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Though they are on opposite sides of the abortion debate, U.S. Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Tim Ryan have joined together for a measure that they say is aimed at reducing the number of abortions. DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut who favors abortion rights, and Ryan, a Democrat from Ohio who describes himself as pro-life, will unveil the "Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act" at a Washington press conference today. The measure aims to reduce the number of abortions in the U.S. by providing greater government support for pregnant women and their families and by...

In his Jan. 22, 2009, proclamation lauding the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, President Obama wrote we must "reduce the need for abortion … [by] find[ng] common ground to expand access to affordable contraception, accurate health information and preventative services." Since then, "common ground" has become the talk of the pro-abort town. A month ago, the pro-abortion website RH Reality Check, funded by Ted Turner, even launched an "On Common Ground" forum, inviting thinkers from both sides to publicly contemplate. To date, of 15 contributors, only two are solidly pro-life – Kristen Day of Democrats for Life and Serrin...

As the White House readies its plan for finding "common ground" on reproductive health issues and reducing the need for abortion, a major debate has emerged over how to package the plan's two major components: preventing unwanted pregnancies and reducing the need for abortion. Many abortion rights advocates and some Democrats who want to dial down the culture wars want the White House to package the two parts of the plan together, as a single piece of legislation. The plan would seek to reduce unwanted pregnancies by funding comprehensive sex education and contraception and to reduce the need for abortion...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In an interview with Jon Stewart of the "Daily Show" on Comedy Central last week, former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee blasted the false notion that common ground exists in the abortion debate. The notion that there is common ground on killing children and hurting women has been repeatedly taken to task by pro-life advocates. Huckabee said that abortion advocates don't want to give an inch in the abortion debate by accepting even modest limits on abortion such as parental notification, which would allow parents to know when their daughters are considering the life-altering decision. Stewart talked...

With all due respect to Professor Kmiec, Holy Mother Church does not complain nor is Her teaching on the necessity for the legal protection of life a complaint. She teaches us how to live according to the will of Christ, our Lord. When her pastors tell us that “[t]he common good can never be adequately incarnated in any society when those waiting to be born can be legally killed at choice” or that “[a] person who supports permissive abortion laws, however, rejects the truth that innocent human life may never be destroyed. This profound moral failure runs deeper and is...

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined a broad economic vision Tuesday, saying it's time to replace an "on your own" society with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity. The Democratic senator said what the Bush administration touts as an "ownership society" really is an "on your own" society that has widened the gap between rich and poor. "I prefer a 'we're all in it together' society," she said. "I believe our government can once again work for all Americans. It can promote the great American tradition of opportunity for all and special privileges for none."...

The folks at Communist Party, USA (CPUSA) seem quite pleased over the '06 election results! The following appears on the home page of their website: "New Times Require Fresh Politics and Flexible Tactics by Sam Webb, National Chair, 03/30/2007 Main report to the National Committee, CPUSA March 24, 2007 The main focus of this report is the new terrain of struggle. How could it be otherwise? So much is happening, so much is changing, so much is different – these are new times! The Nov. 7, 2006, election was a people's victory. It was a stunning blow to the Bush...

Excerpt - LITTLE ROCK — Former president Bill Clinton said Monday that he remembered the moment he realized he made the shift from a world leader to a philanthropist. "One day I was shaving in my house up in New York and Ilooked at myself in the mirror, and I thought, 'My God, I've become an NGO (non-government organization),'" Clinton told a crowd of 300 people gathered at his presidential libary in downtown Little Rock. ~ snip ~ "My climate-change initiative is being funded by Barbra Streisand and Rupert Murdoch," Clinton said, delighted by the unlikely alliance between the actress...

Over the past decade, the expression public-private partnership has crept into our publiclexicon. What is a public-private partnership? What purposes were they supposedlycreated to serve? What, on the other hand, is free enterprise? Are the two compatible?In answering these questions we shall see that although advocates of public-privatepartnerships frequently speak of economic development, public-private partnershipsreally amount to economic control—they are just one of the key components of thecollectivist edifice being built up around the idea of sustainable development. Within theeconomic arena of sustainable development is the emergence of what we might call softfascism: a system that fits the dictionary definitions...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush met Tuesday at the White House with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss ways to overhaul immigration, a chat that earned the president kudos from two men normally among his staunchest critics. The discussion came as an immigration bill sits stalled in the Senate and as Majority Leader Bill Frist prepares to bring the issue back to the Senate floor by Memorial Day. After the meeting, the senators said Bush expressed support for a package that would create a guest-worker program and would determine ways to address the status of more than 11 million...

NEW YORK -- For many staunch supporters and opponents of abortion rights, the search for a third way on the issue seems like so much phony political positioning. ...But there is a new argument on abortion that may establish a more authentic middle ground. It would use government not to outlaw abortion altogether but to reduce its likelihood. And at least one politician, Thomas R. Suozzi, the county executive of New York's Nassau County, has shown that the position involves more than soothing rhetoric. ...Last week Suozzi put money behind his words. He announced nearly $1 million in county government...

People with strong views on abortion and other controversial issues tend to exaggerate differences of opinion they have with their opponents, a new University of Florida study finds. The research shows that the middle ground can be reached on intellectual terms but often is not because individuals view their opponents' arguments as attacks upon their core values and therefore themselves, said John Chambers, a UF psychology professor. "Members of partisan social groups often view their adversaries with suspicion, distrust and outright animosity," said Chambers, whose study appears in the January 2006 issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association...

If President Bush gets his way, the Supreme Court will vacate Roe v. Wade even before Bush vacates the White House. With the expected confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito --- and depending on the vote of the moderately conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy --- the right to a legal abortion could be struck down, leaving states to decide whether to keep abortion legal. Two years ago, the Center for Reproductive Rights estimated that 30 states would declare abortions illegal within a year of a high court decision overturning Roe. That makes it all the more important that progressives unite in a...

WASHINGTON - Former President Clinton, defending his senator-wife's statements on abortion, said Wednesday that Democrats are held to a double standard. The comment came during remarks to Campus Progress, a left-leaning student group. He said young people in his party should speak directly to conservative voters. He contended that Republicans have defined the abortion debate in a way that boxes in Democrats. "So for example, if you're a Democrat and you have sort of normal impulses, you're a sellout, like when Hillary said abortion is a tragedy for virtually everybody who undergoes it, we ought to do all we can...

With many Americans certain that former first lady and current New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton will run for president in 2008, they point to what appears to be a concerted effort to move her toward the political middle on one of the nation's most contentious issues -- abortion. It's a strategy that appears to come right out of the political playbook of the senator's husband, former President Bill Clinton, who managed to veto a partial birth abortion ban twice -- in 1996 and 1997 -- while declaring famously during the 1996 presidential campaign against Republican candidate Bob Dole that...

A pro-life activist says he's "profoundly disappointed" that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has "snubbed a dialogue with pro-life groups" - after she expressed interest in finding common ground with them. The Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said pro-life leaders, including himself, have been trying for two months to arrange a face-to-face meeting with Sen. Clinton, but she has declined. In late January, Sen. Clinton urged a group of abortion rights supporters to find common ground with pro-lifers. "We should be able to agree that we want every child born in this country to be wanted,...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- After giving a prominent speech in which she called for common ground on the abortion debate, Senator Hillary Clinton has refused to meet with a coalition of pro-life groups that sought to dialogue with her.Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition and one of the leaders in attempting to secure a meeting, said he was "profoundly disappointed" Clinton refused to meet."It now seems that the statements Senator Clinton made, concerning finding common ground on abortion, were politically motivated and not sincere," he said.A spokesman from Clinton's Senate office had not returned a phone...

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley. The following also contains a graphic description of abortion. In the aftermath of the November election, at least some pro-abortion crusaders are beginning to toy with the idea of softening their abortion-on-demand policies. Even Hillary Clinton has suggested as much. In a recent article, syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman concedes that abortions should be “rare.” That concession tacitly admits that abortion is not a good to be celebrated but, at best, a regrettable option. She calls on pro-life citizens to meet pro-abortion proponents on “common ground.” I welcome that overture...

We have all heard the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” We are about to see if large numbers of Catholics are going to fall into the “shame on me” category. Many of us bought into the repackaging of Bill Clinton in his two runs for the presidency. He got the majority of the Catholic vote in both elections. Hillary Clinton is involved in a similar attempt to redefine herself, especially on the abortion question. We’ll see if Catholics bite this time. The New York Times praised her recently for working to...

Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Hillary's phony abortion 'makeover' New York Sen. Hillary Clinton may have gotten some political mileage from her speech in January seeking "common ground" in the ongoing battle over abortion. It was seen as a clever attempt on her part to soften or blur her sharply liberal image on a deeply divisive issue. But what has been overlooked in her appeal "for people of good faith to find common ground in this debate" is the fact that on substantive changes in the laws governing abortions, she still opposes even the most moderate reforms proposed and won by...

March 18, 2005 -- ALBANY — Pro-choice Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton sought "common ground" again on the hot-button abortion issue yesterday, joining pro-life Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, to back a measure she said would reduce abortions. "We can find not only common ground, but common sense in the 'Prevention First' amendment we are offering today," said Mrs. Clinton, touting a $100 million plan to expand access to contraception devices and birth-control information. Clinton raised eyebrows in pro-choice circles — and stimulated further talk of potential presidential ambitions for 2008 — in January with an Albany speech in which...

A bill designed to help pregnant women, once seen as possible common ground in the bitter abortion debate, ended up highlighting the divisions Thursday in a House committee hearing. The bill, dubbed the "Positive Alternatives Act,'' passed the House Health Policy and Finance Committee by an 11-5 vote. So many co-authors have already signed on in both House and Senate that the bill's passage seems guaranteed. But the bill from Rep. Brad Finstad, R-New Ulm, would bar money to groups that mention abortion when counseling pregnant women, and that provision led Planned Parenthood, the state's largest provider of family planning...

Something very unusual is happening to some Democrats and pro-choice abortion activists. They're getting smarter about their strategy. For years, they've harped on and on about a woman's right to choose, while failing to capture in any meaningful way the moral qualms so many of us have about abortion itself. So they often seemed strident, ideological and morally obtuse. They talked about abortion as if it were as morally trivial as a tooth extraction--not a profound moral choice that no woman would ever want to make if she could avoid it. But that obtuseness seems--finally and mercifully--to be changing. Senator...

If it's true that the Democratic Party is about to get religion, then Hillary Clinton is first at the altar. Much has been made of Clinton's newly softened image—the way she tore down her old liberal icon and got spiritual over abortion, for instance. She told an Albany crowd on January 24 that abortion represents "a sad, even tragic choice to many, many women," and singled out "religious and moral values" as an antidote to teenage sex. Never mind the New York junior senator's continued advice that pro-choice activists find "common ground" with their anti-abortion counterparts. Pundits chalked up the...

In her ground-breaking article, "Is There Life after Roe? How to Think about the Fetus," in the winter 2004/5 issue of Conscience magazine, a quarterly publication of Catholics for Free Choice, Frances Kissling, president of CFFC, attempted to mark out a path to resolve the present stalemate over abortion. Many Americans, she acknowledged, are generally both supportive of, and uncomfortable with, legal abortion. They do not want to see women return to the days of coat-hangers and back alleys, but their moral sensibilities are also acutely offended by late-term and partial-birth abortions. Addressing advocates on both sides of this bitter...

Senator Hillary Clinton created a stir last month when she used the occasion of the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision to recommend finding ''common ground" with antiabortion voters. . . . Clinton's remarks offer a good opportunity to consider where common ground might be found on the polarizing issue of abortion without retreating on the essential right of a woman to choose. [snip] [D}espite the claims of opponents that American women can obtain ''abortion on demand," restrictions on the procedure are severe and getting tighter all the time. [snip] Seeking a new way to talk about abortion with...

In response to Senator Clinton's offer to find common ground with pro-lifers, the pro-life Christian Defense Coalition has written to her suggesting a meeting. "Senator Clinton, it is truly our hope that you were sincere in your desire to reach out to people of faith and the pro-life community," the letter says. "It would be very disappointing and troubling to discover your recent statements were motivated only by political posturing. "Senator Clinton, a discussion with the pro-life community would help determine if you were sincere in your comments, or if you were attempting to reinvent yourself on the topic of...

Poll: Most voters knew nothing of Clinton abortion speech ALBANY, N.Y. Most New York voters don't think it's possible to find common ground on the issue of abortion, despite Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's urging that they attempt to do. That's according to a new poll out today from the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. The survey of some 12-hundred registered voters in New York state asked about Clinton's recent speech in Albany to fellow abortion rights supporters in which she called for all sides in the debate to find "common ground" in an effort to reduce the number of abortions. The...

Pro-Life Leaders Seek Face to Face Meeting with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to Begin Dialogue about Abortion and Abstinence Tue Feb 8,10:12 AM ET To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor Contact: Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, 202-547-1735 or 540-538-4741 (cell) News Advisory: The Christian Defense Coalition will hold a news conference on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 11 a.m., outside of the Russell Office Building on the corner of Constitution and 1st St. NE. The group will then go to Sen. Clinton's office to schedule a meeting and present the senator with a letter discussing reasons why a...

New spin, old stance just won't work By Chris Weinkopf Editorial-Page Editor Sunday, February 06, 2005 - The sight of prominent Democrats -- most notably Sen. Hillary Clinton -- trying to broaden their appeal to pro-life voters serves as an important reminder: Conventional wisdom is a fickle thing. For years, the consensus among dispensers of elite opinion was that the abortion debate was politically destructive for Republicans . The GOP, the experts said, needed to embrace a more moderate -- by which they meant liberal -- position, or else a massive gender gap would forever plague the party. But even...

Check the weather report: Hell must have just frozen over. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has proposed moderating the Democrats' position on abortion. In a speech last week, the senator called for abortion-rights advocates and foes to seek common ground in an effort to reduce abortion by curbing unwanted pregnancies. She's a little late to the party. Sensing that there was indeed something to the "values-voter" discussion following November's elections, other Democratic bigwigs have said their party needs to become less dogmatic about abortion. Party strategist Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore's campaign in 2000, said, "Even I have trouble explaining...

By staking out a position on abortion rights last week, Sen. Hillary Clinton did exactly what must be done in these polarized times. She sought common ground with the "enemy." Realizing that those who support the right to obtain abortions and those who want a ban on abortions have one thing in common - reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country - Clinton challenged both sides "to improve the quality of health care for women and families, to reduce the number of abortions and to build a healthier, brighter, more hopeful future for women and girls in our...

Have you been listening to all the Democrats talking about real estate? Despite a campaign that hinged on foreign policy and a candidate who couldn't speak straight, many have decided that the culprit is abortion. And they've gone out shopping for "common ground." The headlines describe a rash of soul-searching or poll-searching. They range from "Anxiety over Abortion" to "Democrats Weigh De-Emphasizing Abortion" to "Are Democrats Ready to Elect a Pro-Life Chair?" In his state of the (liberal) union address, pro-choice stalwart Ted Kennedy said, "Surely we can all agree that abortion should be rare and that we should do...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Hillary Clinton caused a pro-abortion audience to gasp during a Roe v. Wade commemoration speech, saying that abortion activists and pro-life advocates should try to find common ground. Now, key pro-abortion leaders are defending the woman who could be their top candidate for president in 2008. "I think Sen. Clinton's comments were a perfect statement of the pro-choice position," NARAL president Nancy Keenan told the Buffalo News. "She has not changed her position."Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, told the Buffalo newspaper she was concerned when she saw the story but reassured when she...

Mona Charen: Hillary cannot reinvent her past BY MONE CHAREN Published Saturday, January 29, 2005 A little immigration reform here, a little religion in the public square there, a little gentle talk about common ground on abortion - and what have you got? A new, moderate Hillary Clinton, announces the press. "Democratic Party appears to be getting softer on reproductive rights," headlined a National Public Radio story. "Gasps as Hillary woos the anti-abortion vote," reported the London Daily Telegraph. "Hillary Clinton Seen as Staking Out Centrist Positions," announced the Bulletin's Frontrunner. It's a testament to the rigidity and extremism of...

How far will the liberal New York senator have to go in her quest to become America’s first female president? ACCORDING TO The New York Times (January 25, 2005): “Senator Hillary Clinton said on Monday that the opposing sides in the divisive debate about 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 . . . ’ Mrs Clinton, widely seen as a possible candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2008, appeared to be reaching out beyond traditional core Democrats . ....

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- While her political party conducts a furious battle over the issue of abortion, pro-abortion Senator Hillary Clinton says abortion advocates and pro-life stalwarts need to find "common ground" on abortion. In a speech to abortion activists on Monday night, Senator Clinton, often mentioned as a top Democratic presidential prospect in 2008, described herself as a "praying person." "There is an opportunity for people of good faith to find common ground in this debate. We should agree that we want every child in this country to be wanted, cherished and loved," Senator Clinton said. "We can all...

As guessing games go, this one didn't last long. The bookies didn't even have time to set the lines on whether Hillary Clinton would or wouldn't when she suddenly fired the shot heard 'round the campaign. Hillary is running. And I don't mean just for the Senate. Clinton's appeal on Monday for "common ground" on abortion was a perfect two-fer. On one level, it was about Roe vs. Wade. At heart, it was about her. Come together over abortion, she seemed to say, and while you're at it, look at me. I'm not so bad, I'm really a moderate. Really....

Ken Miller is an interesting guy. He is co-author of the nation's best-selling biology textbook. It was on his book, "Biology," that schools in Cobb County, Ga., slapped a sticker casting doubt on its discussion of evolution theory. And it was this sticker that a federal judge recently ordered removed because it endorsed religion. Miller, who testified against the label, gets a lot of hate mail these days. But Miller is also a practicing Roman Catholic. "I attend Mass every Sunday morning," he said, "and I'm tired of being called an atheist." A professor of biology at Brown University, Miller...

(2005-01-25) -- In another apparent attempt to position herself as a centrist candidate for the White House in 2008, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, yesterday told 1,000 abortion supporters that she's neither pro-life nor pro-choice. "I'm Pro-Chife," she announced to the stunned crowd. "Being pro-chife means you support a woman's right to end the life of a fetus that will never exist because the government will prevent the pregnancy." Mrs. Clinton said the federal government should announce a policy of "zero tolerance" for unwanted pregnancies, and could begin to achieve the goal through a combination of condom distribution and government promotion...

HILLARY MODIFIES ABORTION LANGUAGE Proposing new political language about abortion rights for an increasingly skittish Democratic Party, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that friends and foes on the issue should come together on "common ground" to reduce the number of "unwanted pregnancies" and ultimately abortions, which she called a "sad, even tragic choice to many, many women." Clinton, in a speech to about 1,000 abortion rights supporters at the state Capitol, firmly restated her support for Roe v. Wade. But then she offered warm words to opponents of abortion and said that faith and organized religion were the "primary"...

Clinton Seeking Shared Ground Over Abortions By PATRICK D. HEALY LBANY, 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...

Proposing new political language about abortion rights for the Democratic Party, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said today that friends and foes on the issue should come together on "common ground" to reduce the number of "unwanted pregnancies" and ultimately abortions, which she called a "sad, even tragic choice to many, many women." Mrs. Clinton, in a speech to about 1,000 abortion rights supporters at the state Capitol, firmly restated her support for the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, Roe v. Wade. But then she quickly shifted gears, offering warm words to opponents of abortion - particularly members of...

Reducing Unwanted Pregnancies and Abortion Through Prevention in Early Childhood © A Proposal By Andrew Kenny Donlan, Ph.D. Few national policy issues are as contentious as abortion, and few so polarize citizens concerned with values and government. Many citizens argue passionately for policies to reduce abortion rates, such as prohibiting late stage abortions or requiring parental and/or father notification. These policies remain divisive, as many individuals advocate fervently that abortion should remain legal and accessible. The lack of consensus among citizens leaves policy makers with insecure ground on which to form politically sustainable public policy. Cultivation of new public policy...

Russia is increasingly interested in immigrants coming to the country. From 2006, the number of economically active Russians will start declining sharply and by 2050 might decrease by 45% compared with 2000. An influx of immigrants might compensate for demographic and economic losses. Russia has not yet used this possibility to full extent. According to Zhanna Zayonchkovskaya, the chief of the Laboratory for Migration at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute for Economic Forecasting, "Any improvement in living standards is impossible without an increase in the economically active population." Ukraine and Kazakhstan are two former Soviet republics that have decided...

Hi, gang, I was a regular contributor to the Kerry Online Forum and am now a regular contributor to the Common Ground Common Sense forum. I am a liberal, but I'll be the first to admit, I don't have all the answers. In fact, many of hte questions that matter to me probably matter to you too. I'm concerned with questions about how to tame power, whether governmental or corporate. I'm concern with the rule of law and how we can get the powerful to take it seriously. I'm concerned with the erosion of civil liberties. And yes, I am...

I’m slipping into bathos at record speed here tonight; a function of happiness, I suppose. So let me explain just why right-wingers hate interracial friendships, and what this has to do with feeling good about what you think, not what you do. This isn’t a screed, but it belongs to the same genus, so if you’re disposed to roll your eyes at this sort of thing, ta-ta; see you tomorrow. Let’s say you’re a movie reviewer. You’re writing about a war movie, and you say this: “Indeed, the love that the soldiers feel for one another has no erotic component...