Associated Press Announces Style Guide Change for Use of ‘Pregnant People’
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The Associated Press announced this week a style guide change for using the term “pregnant people.”
The announcement comes as the political media world deals with news that the Supreme Court may very well overturn Roe v. Wade in the coming weeks or months, and gender identity remains a hot-button issue for some.
“Phrasing like pregnant people or people seeking an abortion seeks to include people who have those experiences but do not identify as women, such as transgender men and nonbinary people,” read the style guide alert, issued on Wednesday. “Such phrasing should be confined to stories that specifically address the experiences of people who do not identify as women.”
New AP style guidance alert: pic.twitter.com/bCYr8KExr2
— Kimberlee Kruesi (@kkruesi) May 4, 2022
On Twitter, at least one verified user praised the change.
“This is a good approach. Regardless of where you fall on the issue itself, it makes sense to confine the more inclusive language to stories where it is relevant to the subject matter and not just all the time because 15 people in America are pregnant and don’t identify as women,” tweeted podcaster Noam Blum.
This is a good approach. Regardless of where you fall on the issue itself, it makes sense to confine the more inclusive language to stories where it is relevant to the subject matter and not just all the time because 15 people in America are pregnant and don’t identify as women. https://t.co/Ic76fGMx0e
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) May 4, 2022
Meanwhile, other, more conservative, Twitter users predictably mocked the style change.
LMAO at the AP trying to explain why when it’s writing about abortion, the story is about women, but when it’s writing about transgenderism, the story is about pregnant people https://t.co/iUgLEbsX3o
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 5, 2022
The idiots who run the @AP style guide are anti-human and anti-woman. https://t.co/5NAZzzDvLr
— Dan Gainor (@dangainor) May 5, 2022
New Democratic Party instructions alert: https://t.co/g7wd7KodFG
— Joe Gabriel Simonson (@SaysSimonson) May 5, 2022
Same agency that shared a building with Hamas puts out this crap https://t.co/xHO15QZXlG
— Logan Ratick (@Logan_Ratick) May 5, 2022
What in tarnation https://t.co/l8cQqgr4lU
— Kassy Dillon (@KassyDillon) May 5, 2022
so am i allowed to have an opinion on abortion or not? because I’m getting mixed messages this week. https://t.co/YVze9HNaso
— Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) May 4, 2022
Not great timing for the “women’s rights” crusaders https://t.co/dOsDMLs4XR
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) May 4, 2022
This is why I do not have my editors and writers conform to new AP style guidance/manuals https://t.co/SdK9QPd5cm
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) May 5, 2022
Frantically trying to reel back the crazy. https://t.co/5gtJDtwjkY
— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) May 4, 2022
Any guidance on “fucking crazy leftists” or “delusional nuts”? https://t.co/aXIhKT9KSu
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) May 5, 2022
The clown show continues https://t.co/Y3DZq6VDv0 pic.twitter.com/15dnyxVHAZ
— Paul Zeise (@PaulZeise) May 5, 2022
maybe i’m not grasping the second part, but anyone who can get pregnant is affected by stories about reproductive issues. it makes zero sense to be inaccurate and exclusionary in the bulk of this coverage. https://t.co/Dzlco5E1r9
— georgia geen (@georgia_geen) May 4, 2022
AP style has gone from abbreviations and commas to redefining reality. The whole point of this profession is that WORDS MEAN THINGS! Language isn’t about being inclusive – language is about being accurate. If we no longer have a common understanding of language, we’re doomed. https://t.co/A0dLPtercV
— Cody Derespina (@CDerespina) May 5, 2022
Not all the criticism was from the right, though.
the phrasing most certainly should not be confined to stories that specifically address the experiences of trans and nonbinary people. that’s asinine. that’s not iclusive. that’s a carve-out.
when writing about repro health care writ large, you need to be FULLY INCLUSIVE. https://t.co/YNkLgrsRGH
— ⚓️Imani Two-Kitchens Gandy⚓️ (@AngryBlackLady) May 5, 2022
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