pro-life

[proh-lahyf]

adjective

opposed to legalized abortion; right-to-life.

Compare pro-choice.

Origin of pro-life

First recorded in 1960–65

Related formspro-lif·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pro-life

Contemporary Examples of pro-life

Some pro-life groups worry that they discourage women from staying pregnant altogether.
States Slap Pregnant Women With Harsher Jail Sentences
Emily Shire
December 12, 2014
He co-authored the amicus brief filed on behalf of 23 pro-life groups.
The Supreme Court Case Uniting Pro-Lifers & Pro-Choicers
Emily Shire
December 3, 2014
If you are pro-life in Missouri it means being so without deviation, Molendorp says.
Abortion in Missouri Is the Wait of a Lifetime
Justin Glawe
November 12, 2014
Capps, the pro-life volunteer, insists the new law gives women much-needed time to make a decision.
Abortion in Missouri Is the Wait of a Lifetime
Justin Glawe
November 12, 2014
Contraception is not abortion, and those who misunderstand this subject do harm to the pro-life cause.
Rand Paul’s Plan B for Pro-Life Critics
Olivia Nuzzi
October 5, 2014

British Dictionary definitions for pro-life

pro-life

adjective

(of an organization, pressure group, etc) supporting the right to life of the unborn; against abortion, experiments on embryos, etc

Derived Formspro-lifer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pro-life

adj.

"opposed to abortion," first attested 1976, from pro- + life. Hostile alternative anti-choice attested 1978 in Ms. magazine (see pro-choice).

What hypocrisy to call such anti-humanitarian people 'pro-life.' Call them what they are -- antichoice. ["Ms.," Oct. 8, 1978]