Google Chrome Extension Changes 'Pro-Life' to 'Anti-Choice' for Legal-Abortion Proponents
Pro-choicers can now avoid looking at the words "pro-life" on the internet thanks to a new Google Chrome extension.
In a partnership with the National Institute for Reproductive Health Action Fund, an unnamed proponent of legal abortion created the extension program called "Choice Language," which automatically changes any reference of the phrase "pro-life" anywhere it is found on the internet to the term "anti-choice."
The extension is only available using the Google Chrome web browser. Not only does it change the the term "pro-life" in major news headlines, it also changes the wording of direct quotations.
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"Those who stand against a woman's right to decide what is best for her own body prop themselves up as righteous saviors using a problematic framework of rhetoric and religion," an online overview of the extension states. "The term 'pro-life' is inaccurate in this argument — although it is a powerful tool in the fight against women's health rights — as it serves to demonize individuals who are pro-choice by suggesting that in their support of a woman's right to choose what is best for her own life, they also advocate for death in some way."
"Tired of seeing the fraught term 'pro-life' used ubiquitously and incorrectly, we conceived of this extension to shift the language of the discussion towards a more accurate framework," the overview argues. "Using the language of pro-choice and anti-choice eliminates the sneaky and damning implications of a model built around 'pro-life' versus pro-choice language."
The overview further contends that changing the "pro-life" versus "pro-choice" argument to "pro-choice" versus "anti-choice" is a much more "accurate" depiction of the political debate around abortion because "pro-choice advocates are not anti-life."
"A conversation built on pro-choice versus anti-choice language is a more accurate one, and is one that does not vilify those who identify as anti-choice any further than their own actions would suggest," the overview continues.
Andrea Miller, the president of NIRH, told Think Progress that when this idea was brought to NIRH, they thought it was a wonderful idea because "language in this discussion really matters."
Miller took issue with how the term "pro-life" is used to describe legislation designed to restrict abortion.
"These laws are undermining the ability for people to make decisions about their family, their parenting, their health care, their future — and we believe that allowing people to make those decisions is about respecting their life," Miller said.
So far, Choice Language only has 491 users.
The prominent pro-life group Live Action responded to the program in a post to the website of its media arm stating that "changing language doesn't change reality."
"And, in fact, 'anti-abortion' would be a far more accurate term to use than 'anti-choice,' which utilizes a euphemism for abortion — proving that even when insulting pro-lifers, abortion advocates still can't seem to use the word 'abortion,'" the post on Live Action News states. "For NIR to decide to change language because they deem someone else's use of it as 'inaccurate' makes NIR into the language police. This isn't a silly pirate language extension — this feels like a step into Orwell's 1984."
Note: If you have the extension and are reading this article, all references to "anti-choice" above actually states, "p.r.o.-.l.i.f.e."
