Obama Urges "Common Ground" on Abortion

Yeah, that's as dumb as it reads:

President Obama used the controversy surrounding his Notre Dame address Sunday as a lesson on the need to bridge cultural divides in America, as he urged graduates to seek common ground on issues, like abortion, that stir passion on both sides.

The 44th president, speaking at the Catholic university's commencement ceremony, directly addressed the split his visit had caused on campus and in the Catholic community. As he spoke, hundreds held a prayer vigil across campus in opposition to Obama's positions on abortion and embryonic stem cell research, capping off a weekend of protests on and around the university grounds.

Protesters in the crowd sporadically interrupted Obama's commencement address before they were shouted down by the rest of the graduates.

But Obama called for "open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words" in the midst of such persistent debates.

He said the issue of abortion stands as the single greatest example of a controversy that tests Americans' ability to respectfully seek common ground.

He said the views of the two sides of the debate are "irreconcilable" but can be honored.

"I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. Because no matter how much we may want to fudge it -- indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory -- the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable," Obama said.

"Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature," he said.

So, what would "common ground" on abortion look like? Only doing abortions on even numbered days?

When one side believes abortion is the killing of human life, and the other side believes abortion is surplus tissue removal, there isn't going to be common ground and all the platitudes in the world aren't going to change that.