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PATERSON – It’s awfully hard to find much compromise on abortion.
Democrats see the overturning of Roe as an assault on women and are so far effectively using the court ruling as a campaign tool.
Republicans – at least in some states – are passing laws to outlaw or severely restrict abortion rights.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. stepped into this crucible Monday morning with the goal of reaching some form of common ground.
Pascrell has been around a long time. He’s been in Congress for almost 30 years, and before that was a state Assemblyman and mayor of Paterson, his lifetime home.
So, he definitely has experience with compromise – the marrow of politics.
But still, abortion? Talk about a divisive issue.
How do you do that?
Pascrell, who refreshingly eschews fancy verbiage for bluntness, said, “We’ve got to recognize that the people who don’t agree with us are not stupid.”
He continued to say that you can’t disparage and look down on those on the other side.
If so, “We’re never going to win.”
Pascrell, who came to Congress during, relatively speaking, more collegial times, admitted that none of this is easy, calling it a “tough thing to do sometimes.”
He said his view of compromise is negotiating civilly with your adversary, but holding your ground.
The official event Monday morning was a rally in support of abortion rights at the city’s Planned Parenthood Office.
State Sen. Nellie Pou was on hand, as was Kaitlan Baston, who was just named acting Commissioner of the state Health Department.
Baston stressed the many steps the state has taken to protect abortion rights. The Murphy Administration has restored and increased funding for family planning after it was eliminated by then-Gov. Chris Christie.
More importantly, the state made the tenets of Roe v. Wade part of state law, thereby guaranteeing abortion rights in New Jersey.
And that is what prompted today’s event. Pascrell wants Congress to do the same nationwide.
House Republicans are unlikely to allow a vote on such a thing, so Pascrell talked about a “discharge petition” a mechanism in which members can force leadership to schedule a vote.
But that needs 218 signatures, which would be a majority, and so far, there are only 211. Even if all Dems sign the petition, a handful of Republicans still would be needed.
How does Pascrell hope to accomplish that?
“It depends on how we frame the question,” he said.
He talked about the passage of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in 2009. That is when, he said, Democrats were able to convince a small number of pro-life Dems to go along.
That history lesson, of course, overlooked the fact that in 2009, Democrats were negotiating with fellow Dems; now they’ll have to do it with Republicans.
Broadly speaking, it’s tough to see the divide lessening.
As Democrats point out, the voters appear to be on their side. somewhat surprisingly.
“We were shocked when we saw Kansas,” Pascrell said.
That was a referendum vote last August in that “red” state in favor of abortion rights. Similar votes have occurred elsewhere.
Despite that sentiment, the anti-abortion base of the Republican Party does not seem to be weakening.
Compromise won’t be easy, but Pascrell has no doubt how polarized the abortion issue has gotten.
“I’ve seen families busted up over this issue.”
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