Hi-
I did GOTV in Ohio and was stunned by the amount of people that told me that they were going to vote for Bush simply because of Kerry's stance on abortion. I also read my George Lakoff and think we can re-frame the issue in a way that people will understand.
Anyway here is my shot at the issues and how we can win back this issue....
(1) "Pro-choice" in many people's minds means "pro-abortion". Sorry I know its not what pro-choice is about but that's the perception. We need to deal.
(2) Outlawing abortion would mean turning women into criminals and causing them to risk their lives.
(3)Seems to me that Democrats would not lose much to say "abortions are bad"
(4)Abortions occur often because of sexism whether that is rape, lack of information, men leaving women, men not taking responsilibty for birth control or lack of economic opportunity.
So how can re-framed in a better message that communicates our values? Here is my shot:
"Abortions are bad and we mean to stop them. We think that the best way to stop abortions is to EMPOWER WOMEN. We want to give them the ability to stand up for themselves and be able to make decisions for themselves. Right now there are a lot of forces acting against women. We need to raise them to be strong and for men to join in as equal partners."
"We don't believe that making women into criminals and putting their health at risk is moral. "
"To this end we are pro-safety, pro-empowerment and pro-health."
This would serve to justify a lot of our social programs (sex ed, equal pay, health care). Catholics (I find) are pro-social programs and if they can see these in the context of ending abortion I think we can get them back.
What do y'all think? It would be great to refine this message.