There is a better way to address the issues that divide us so bitterly | Opinion

No matter what happens this November, America’s deep social and political divides will remain with us. This problem arises from multiple, complex causes and will not yield to easy solutions.

One significant source of division lies in the heavily siloed lives many of us lead. We tend to dwell near, socialize with, and listen to people we align with politically. And let’s admit it: it feels good when other smart folks see things our way and affirm our good sense.

Unless we work at it, we often have little inclination or opportunity to work with information we don’t already prioritize, to encounter folks who see the world differently, or to have meaningful discussions with people on the opposite side of important issues.

Consequently, we often think about matters in ways that are inadequately informed, falsely framed, and artificially binary.

Braver Angels is a national, grassroots organization dedicated to confronting the problem of political polarization. The idea is simple: get people from all points on the political spectrum together for conversation. These interactions are carefully structured, they prioritize respect, and they aim at understanding, not argument or persuasion.

When all goes well, these conversations create connection and community that transcend our voting habits. They lift us over the false superiority of ‘othering,’ the inadequate labels of ‘Red’ and ‘Blue,’ and the artificial belief that disagreement must equal enmity.

And, since there is zero chance that one side is 100% right and the other completely wrong, such conversations can help each of us think more deeply, broadly, and creatively about the complex concerns that drive our politics. Thoughtful interactions can expand our understanding so dramatically that, in some cases, the usual framing nodes no longer seem important or relevant.

A group of Central Kentuckians did exactly this over three Saturdays this past spring. In the last session on June 1st, we dug into the issue of abortion to see if we could find agreement and common ground. That meeting produced the statement you will read below.

In today’s political climate, both the meetings and the statement seem miraculous. And still, they yielded something even more: a hope-inducing connection with fellow community members whom we are often encouraged to see as enemies.

The next several years—maybe even decades—will be rough sailing in America. But we can each take steps to protect ourselves from the acid political rain that currently corrodes our humanity and our politics.

Central Kentucky Braver Angels Statement on Abortion

We, a group of Central Kentucky citizens who come from a diverse range of political opinions, have met and discussed the issue of abortion at length. Although we do not agree on many political and moral issues, all of us have gained a broader perspective than we had before this conversation.

We offer the following points of agreement:

Human life is a gift.

We would all like a world where no person feels an abortion is their best choice. We agree with Frederica Matthews-Green: “No woman wants an abortion as she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal caught in a trap wants to gnaw off its own leg.”

We seek to restore a compassionate view toward women making this choice.

We seek to restore compassion to all perspectives in this conversation around abortion. We reject simplistic, rigid, and caricatured uses of the terms “pro-life” and “pro-choice.”

Poverty and other weighty economic matters are major factors for women seeking abortions. Unintended pregnancy presents these women with special dilemmas and problems.

Other reasons include familial situations, including incest, unreliable partners, lack of extended family support, lack of social support, and other complicating life circumstances.

The responsibility of parenthood requires supporting the child from before birth until adulthood, and parenting requires access to a wide variety of supporting resources.

Neither Roe nor Dobbs is perfect; each had unintended consequences and created new and difficult dilemmas. Both decisions have created groups of discontented Americans. This discontent has been exploited by political parties and has contributed to polarization.

On matters of policy, we hope for public policy that will reduce abortions. To that end, we support the following:

Equal access to birth control as a fundamental and necessary means of limiting abortions, supported by public funding when birth control is not otherwise available. We specifically support a publicly funded LARC (Long-acting reversible contraception) program because such programs have demonstrated success in dramatically reducing both unintended pregnancy and abortion.

Policies to support working families and to encourage the involvement of fathers.

Policies that support women by providing childcare, educational opportunities, healthcare, nutrition, and jobs.

Policies that make adoption more financially and legally feasible and provide necessary support services for the birth mother.

Finally, and perhaps most significantly, we ask that influencers and our elected officials cease dividing us on this issue, but instead work to propose practical solutions to reduce abortions.

This statement was also signed by the following members of Braver Angels: Carolyn Dupont, Ken Slepyan, Karen Petrone, Addison Hosea, Kim Turkington, Paul Winther, Adrienne Millett, Karen Miller, Turner Lyman, Harley Cannon, Cathy Taylor, Ryan Stanford, Helen Von Koevering, Judith Burris, Cindy Greenwood.