Clinton Seeking Shared Ground Over Abortions

[Jon8503]

By PATRICK D. HEALY
Published: January 25, 2005

ALBANY, Jan. 24 - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Monday that the opposing sides in the divisive debate over abortion should find "common ground" to prevent unwanted pregnancies and ultimately reduce abortions, which she called a "sad, even tragic choice to many, many women."

In a speech to about 1,000 abortion rights supporters near the New York State Capitol, Mrs. Clinton firmly restated her support for the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide in 1973. But then she quickly shifted gears, offering warm words to opponents of legalized abortion and praising the influence of "religious and moral values" on delaying teenage girls from becoming sexually active.

"There is an opportunity for people of good faith to find common ground in this debate - we should be able to agree that we want every child born in this country to be wanted, cherished and loved," Mrs. Clinton said.

Her speech came on the same day as the annual anti-abortion rally in Washington marking the Roe v. Wade anniversary.

Mrs. Clinton's remarks were generally well received, though the audience was silent during most of her overtures to anti-abortion groups. Afterward, leaders of those groups were skeptical, given Mrs. Clinton's outspoken support for abortion rights over the years.


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/25/nyregion/25clinton.html

[DaveinMD]

1. safe, legal and rare

was always Bubba's refrain. This is the way to win on this issue.

[nashville_brook]

3. their bias is to get the sticky stuff "off the table"

i WISH there were a way to get this off the table... my pro-choiceness is what got my into politics in the first place. it's my issue.

but here's my thing: if every woman had access to RU486 thru their GP, abortion as an issue would go away.

reproductive health doesn't need to be a political issue.

[EVDebs]

2. Duplicate post see this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1180015

[progressiveright]

5. that thread

got too big for its own good

we can continue discussion (yelling), here ?...

[progressiveright]

4. abortion

roe v wade actually gives a lot of room for compromise. a democrat can be uncompromising on roe v wade but still support ban against late term abortions.

amount of abortions was going down under clinton, now with republicans in power they are on the rise again, why don't people know that? the policies of democrats naturally drive down the number of abortions because of pro-women, pro child care democratic policies.

backing adoption and protecting pregnant women from work loss will do a lot to drive down the amount of abortions, but it will need money to work, and all the money went to tax cuts for the rich. that's the point democrats need to emphasize in answer to every questions - why don't we have good adoption programs, why aren't borders protected, why don't soldiers in iraq have armor - the answer is very simple - because of tax cuts.

if you believe that life starts at conception (which is an arbitrary scientific theory, there is nothing in the bible about it and there is no machine that can detect soul a second after sperm and egg combine), then you believe that birth control pills are murder as well, because in roughly one third of a case birth control pills destroy an egg shortly after it has been fertilized, thus killing a baby.

[Democrats_win]

6. Fundamentalists say, "its my way or the highway. " So forget it.

[progressiveright]

7. we are trying to talk to

moderates, not fundamentalists. roughly a third of democrats are pro-life i think (just like about third of republicans are pro-choice). It is an important issue to many people who are not fundamentalists.

[ComerPerro]

8. I really despise pro-lifers

They have no interest in finding common ground. I am sorry that Hillary has convinced herself otherwise.

Republicans do not compromise. Ever.

Pro-lifers are not really pro-life. They don't give a shit about the fetus. The only reason they campaign as fiercly as they do is because it gives them a feeling of self-importance.

If they really wanted to decrese the number of abortions, they would start doing more community outreach and less finger pointing and bomb-throwing (figuratively and literally).

[DaveinMD]

9. as the above poster notes

its not about winning the hard line pro lifers. Its about the voter who is uncomfortable with abortion, but who is otherwise inclined to vote with us.

We also need to point out that abortions have gone up under shrub and they went down under Clinton.

[BootinUp]

10. Very true

There are plenty of Americans conflicted over abortion imho. We need to have the better principles on this issue.

[CAG]

11. Doesn't sound like....

you have any interest in finding common ground either.

"Republicans do not compromise. Ever."
"Pro-lifers are not really pro-life. They don't give a &%$* about the fetus."

Such meaningless, obviously untrue generalizations get us nowhere. This type of rhetoric is equivalent to some on their side saying pro-choicers like killing babies.

I go to church with a lot of pro-lifers. Most are good people, hard working, raising families, that just can't seem to stomach the thought of a woman aborting her baby. Why part of this thought-process does not seem plausible?

This is exactly what is wrong with this debate, as in a lot of debates on various issues; the only messages that get out are the ones on the polar extremes, because thats what makes good TV and radio.