March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Abortion panel has achieved common ground> Divisive debate diffused by continued dialogue, group says

AUGUSTA — A committee formed to find a common ground of agreement amid the polarizing, sometimes violent debate over abortion reported Wednesday they had achieved success.

The Committee for Common Ground, drawn equally from the pro-life and pro-choice sides in the abortion debate, said the most important thing was for partisans on both sides to keep on talking. They recommended creating The Forum for Public Reasoning, to be privately funded at $200,000 for one year, to carry on the groundbreaking dialogue of the abortion committee.

The group emphasized communication, media education and joint condemnation of violence as ways to reduce the danger of violence at abortion clinics.

“People on both sides of this very divisive issue have begun talking to each other. That may be the most important result,” said Gov. Angus S. King as he accepted the committee’s report.

King said it was important to continue the dialogue “so that Maine people can back away from confrontation, back away from violence. … This is a gesture toward civility in Maine. We will never fully change each other’s minds, but at least we can begin to understand each other’s minds.”

Participants in the five-month project said they were surprised there was so much they could agree on.

The committee was formed after Bishop Joseph Gerry of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland expressed concern to King about growing violence at abortion clinics, including two fatal shootings in Boston.

In Maine, there have been several reports of harassment and threats at clinics. Right-to-life advocates have protested weekly, but peacefully, at the Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center in Bangor. But the center has operated under threats and, on two separate occasions, a rock was thrown through a window.

A Rockport clinic was closed down last year after pro-lifers picketed for months in front of the facility.

The eight people on the Committee for Common Ground have met privately seven times to discuss the problems and draw up their report.

Answering a question on how to make abortion a rarity, the section called “common ground” lists a number of suggestions that both sides agree on, including:

Public messages about the consequences of teen pregnancy and the male role in pregnancy and child rearing.

Concern about date rape.

Government and other programs to provide families with adequate health care, adequate food and housing, adequate child care and strict enforcement of child support payments.

Higher education should strive to train teachers who can encourage responsible decision-making by young people.

Schools should provide teen pregnancy prevention programs, including encouragement of delayed first sexual intercourse.

In order to reduce the potential for violence at abortion clinics, the group agreed on:

Providing opportunities for another type of discourse about abortion besides violence.

Educating the media to present the abortion issue responsibly without sensationalization.

Jointly condemning abortion-related violence.

A bill was enacted this year making it a crime to create certain kinds of disturbances at abortion clinics, including obstructing entrances or making noise that intentionally can be heard inside a building. It was already a crime to commit violence or threaten violence at an abortion clinic.

The committee as a whole did not endorse the bill sponsored by the Attorney General’s Office, but individual members did support it.

Sharon Barker, one of the participants, said, “Certainly, out-of-control and crazy individuals are outside the ability of anyone to control.”

“We see this as the first step in discussions,” said Barker. “We do not see this report as resolving the issue.”

Beth Edmonds, another participant, said of the news media, “There are more than two sides to the issue and many sides don’t get reported.”

One of the recommendations for the coming year is to have a statewide task force on news media and how the abortion battle can be portrayed more sensitively.

“We all hold our positions on this issue just as strongly as before, only now it feels like a dialogue instead of a polarization,” Edmonds said. “Now I have someone I can call and say, `What gives?’ ”

The Forum for Public Reasoning would hire a project manager who would work with a steering committee to create local and statewide task forces. Committee members said it was important to get more people involved in discussing abortion and recognizing the various sides of the issue.


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