Thus it should come as no surprise that Gerson describes the compromise negotiated with Sen. Ben. Nelson (D-NB) on the heatlh care reform bill, as promoting "abortion on demand."

Even though Nelson, a rare pro-life Democrat, joked in an interview that he might be considered a "cheap date," Republican leadership staffers in the Senate thought he might insist on language in the health-care bill preventing public funds from going to insurance plans that cover abortion on demand, as Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak had done in the House. [emphasis added]

Although Gerson matter of factly inserts the phrase into his prose -- in fact, there is no such thing as "abortion on demand" -- and there never has been. While the Roe decision legalizing abortion gives women the right to choose to seek and to obtain abortion care, no one is obliged to provide it. Not even abortion providers.  While women are obliged to consult with a physician; doctors are not obliged to provide the abortion. It might not be medically advisable or perhaps they have some other reason (not that they even need one.)  Thus one can demand an abortion all one wants, but there is no law that requires anyone to provide it.

For most women, whether or not to terminate or carry a pregnancy to term is a considered decision, and many religious traditions believe it is a moral choice to make. And in any case, under the law, it is a mattter of individual conscience, and as a practical matter, it is none of the business of theocratic wannabes -- although they continue to try to make it their business.  By the same token, abortion providers are dedicated physicians and as competant and compassionate as any others. They make considered decisions as to whether or not to provide an abortion for any given patient all the time.

So why then, would Gerson use the phrase "abortion on demand," when the word "abortion" would have sufficed?  It is because "abortion on demand" is a phrase of stigmatization; a highly-charged term of propaganda that suggests that women who choose to terminate a pregnancy are doing so thoughtlessly and recklessly and without regard for moral considerations. An additional connotation of the phrase is that abortion is a commerical product or service that has more in common with, say, the take-out window at a fast food restaurant than health care.  (This is also why anti-abortion propagandists use the phrase "abortion industry" to suggest that abortion providers are just greedy bastards in it for the money. Even when many abortion providers work for non-profit health care providers such as Planned Parenthood.) There are a lot of interconnected antiabortion themes buried in the framing of the right to seek and to receive abortion as "abortion on demand."  

While it is important to be aware of such loaded language and the propagandistic intentions of people like Gerson, we should also be aware that Religious Right-driven anti-abortionism can infect our own lexicon. In fact, it has been creeping into mainstream Democratic Party discourse -- as indicated, for example by the terms "abortion reduction" regarding the goals of alleged common ground approaches to abortion policy; and by "abortion neutral" in reference to the Obama administration efforts to extend the principles of the historic anti-abortion Hyde Amendment to health care reform.

Such phrases can serve as the proverbial canary in the coal mine regarding trends in politics and policy.  It is good to keep an open ear out for them.