Month: July 2014

. . . and I can use it!

contraception

■ noun the use of artificial methods or other techniques to prevent pregnancy.

contraceptive

■ adjective serving to prevent pregnancy.
▶ relating to contraception.
■ noun a contraceptive device or drug.

abortifacient /əˌbɔːtɪˈfeɪʃ(ə)nt/ Medicine

■ adjective (of a drug) causing abortion.

■ noun an abortifacient drug.

abortion

■ noun

1 the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy.

Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).

There, that wasn’t so hard!

It can easily been understood from the above that contraception is not abortion. The former prevents pregnancy, the latter terminates it.

So, in light of all the furor over the Hobby Lobby victory in the US Supreme Court, one must wonder if those who protest do not have dictionaries, or choose to ignore what they define.

Could it be, that the professionally shrill cannot fathom the loss of a government-mandated entitlement, even if that entitlement required the violation of a business owners’ religious beliefs and consciences?

Could it be, that no one else is aware of Hobby Lobby’s continuation of providing contraceptive coverage to employees?

Could it be, to inflate the indignation of the imaginary oppressed,  that misinformation is circulated about this court decision by deliberately conflating these two very different words?

Or could it be there is a shortage of dictionaries, or just a shortage of honesty?