CBSNews.com Adopts Abortion Terminology

506872If not for the Virginia Tech tragedy, the top story on CBSNews.com right now would likely be the decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. People on opposite sides of contentious issues like this often use certain terminology to try to frame the debate – see the "death tax" vs. "estate tax" argument. In this case, some, including President Bush, prefer the phrase "partial birth abortion," while others favor "late term abortion."

In covering the story, CBSNews.com has decided to go with this phrasing whenever possible: "what the law calls a partial birth abortion."

CBSNews.com Editorial Director (and sometime PE poster) Dick Meyer explained why.

"Both 'late term abortion' and 'partial birth abortion' are now phrases that signify a position, so we will use this phrasing though it is cumbersome," wrote Meyer in an email.