Thirty years later . . .

An article in the September issue of U.S. Catholic reports that after more than 30 years of stalemate, some on both sides of the abortion debate are ready to put down their signs and start trying to work together.

After more than three decades of legal abortion in the United States, neither public opinion nor the rate of abortions has changed significantly, causing people in both movements to think about focusing on more universally accepted ways to build a culture of life in this country.

Hillary Clinton—a staunch supporter of abortion rights—spoke last year about working with the prolife movement to realize a common goal of fewer abortions. On the same day, President George W. Bush called for the same thing, “seeking common ground where possible.”
[Benedictine Sister Adrienne Kaufmann] believes that dialogue is not just a feel-good activity or political sound bite; it is the most productive outlet for the prolife movement.

“To reduce or end abortion, prolife people need to get into dialogue with pro-choice people about things in this society they both care about, and work together to change them,” she says. “They have a lot more in common than they believe or imagine, but it’s submerged below this pool of enemy rhetoric. Instead they need to drop the rhetoric, look at ways to pool their energies, and make progress that way.”

The entire article is available here.