Pro-choice and pro-life advocates gathered April 20 to search for the values -- if any -- the two movements share. They found that when it comes to women's health, there's a lot they agree on.

About 40 men and women packed the Anabel Taylor Café to discuss whether they could stand on common ground on the abortion issue. The event, funded by the University Diversity Council's Breaking Bread initiative, was organized by the Cornell Women's Resource Center and the Cornell Coalition For Life.

Each group invited a speaker to discuss abortion and pregnancy and allowed time for small and large group discussions on the themes.

"The goal of this event is not to indoctrinate anyone," said Ashwin Iyengar '09, one of the event organizers, but "to find something we can all agree on."

Lori Kehoe of the New York State Right for Life Committee first presented a short movie that featured graphic footage of mangled fetuses. Several people in the room looked away as the movie played. "I'm showing this because pictures of aborted unborn children changed my life," Kehoe said.

Adding her thoughts on feminism and the pro-life movement, she said, "True feminism rejects violence as a solution to problems, and I find it maddening that somebody tells me what I have to believe in order to be a true feminist."

Emme Edmonds, a midwife and Cornell Ph.D. student in development sociology, spoke from the pro-choice perspective.

"It's my understanding that the organizers were pretty unhappy that we were forced to see a video that wasn't part of the program. I think that video clearly depicts how the debate has been hijacked," she said. "You were all forced to watch something that was taken totally out of context to manipulate you in the most extreme way. It makes me sad to think that this would be how someone would approach trying to find common ground."

Edmonds discussed the moral basis of her position: that denying women access to abortion is a violation of human rights. "And let me clarify something: Women do not skip to the abortionist to have a picnic-like experience," Edmonds said.

During the question-and-answer session, voices raised and tensions mounted in the room until Lisa Opdycke '11 observed: "I have a question, and it might help everyone: What other issues does the pro-life movement involve besides not killing babies? It's important to hear you talk about the breadth of the movement so that I can find a place for common ground."

Kehoe responded with the example of post-abortion trauma and the how the pro-life movement makes counseling available to women.

The audience broke into small groups to explore shared points of view. When they reported a summary of their discussions to the larger group, they found some consensus: More resources should be available for pregnant women, decisions about pregnancy ideally should not be based on monetary factors and help should be available for pregnant women to complete their education.

"The fact that the two sides are here together having these discussions at all is a sign that we've come a long way," said Molly Baker '09.

Graduate student Melissa Rice is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.