heartbeats: A term to be avoided or criticized in discussions of abortion.

rare: Fine if used in reference to abortions late in pregnancy, forbidden in reference to school shootings.

late-term abortion: In recent years, we have been advised by supporters of the thing to quit using the phrase. Consult the ACOG website to see if the guidance has changed.

unborn child: A tricky one. Normally to be put in quotation marks in the context of abortion. In October, we ran an article saying, “Trump guidance could go further, to say that EMTALA requires hospitals to treat the ‘unborn child’ as a patient and to take measures to save its life.” But in certain other contexts no quotation marks are needed. See last week’s article, “Undocumented Women Ask: Will My Unborn Child Be a Citizen?” The term may also be used without quotation marks to describe the fears of pregnant women in Gaza. Consult your editors if you have any questions!