The term "abuse" in this description is both confused and confusing. Websites are trying to meter out a public resource, which is something they're unable to do

The term "abuse" in this description is both confused and confusing. Websites are trying to meter out a public resource, which is something they're unable to do by themselves. Cloudflare is offering to help them, for a fee. Once the practice is metered, it isn't abuse anymore. It's just using the public service, which the website owner deliberately operates.