Response on Point One: Abortion as a Moral Tragedy

I’d like to continue (one point at a time) the conversation with Robert George on possible points of agreement between pro-life democrats and pro-life republicans. On my first point, he writes: "Regarding point one, I do not think it captures the key point of agreement to describe abortion as a ‘moral tragedy for all the people directly involved and for society as a whole.’"

I’d like to explain why I emphasize as a separate point of agreement that both see abortion as a moral tragedy for this reason: it is exactly on this point that there’s a tendency to talk past each other. At times the democrats’ struggle over the question of whether abortion should or should not be legal is characterized as an indication that they take the problem lightly, or that they see abortion itself as a good thing for society. I will not hesitate to admit that in some cases that may be true. But I would like to see if we can reach agreement on this point: when pro-life democrats focus intensely on the prudential dimensions of practical political solutions, including the limits of legal regulation, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t believe that abortion is a moral tragedy. Can we agree that pro-life democrats and pro-life republicans are on the same page in seeing abortion as a moral tragedy even if they may disagree about the prudential and political dimensions of the role and limits of legal regulation?