Yesterday, about a thousand blogs noted an inconsistency in how the Associated Press described an unborn panda and an unborn child referring to the stillborn panda as a “baby” and the liveborn child as a “fetus.”
Looks like we caught the AP’s attention because they’ve subsequently reversed themselves. The panda story now says: “A 13-year-old giant panda gave birth to a cub at San Diego Zoo, but a second fetus died in the womb, officials said Wednesday,” while the story of Susan Torres’ baby now says: “A brain-dead woman who was kept alive for three months so she could deliver the child she was carrying was removed from life support Wednesday and died, a day after giving birth.” However, later in the story it still refers to the baby as a fetus.
Her family decided to keep her alive to give her fetus a chance. It became a race between the fetus’ development and the cancer that was ravaging the woman’s body.
Doctors said that Torres’ health was deteriorating and that the risk of harm to the fetus finally outweighed the benefits of extending the pregnancy.
