Pro-life? Nah, they should be called pro-death.

The term "pro-life" is a great example of political framing, which means that the term is constructed that puts the beliefs in the best possible light; and in this case implies that the alternative viewpoint is "pro-death." It's a term that sounds as though its followers believe in the health and well-being of every living organism but in reality the majority are concerned only with fetal rights, and not with the health or rights of women.

Anti-choice, anti-women groups are almost always religious-based (each major religion has developed moral codes covering issues of sexuality, morality, ethics, etc. They want to control who can have sex, and when). These groups can either be single-issue, such as anti-abortion, or can be truly anti-choice, that is, wanting all contraception to be banned, even for married couples, no sexuality education, and probably no testing or treatments for STIs. A great many are completely anti-choice but don't want to alienate others who may be anti-abortion but not anti-choice.

As Pam Chamberlain and Jean Hardisty state in their article Reproducing Patriarchy: Reproductive Rights Under Siege "Sometimes the politcal "frame" promoted by the anti-aboriton movement is meant to deceive the public. For instance, the anti-abortion movement would have us believe that it is siimply anti-abortion; in reality, it is more broadly a movement that opposes reproductive rights, since it seeks not only to eradicate abortion, but to limit or prohibit other reproductive decisions by women. It is important for pro-choice activists to understand the larger agenda of the anti-abortion movement, and to see it for the broad-based attack on reproductive rights that it is." http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v14n1/ReproPatriach-01.html.

Pro-choice is also considered an example of political framing but I don't agree with that. What other name is there? "Pro-abortion" is too narrow (and I can't imagine many people liking medical procedures); "pro-reproductive justice" explains it fully (pro-choice being just one part of reproductive justice) but it is a bit lengthy.

"Pro-lifers" should really be called "pro-deathers:" they ignore the heatlh of the woman; indeed they often trivialize women by never mentioning their health or their rights, so that the emphasis in on the fetus, and so they don't look like what they really are, anti-woman. Since some pregnancies can end in death due either to complications or botched abortions, this is a descriptive term. Perhaps they could expend some of their energy on women's health - per Amnesty International, maternal mortality ratios have increased from 6.6 deaths per 100,000 lived births in 1987 to 13.3 deaths per 100,000 lived births in 2006. While some of the recorded increase is due to improved data collection, the fact remains that maternal mortality ratios have risen significantly. Although the US spends the most in healthcare, women in the US have a higher risk of dying of pregnancy-related complications than those in 40 other countries. For example, the likelihood of a woman dying in childbirth in the US is five times greater than in Greece, four times greater than in Germany, and three times greater than Spain. http://www.amnestyusa.org/demand-dignity/maternal-health-is-a-human-right/the-united-states/page.do?id=1351091.

But they would rather let women die.

Here's a more personal and recent case: in 2009 a pregnant woman was admitted to Catholic St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, suffering from pulmonary hypertension, which limits heart and lung function and can be fatal during pregnancy. Sister Margaret Mary McBride, the senior administrator, approved the abortion that saved the patient's life. She was automatically excommunicated for saving the woman's life, and was reassigned.

So I think that "pro-deathers" fits the bill.