Straight Talk on Abortion

66% of Americans said when it comes to abortion policy we need to seek a middle

ground.  So what might that middle ground
look like?

Very few things raise blood pressure faster than talking
about abortion.  Trying to find common
ground on the topic may seem foolhardy to many yet there are some pretty
interesting signs that the times may be changing.

For starters a recent Pew Survey noted that
66% of Americans said when it comes to abortion policy we need to seek a middle
ground.  So what might that middle ground
look like?

Here we need to get past the stale rhetoric of the past.  The irony is that in the 1990s the largest decline
in the rate of abortion and the number of abortions since Roe v. Wade took
place under a pro-choice president. 
Likewise, under a pro-life president the significant decline in these
statistics has stopped.  If you don’t
believe me check out the data from the Guttmacher
Institute and the Centers for
Disease Control.

I believe that one of the reasons abortion declined in the Clinton
years was because there was real wage growth, poverty declined, and employment
grew at record rates.  Likewise the
economic policies of the Bush administration have increased the economic
pressures on a lot of women who faced unplanned pregnancies as poverty has
grown significantly.  If you want to
reduce abortion, recent history would suggest you work to reduce poverty.

Democrats are getting this. 
Speeches by John Kerry, Bob Casey, and Hillary Clinton, to name a few,
show that Democrats are interested in finding middle ground where people of
good will across the political spectrum can come together to reduce unwanted
pregnancies and hence abortions.  Add to
that the 95/10 legislation and you see some Democrats are trying to provide
solutions.  Pro-life Evangelicals as well
as Catholics are growing tired of pro-life political rhetoric that never
delivers results.  Democrats who seek a
middle ground without abandoning Roe v. Wade can point to a proven track record
that does.  My fear is that the
professional culture warriors around the country will fight these efforts to
find a middle ground because it threatens their institutions and
livelihoods.  As in most wars, only the
arms dealers profit.