When President Barack Obama talks about finding common ground on abortion, as he did during his commencement address at Notre Dame over the weekend, he’s not really talking about abortion at all. The president is pro-choice, which means that he believes that women should have access to legal abortions and that Roe v. Wade should remain the law of the land. What he’s really talking about is sex—specifically, who should have it, under what circumstances, and who should bear responsibility for the (desired or undesired) consequences. Abortions—to state the obvious—result from sex. To reduce the number of women seeking abortion, domestic policy wonks need to find common ground on sex.
About The Author
Lisa Miller
Lisa Miller is a contributing editor at New York magazine. She is the former religion columnist for the Washington Post, former senior editor of Newsweek magazine, and author of “Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife.” She is a multi-year winner of the New York Newswomen’s Club prize for feature writing and has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award.