[Ads-l] re-antedating of "pro-life"

[James Eric Lawson]

Contemporary use (of 'pro-life') _retains_ the sense of "opposition to
birth control", and generally "adherence to a broad Catholic agenda",
whether or not Catholicism is explicitly linked to the use (either by
the user of the term, or in the broader understanding of the use), along
with the now most prominent sense of "anti-abortion". The term has
always, when used in the context of the politics of sexuality, been used
as 'big tent' coverage of a range of beliefs, as is evident from the
covert expression of some of those beliefs amid the obvious continuing
devaluation of, for example, the lives of pregnant people.

Viz. contemporary 'pro-life' legislation criminalizing abortion without
regard or exception for any threat to the lives and well-being of
pregnant people.

This is to say that 'pro-life' has always and continues to be an
expression of patriarchal antipathy toward a _set_ of beliefs concerning
'proper' sexuality. As soon as Roe falls, the hordes of antipathetic
patriarchal beliefs now spilling willy-nilly from the wings will stomp
jackbooted and shouting onto the 'pro-life' stage.

On 6/6/22 11:05, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
> Bill's suggestion is a good one, although the complexity of explaining the anti-sexuality / anti-feminism precursor of "pro-life" might make the OED reluctant to include it even with square brackets.
> 
> Fred Shapiro
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Bill Mullins <amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Monday, June 6, 2022 10:31 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: re-antedating of "pro-life"
> 
>>  I believe that in the 1969 Cleveland Plain Dealer citation, "pro-life" does not have the specific
>>  meaning of "anti-abortion," rather it refers to opposition to birth control or to adherence to a
>>  broad Catholic agenda on sexuality.
>>
>>  Fred Shapiro
> 
> Perhaps.  But even so, I think this Catholic-specific meaning was important in the growth of the anti-abortion meaning, and should possibly be considered as a [bracketed] cite, and is worth documenting.
> 

-- 
James Eric Lawson

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