Liberals Have Made Abortion Concessions, Now Conservatives Must Give Ground Too

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Who's President Obama kidding? A fair-minded abortion debate? Nice of him to suggest it over the weekend. But this is not a new concept.

Remember the Common Ground movement? Here's a link to an article from the 2000 campaign in which then-Vice President Al Gore said he saw hope in the Common Ground Movement, formed well over a decade ago to bring the two sides together on the abortion debate.

Seems like ever since, no progress has been made toward ending the abortion wars, but the two sides have been driven farther apart.

"Let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions. Let's reduce unintended pregnancies. Let's make adoption more available. Let's provide care and support for women who do carry their child to term," Obama told the crowd of 12,000 at a huge athletic facility.

These are good ideas, but they are not new ideas. The Left has made great concessions: abandoning any semblance of seeking abortion on demand, acceding to all sorts of limits on abortion rights in the 37 years since Roe v. Wade became law. Now it's the Right's turn: Stop referring to abortion as "baby-killing" and use of Plan B and other contraceptives as "murder." Maybe then we could see some real progress on this issue.

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By Bonnie Erbe