What We Say (and Don’t Say) to Pregnant Women

It’s one thing to be anti-abortion and another to be just plain stupid.

When we learn that a woman is pregnant, do we congratulate her on her baby?  If this is to be her first child, do we think of her as a parent?

I sure don’t, because I understand the concept of a miscarriage, and, more generally, the difference between something that has already happened vs. some future event.

If we ask a young person what she wants to do when she enters the work force and she says “a veterinarian,” we might say “Oh, that’s great,” but it would be inappropriate to congratulate her for something that may or may not happen in the future.