Excuse me for breaking the silence with another rather lame post, but I am going to take a moment to touch on a personal defense. The American Prospect’s weblog is kind enough to keep regular tabs on me and has chosen a winner for the unofficial silliest-thing-Kathryn-Lopez-ever-said award. Now, I have said my share of silly things, but this one belongs nowhere near the top of the list. What I said was that I wished the word “abortion” weren’t part of the partial-birth-abortion debate–because when people hear the word “abortion,” they tune out. Most people already have settled opinions on abortion, but the procedure the Senate voted to abolish today is closer to clear-cut infanticide than to abortion–and should be opposed even by those who consider themselves “pro-choice” on abortion in general (indeed, many pro-choicers do oppose partial-birth abortion). Okay: The guys at The American Prospect read my post and concluded that because I don’t like the word “abortion” in this context, I must be unaware that it was not Democrats or the media but pro-lifers themselves who coined the phrase “partial-birth abortion”; which means that I’m either an ignoramus or an opportunistic hack. Truth is: I have always disagreed with referring to what’s an infanticide as an abortion. I have myself used the phrase “partial-birth abortion” over the years, because this has become the common way to refer to this practice. Should I reproach myself for this? Maybe. But on the issue of linguistic correctness, I think I have less to answer for than people who can look at a child halfway out of the womb being killed, and observe coolly that the phrase “partial birth abortion” has (Tapped’s words) “no medical meaning whatsoever.” I guess it depends on what the meaning of “medical” is.