Abortion: Irreconciliable Differences

Ron Miller, a black conservative Republican blogger, rejects President Obama's call yesterday to find "common ground" on the abortion issue: "A mother murdering her children is barbar[is]m too cruel for the human soul to accept, so we disavow words like 'abortion,' 'termination,' and 'murder' and replace them with use words like 'rights' and 'self-determination' as a narcotic for our troubled consciences. If abortion is a right as so many radical feminists claim, why is it a 'heart-wrenching decision'? Why is it something we are trying to reduce or make rare? Rights are to be celebrated, not hushed. The duplicity of the pro-abortion argument is as garish as a flashing neon sign, yet they stand there saying, 'What sign? I don't see a sign.'"

More: "So why does he continue to claim we can find common ground when he condones a practice we know to be murder? He doesn't really want to unite us but to divide and conquer us by picking off those who treasure the lack of conflict over fighting for what's right. I will support the president's goals for reducing abortion, yet I will still fight for the culture to acknowledge the humanity of unborn persons. The reason I cannot find common ground with Obama is that he wants to continue the practice of murdering innocents even as he seeks to reduce how many of these murders take place. That is unacceptable."

Peter Kirsanow, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and a black conservative Republican, argues that President Obama's language is merely a rhetorical device: "During his speech at Notre Dame yesterday, President Obama stated, 'I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away,' and made reference (seemingly obligatory for politicians post-Mario Cuomo's 1984 speech) to finding 'common ground' on the matter of abortion. President Obama also made repeated reference to Fr. Ted Hesburgh and his efforts on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to provide civil rights to 'all God's children.' Ironically, the one place you will not find a debate about abortion is at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The agency's mandate covers all issues pertaining to civil rights, except one: Congress specifically barred the Commission from conducting any hearings, studies, analyses, etc. related to abortion (even though abortion data suggest fairly significant racial disparities). It's difficult to have a debate and find common ground when you're precluded from even raising the issue."