Did Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson really say that he plans to change the classification of a pre-born human being from "fetus" to "child"? That was the implication in most news reports on his decision to allow states "to provide healthcare insurance coverage under the State Children's Health Insurance Program to pregnant women for their children who are not yet born."

The story by Alan Cooperman and Amy Goldstein in the Washington Post was titled, "HHS Proposes Insurance for Fetuses." The headline on the story by Amy Fagan for the rival Washington Times proclaimed, "Health Care Proposal Calls Fetus a Child."

Little wonder this news touched off cheers and sneers from those on opposite ends of the abortion debate. The commentary in the broadcast and print media has been non-stop ever since.

Stop! Hold the presses! Hit those remotes! Go back and read the news release issued by the HHS press office on Jan. 31, 2002. The word "fetus" wasn't mentioned. This is a non-issue. All Tommy Thompson said is that he would "clarify the definition of 'child' under the SCHIP program." In other words, he will state the obvious.

The hyperbole from the National Organization for Women was typical: "'Today George W. Bush took yet another step toward reversing women's right to abortion under Roe vs. Wade,' said NOW President Kim Gandy, responding to Bush's' decision to allow states to classify a fetus as an 'unborn child.'"

Earth to Ms. Gandy: A fetus is an unborn child in the later stages of a pregnancy. Of course, she knows that! Fetus is a medical term that the pro-abortion movement adopted to make pre-born children seem unattractive and less than human. It's not a pretty word. It doesn't roll off the tongue. Gandy and her friends in the abortion industry sold it to the media by reinforcing its use. That's why reporters put it in their stories. That's why reporters were aghast at the Thompson pronouncement. "He didn't use the 'F' word! He should have used the 'F' word. Something is missing. Something is wrong!"

The only thing that is missing here is common sense. In Journalism 101, reporters are taught to use plain, everyday language. We do that with every other issue. When writing or reporting a story about someone, who had a coronary infarction, you say, "He had a heart attack."

Doctors have no trouble making the connection to real life. They use "fetus" for convenience when discussing a pre-born of that particular gestational age in medical schools and in the labs. However, when discussing a pre-born with her mother, they talk about her "baby." The words are one and the same. They are interchangeable. There is no practical difference.

The words also have been interchangeable at the Department of Health and Human Services. If you run a word search, you will see the word "baby" and "child" used for the pre-born in press releases, congressional testimony, law and speeches by department personnel.

Pro-abortion advocates have asserted that this is the first time that a federal program has attempted to define childhood as beginning before birth. Untrue! As early as 1941, the Bureau of Public Assistance determined that unborn children could be covered under the Social Security act of 1935. In 1972, that operating policy was placed in the Code of Federal Regulations and, according to Secretary Thompson, today, the option to include unborn children is still available to the states.

Consider these recent statements given by another Health and Human Services secretary:

For children, early interventions must begin even before birth. That is why our child health programs integrate growth and development services from pre-conception to childhood, beginning with our efforts to prevent one of the worst preventable public health tragedies, infant mortality.

– Donna E. Shalala, April 18, 1997
Testimony before the Senate Labor Committee

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This information offers a roadmap for future prevention efforts: It tells us that the love that an expectant mother feels for her unborn child is a powerful motivator to stop using drugs.

– Donna E. Shalala, Sept. 12, 1995
Woodrow Wilson High School
Washington, D.C.

Medical experts, lawyers and government health officials know there is no practical distinction that one can make between the Latin word "fetus" and the English word "baby." They are one and the same.

Abortion providers and their mouthpieces in the feminist movement use the word fetus to confuse us and protect their profits. We use it to hide from the truth and protect our consciences.