Reported in an online article (27.7.12) “Batman massacre' claims 13th victim” we read the tragic news that a pregnant woman had been shot in the horrific events that took place at the midnight screening of the Batman movie in Colorado, USA.  Whilst she is lucky to have survived, her unborn baby was not so lucky.

The opening sentences of this online article (and numerous others) read as follows:  “The Aurora Dark Knight shooting has tragically claimed a 13th victim after pregnant survivor Ashley Moser suffered a miscarriage.  Miss Moser was eight weeks pregnant when a gunman burst into a movie theatre in Colorado on Friday, July 20, killing 12 people and injuring 58 ...  ... While Miss Moser herself was badly injured after being shot in the abdomen and neck, her unborn baby had miraculously survived.  But a family statement has revealed Miss Moser, who remains critically injured, suffered a miscarriage after surgery today.”

Without for one minute wishing to detract from the sadness and tragedy of what has happened, it is always with dismay that we find that the value of an unborn baby in any given media article seems to hinge on the where the media wants our sympathy/empathy/sadness to fall.  If the article was about a woman wanting an abortion, or who had an abortion, the word ‘foetus’ would have been used!