Our country is torn apart. We’ve seen this coming for a long time. It is happening on many fronts, but the most intense situation is now upon us. Two camps, one favoring abortion rights and one favoring ending those rights, are starkly in contrast. One, the desire to end abortions, has seemingly achieved a big victory. But we all know that this is not the end of the story. There are strongly held beliefs and deeply felt emotions on both sides of this issue.
How do we manage this volatile, destructive divide? The impulse on the “losing” side is to strike back. To protest, to act aggressively, to take back, reinstate, change back, regain the former status quo in any and every legal way conceivable. Action!
I guess you can tell where I stand on the issue.
But, much as I want to regain the former legal standing, I know that simply striking back is not the best path forward. I just wrote a pair of blogs on the elements of healthy communities. Two aspects of healthy communities stand out now, common goals, and similar values. Our country is wide apart on those, at least on this volatile issue.
So what to do? And I must add, I am not opposed to legal actions to re-achieve universal access to abortions and reproductive choices for women and couples of child-bearing age. But that is not enough!
The answer is not anything new, and it is not at all easy. But it is simple. First, stop, breathe. While acknowledging your intense feelings, set them aside. Be curious, open yourself to listening to others who think and believe differently. Acknowledge their opinions. Ask for the same respect from them. Engage in a dialogue. No one “wins.” New and different ideas and paths will not evolve immediately, but they will in time. Perhaps, no probably, there will be as yet unimagined and better ways to resolve this now divisive issue.