The brewing fight over VAWA suggests there is today no common ground in American politics as to how best to wage the struggle for gender equality—or even if that is a shared desirable goal.
I fear “common ground” dialogues because I fear a liberal impotence nurtured by a deep-seated culture of “civility” and conflict-avoidance.
When leaders in the pro-choice movement start to speculate about restricting abortion rights to appease the anti-choice movement, they have lost sight of what the pro-choice movement is about: respecting women as moral decision makers.
Some of us think that a civil public dialogue on abortion based on values, facts and outcomes would result in better public policy and less tea party rage.
Attempts to build “common ground” have restarted and are just as bound to fail as they always have been. The problem is that anti-choice activists are habitually dishonest, and you can’t have dialogue with people who insist you accept their lies.
With all due respect to Charles Camosy, I hardly recognize the conference he describes in his Washington Post article. While I appreciate his efforts to organize the conference, I strongly disagree with many, if not most of his conclusions.
Bump+’s Creative Director Chris Riley talks about the show’s intentions to open a “common ground” discussion on abortion based solely on the stories of characters portrayed.
While the public is waiting for Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson to decide if he is going to fall in with the Democrats’ proposal for healthcare reform, Harry Reid has threatened to make everyone stay till Christmas to finish the bill.
While ultra-conservatives attempt to derail health reform with intellectually dishonest charges of taxpayer-funded abortion, state and local pro-choice advocates seek more centrist issues to attract allies to the greater cause.
Amid proclamations that common ground has been reached on abortion, a new set of anti-abortion actors has claimed leadership of the movement. These good and decent people nonetheless lack understanding of women’s nature and identity.
