(New London, CT) - Sometime this month, we will learn whether the U.S. Supreme Court will indeed overturn precedent and hand the question of abortion rights over to the fifty individual states.

A draft opinion in a Mississippi abortion case, leaked into the public arena in time for the first Monday in May, suggests that is exactly what will happen. Whether the opinion holds; whether the language in the draft changes, or any of the justices decide to change their view; the unauthorized release of the draft opinion is forcing the country to look at abortion from new perspectives. This is what happens when an issue most considered settled is unsettled.

Immediately after the news broke, both sides in the debate began to frame the issue and, in doing so, pointed to new arguments that had previously been held in reserve.

Anti-abortion advocates have long argued that life begins at conception and therefore any decision to end a pregnancy is a decision to end human life. This belief has always been part of the debate, and on some level even the most ardent supporters of abortion rights understand that some people fully believe in this view. But it took the draft opinion that would overturn Roe vs. Wade to demonstrate how sincere that belief is for many people.

Many truly believe if they can prevent a woman from obtaining an abortion they are preventing a murder. It is a belief that allows them to justify extreme measures, including protests outside health clinics, and even violence, to intervene on behalf of the unborn. What would you be willing to do to stop a murder? This viewpoint must now be considered with greater attention regardless of where the national debate goes from here, because as the result of the court’s ruling, it is the winning side.

There are two arguments that emerged from the other side of the debate, the side that favors a woman’s right to choose. One is rooted in shock that the Supreme Court would actively reverse precedent and effectively take away a right from more than half the population, the other questions the commitment of the opposition to a compassionate solution.

Within hours of the release of the draft opinion, pro-choice demonstrations began across the country and have continued in the weeks since. Outrage is the dominant reaction. The threat of political retaliation at the polls was swift. Republicans in Congress seem to recognize the potential adverse electoral consequences to moving forward with a full ban of abortion nationwide. Conservatives know many of their voters are so conservative that they actually believe government has no place in private healthcare decisions. This is a conservative point of view.

Republican leaders are not sure what to do, how far to go. Neither side seems to have the votes for total victory - and like immigration - both sides have partisan reasons to preserve abortion rights as an unsettled wedge issue that can be used to raise money and activate core supporters. Republicans are playing with political fire, because women have the voting power to change the course of the country and for the most part they are not on the side of giving up control over their reproductive health.

The other issue frame used in the days immediately following the news questions whether those who are against abortion are really “pro-life.” Women ask; If you are so concerned about protecting the life of the unborn, why are you against providing the services necessary to support women both during and after pregnancy? Where are opponents of abortion when it comes to family support services, healthcare services, child care services? There seems to be little interest in spending on government services that would help women make the decision to bring an un-wanted pregnancy to completion.

Whether enacted at the national level, or state by state, the issue cries out for a compromise centered on these three points:

Abortion interrupts and prevents the development of a human life, even if it is not the exact equivalent of the taking of a human life.
Women should have the final say over a developmental process that takes place within their own bodies.
If we are to promote laws and policies designed to make abortion safe, legal, and rare then we must agree to pay for the services that support the lives of children born under challenging circumstances. We must create family support policies that would lead women to decide against abortion as the best alternative.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a manner that almost completely ignores the real world effects on women, families and communities, has fundamentally changed the societal agreement the country has been functioning under for the last fifty years. There are many directions the abortion debate may take from here, but the path to a meaningful and compassionate political compromise is plain to see.

Can all sides stop shouting and find the middle?

Photographs: New London, CT pro-abortion rights protest in May 2022.

The Compromise