WASHINGTON (ABP) -- A number of religious leaders are backing an effort to defuse the contentious debate over abortion with common-ground solutions that reduce the need for abortion by preventing unintended pregnancies and supporting women who might otherwise abort for economic reasons.

Democratic Reps. Tim Ryan of Ohio, a member of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, a member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, have introduced legislation titled "Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Pregnant Women and Parents Act."

More than three dozen faith leaders and organizations from across the political spectrum announced support for the bill, which seeks to redirect decades of debate away from abortion rights and toward the reasons women have abortions.

"It emphasizes not the 10 percent of the issue, where we continue to differ, but the 90 percent where we all agree," DeLauro said at a Washington press conference announcing the bill July 23.

Supporters range from NARAL Pro-Choice America to Florida Pastor Joel Hunter, a one-time president-elect of the Christian Coalition.

Several Baptists submitted statements of support, including Frank Page, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, who told the Associated Press he has concerns about the bill but that he tentatively supports it.

David Gushee, an ethics professor at Mercer University and regular columnist for Associated Baptist Press, said from his pro-life perspective it is "regrettable" the bill does not challenge legal access to abortion, but that it sends "a new kind of message" on abortion -- providing "genuine choice" by meeting economic and health-care needs of women who otherwise might feel they have no choice other than to terminate their pregnancy.

"Pro-life Americans should support this legislation because of the very many creative and concrete ways it addresses the real-life circumstances that families face in relation to preventing and dealing with unintended pregnancies," Gushee said. "In a time of economic crisis in our nation, more and more women and families are already being driven to abortion. This is terrible but true."

Melissa Rogers, visiting professor of religion and public policy at Wake Forest University Divinity School, said the bill signals that one chapter is closing and a new one is opening in the abortion discussion.

"For decades, many Americans have been locked in a debate about abortion," Rogers said. "The problem has not been the debate -- it is an important one that should continue. The problem has been that, all too often, we have been so focused on areas of disagreement that we have failed to look for areas of agreement."

Jonathan Merritt, national spokesman for the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative, said young evangelicals take protecting unborn life just as seriously as their predecessors but bring a new approach to that commitment.

"Valuing results and eschewing combative rhetoric, we embrace a comprehensive approach that reduces abortion by preventing unintended pregnancy through means such as comprehensive sex education with an emphasis on abstinence, supporting pregnant women and families, and expanding adoption," Merritt said.

Glen Stassen, a professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary, said provisions in the bill are similar to a teenage parent program in which his wife formerly worked.

Stassen said the program provided training by nurses in prenatal nutrition and childcare, as well as how not to get pregnant again. It also provided contraceptives. Social workers helped the young women plan their future. The program also included a childcare nursery, an OB/GYN clinic and community support.

Stassen said just 1 percent of the pregnant girls in the program had an abortion, compared to the usual rates of 75 percent for teenagers younger than 15 and 39 percent for those ages 15-19. With the support and training they received, he said, almost none of them got pregnant again until after they graduated from high school, and far more of them finished high school than in schools without access to the program.

"Our polarized nation needs healing," said Stassen. "I plead for uncommon decency and mutual respect in discussing and working together to achieve the healing we need."

The bill says 49 percent of all pregnancies in America are unintended and that, excluding miscarriages, 42 percent of unintended pregnancies end in abortion. It says low-income women are four times more likely to experience an unintended pregnancy than their higher-income counterparts.

The bill summary says it aims to reduce the need for abortion by preventing unwanted pregnancies from occurring in the first place through comprehensive education and after-school and other programs, increasing support for family planning services under Title X of the Public Health Service Act and Medicaid and services that provide health-care services, information about pregnancy and other supportive services for pregnant women and new parents.

Congresswoman DeLauro said at the July 23 press conference the legislation "reflects real and principled consensus" among both pro-life and pro-choice groups.

"For too long we have allowed our differences to divide us on this contentious issue," she said.

She said the bill "aims to break a stalemate that has impeded forward progress on reducing the need for abortion in this country" and to "turn down the volume on the culture wars that have plagued our attempts to prevent unplanned pregnancies in the past."

Co-sponsor Ryan described the legislation as "historic."

"I believe that this is such a divisive issue that when we agree and find common ground on the abortion issue that there is no issue under this dome that we can't solve together if we're all willing to lead and we're all willing to compromise and we're all willing to take the best deal that we can get and move the ball down the field," Ryan said. "And we have done that on this issue."

Not everyone is on board, however. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council argued that instead of reducing abortion, the bill would actually increase federal funding for abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.

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This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

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