LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - This might not end 'til the plus-sized lady sings.

A Los Angeles Times music critic who wrote that a Richard Strauss opera was "pro-life" -- meaning a celebration of life -- was stunned to pick up the paper and find his review changed by a literal-minded copy editor to read "anti-abortion."

Music critic Mark Swed said the copy editor was adhering to a strict Times policy banning the phrase "pro-life" as offensive to people who support abortion, and didn't seem to realize that the epic Strauss opera "Die Frau Ohne Schatten" had nothing to do with that politically charged issue.

"Its about children who aren't born yet screaming to be born -- not abortion," Swed said. "Somebody who didn't quite get it got a little bit too politically correct ... and we had a little breakdown in communications."

The Times ran a correction the following day, Feb. 25, irking Swed further because it suggested that the mistake was his. The paper then issued a second correction making clear that he was not responsible.

But the second note violated another Times policy -- this one against identifying the person at fault -- which prompted a memo from Jamie Gold, the paper's readers representative. That memo, which first surfaced on the L.A. Observed Web site, admonished reporters: "Corrections will not assign blame"