The Reproductive Social Issue Continuum

TW: Abortion is a divisive issue, no doubt, with no clear majorities and no readily reconcilable solutions. Issues like stem cell research are controversial but a majority supports the research. Issues like the use of contraceptives and sex education beyond gaga land abstinence propaganda enjoy clear majority support even though loud minorities oppose them on religious grounds.

The challenge for the Republicans is differentiating between the former and the latter. There is a continuum of reproductive and science issues. The Republicans still cannot break loose from some of their core constituents in order to adopt more centrist positions. Folks complained for years about Dems being hamstrung by special interests, the shoe is on the other foot with these issues.

From US News & World Report:
"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 by bolstering federal support for pregnant women. Supporters of the approach say it would force senators and members of Congress on both sides of the abortion battle to compromise their traditional positions, creating true common ground that mirrors what President Obama has called for.

But more conservative religious groups working with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships say they would be forced to oppose such a plan -- even though they support the abortion reduction part -- because they oppose federal dollars for contraception and comprehensive sex education. This camp, which includes such formidable organizations as the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops and the Southern Baptist Convention, is pressuring the White House to decouple the two parts of the plan into separate bills."