Find Common Ground on the abortion issue

Steve: Accept the fact that we all don't have the same view of abortion. Many people see it as a medical procedure that will always be necessary in certain instances. Another important point to make is that abortions aren't a new thing. Women have always looked for ways to end problem or unwanted pregnancies. The Native Americans used medicinal plants to induce abortion long before white man came. Early European settlers also learned these techniques. They were certainly not always safe. Before Roe v. Wade, women resorted to back-alley procedures that very often resulted in the death of the woman. My grandmother told me a story of one of her college classmates who didn't return to school after Christmas break one year. She later learned that this young woman had been raped by the football captain and in desperation, resorted to an unsafe abortion. She died from infection several days later.

If abortions aren't legal, desperate women will STILL go to any length to get them. It is important that this procedure stay in a doctor's office and remain safe.

What we all must do is find common ground on this issue, and do everything we can to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. As Strother has pointed out, education is the key. Young people should have all the facts about birth control and it should be readily available.