Or through real understanding and engagement with those opposing abortion on the Left (such as religious Catholic activists), priorities can be articulated that address their concerns and values without sacrificing the rights for reproductive freedom.
A lot of folks simply dismiss anti-abortion views as support for capitalist patriarchy, while ignoring the real existence of anti-abortion activists who support womens rights and other progressive social values in every other sphere of society. Progressive Catholics promote a so-called "Seamless Garment" of aid to the poor, opposition to the death penalty, rights of human dignity in the workplace and opposition to abortion. Many conservative Catholics may just harp on abortion while ignoring the other values, but there is a real cadre of left Catholics who take the whole package seriously. The question is why such left activists should "swallow their objections" in the name of broader coalition with pro-choice activists sharing the rest of their values?
The point is that no one should have to swallow their objections. Instead, real understanding shoud attempt to find ways of approaching an issue that brings forward a set of values representing the best of everyone involved.
In the case of abortion, it is reasonable to understand those in the progressive wing of the anti-abortion movement who argue that the rhetoric of "pro-choice" is hollow for poor women who might want to keep their child, but find abortion the only economic alternative. Mere state funding for abortion does not assure "choice" but only makes one of two impossible choices imposed by capitalist society a bit more viable. Such "choice" merely means that the poor are forced into abortion because they have no other option-- a conscious goal by some family planner advocates over the years. There is a traditional class conscious attack on abortion advocacy that sees plenty of method to a system that seems to assure freedom for professional women while creating tremendous economic pressure on poor women to not have children.
Real choice for women, as those advocates argue, requires a remaking of the workplace to fully accomodate pregnancy, tough anti-discrimination laws to protect the right of women to both have kids and a career, and full funding of benefits to help raise the child after birth. It requires systems of day care and societal support for women with children that is sorely lacking.
Without conceding anything on the policy of right to abortion and its funding to assure that choice, a broader coalition on the left could more strongly emphasize the positive policy changes needed to support women who choose to have a child. This would not only engage such anti-aobrtion activists in coalition, but frankly create a better policy that integrates other economic concerns into maternity choices.
Deemphasizing issues to create coalitions is a losing strategy over the long-term, both for justice as many have argued and ultimately for strategy since real values cannot be suppressed for strategy over the long-term. But creative engagement by partners can create compromises that rather than being mealy-mouthed evasions, instead bring forward the most positive aspects of each sides policy and values.
And abortion policy emphasizing "real choice" that critiques both lack of funding for reproductive services AND critiques the pressure on women to have abortions against their desires because of cutbacks in welfare, lack of day care and because of discrimination against women in the workplace would be a much more radical position than merely incorporating mainstream pro-choice rhetoric.
Not every issue can be made this way, but I do have a real belief that when people share a large number of other values, those areas where they differ are usually based on each emphasizing one part of a larger more complicated issue of justice. Bland evasions or righteous denunciations of one side by the other both usually miss the chance for articulating a creative synthesis of values and policy that may be greater than the policy either was promoting before the coalition.
This is a politics of coalition by addition rather than subtraction of values.
--Nathan Newman