Support a New Way Forward to Fight Abortion!

Many think what we're doing is impossible. But we have faith.

Yesterday, during a highly anticipated speech at Notre Dame, President Obama outlined a strategy for people on all sides of the issue to work together to reduce the number abortions in America through decreasing unintended pregnancies and increasing support for women and families.[1]

Many, like the hard-line protesters at Notre Dame's commencement, believe such "common ground" can't exist, but President Obama believes it can, and we do, too.

Sign the petition: support Obama's new way forward on abortion.

We know we have both people who identify as pro-choice and who identify as pro-life in our Faithful America community, but we think we can all come together, as President Obama asked us to, with "open hearts, open minds and fair-minded words" to address this complicated issue that has been dividing our nation for decades.

We would never ask you to put aside or minimize your deeply-held beliefs on this issue, but we are asking you to join us in supporting the new approach President Obama outlined in his speech.

Our petition states:

President Obama, we support your call for civility and "fair-minded words" in the abortion debate and join you in seeking the common ground you outlined in your speech at Notre Dame: working together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, making adoption more available and providing care and support for women who do carry their pregnancies to term.

Sign the petition: common ground is possible.

Does this approach magically erase all the divisions on this issue? Of course not. But, it is a crucial step forward. It is a model for common ground without compromise and, if enacted into law, would mean real improvements in for the lives and health of women and families.
This is not the end of debate on this issue. But we are hopeful about this new direction. Back in January, we surveyed Faithful America members about your values and priorities and 83 percent of you said you would be excited about this new approach on abortion. [2]
We're excited too. Join us in supporting President Obama's new way forward on abortion.

Click here to sign the petition.

Thank you for all you do,
Beth, Katie, Dan, Kristin and Jennifer
The Faithful America team

Sources:
[1] Video and transcript of President Obama's speech: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/17/obama-notre-dame-speech-f_n_204387.html
[2] In Faithful America's 2009 member survey, we asked the multiple-choice question: "Some people are taking a new approach to the issue of abortion. Legislation has been proposed to reduce the number of abortions in America by both preventing unintended pregnancies and supporting pregnant women and new parents through sex education, access to contraception, improved health care options, and expanding adoption. This bill enables pro-life and pro-choice advocates to find common ground to reduce the number of abortions without criminalizing the procedure. If Faithful America were to make supporting this approach to the issue of abortion a priority, how would you feel?"
Forty-five percent (553) responded "very excited," 37.6% (457) responded "somewhat excited," 13.1% (159) responded "neutral," 2.6% (32) responded "disappointed" and 1.2% (15) responded "very disappointed"