. What we're free to do is advocate for those causes.