Focus on the Family looking for common ground with pro-choice orgs on reducing abortion

From the Denver Post:

Focus on the Family president Jim Daly on Friday said he will bridge a great divide by asking abortion-rights advocates to work with his conservative Christian ministry to make abortion less common.

Reproductive-rights supporters say they want abortion to be legal, safe and rare, Daly said, and so his Colorado Springs-based media powerhouse will try to walk that common ground with them — lessening demand for abortion.....

And Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains said it is willing to listen.....

"We certainly welcome any opportunity to work with anyone who wants to work on the root causes of unintended pregnancies," she said. "Most of what we do is prevention."

Planned Parenthood, McCafferty said, takes a comprehensive approach to preventing unwanted pregnancies through education and improving access to affordable birth control. But abortion, she said, must remain legal.

"We certainly never want to see the day when women can't make this personal, private decision for themselves," she said.

Michael Cromartie, vice president of the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center, said Daly's outreach is a bold move and likely to be misread by many conservatives.

"I suspect he will take a hit on this," Cromartie said. "People on the right will say he is giving up. But I think it could be effective."

Cromartie said Daly just might convince people there are too many abortions in the country....

Schneeberger said Focus accepts the opposition's word that it wants to reduce the numbers of abortions.

"I suspect things will happen very quickly. Within the next month, we certainly will have some conversations," he said. "This is a legitimate attempt to see if there isn't some overlapping goal."