The Common Ground Network for Life and Choice Manual

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and access to, adoption; reducing the conflict between family and work; increasing male sexual responsibility. Changing the relationship between adversaries in this way contributes to a higher level of discourse on abortion and related issues, one that can reveal the elements of truth in each perspective (there are some) and the areas where working together might make a difference. In turn, this builds community, a recognition of mutual interdependence and an understanding of how people with profound differences can live and work together to make a better world. A Brief history In the winter of 1993, Search for Common Ground seized an opportunity to intervene in the abortion debate. At that time all of SCG’s existing projects were international, but the organization had previously produced, with PBS, a television series that asked “What’s the common ground?” about a range of hot domestic issues. Abortion was one. The opening for a hands-on project came when community activists associated with the Buffalo Council of Churches sought Search’s help to defuse the tensions created by an Operation Rescue Spring of Life campaign. They wanted to create a sustained effort to build common ground. With a shoestring budget and two part time staff, the immediate challenge was to develop a working model for promoting community-level pro-choice/pro-life dialogue in Buffalo, and we hoped, beyond. Building upon a dialogue process designed by Dr. Adrienne Kaufmann, one of the original co-directors, the Network developed an effective approach for bringing pro-choice and pro-life partisans into constructive conversation. In 1993 there were already groundbreaking common ground efforts in several cities around the country. SCG gathered these veterans from St. Louis, Milwaukee, San Francisco and Boston to advise us on how to proceed. Everyone agreed that what was needed was a “central office” at SCG to: link local efforts; develop and distribute resource materials; provide professional services in the way of facilitation, training and organizing; handle and cultivate the media; encourage and support new efforts; and promote national projects. A Steering Committee, balanced between pro-choice and pro-life and representing local efforts, came
together out of a mutual commitment to foster another approach to the abortion debate. They adopted this statement of purpose: We are pro-choice and pro-life supporters, and other concerned citizens, who recognize that deep divisions exist on the issue of abortion, but believe that this conflict provides an opportunity for dialogue and creative problem-solving when we: • honor the humanity of those with whom we are in conflict, and • acknowledge that we need to come together at times to explore areas of common concern and the potential for joint action. In the years following, local groups spread, two national conferences were held, and the Network became involved in national projects on teen pregnancy prevention, adoption and other issues. Today there is still an active network of common ground groups and efforts around the country. Some information about specific groups and programs will be found in this Manual. More is available by contacting either Search for Common Ground or the National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM). NAFCM, with its 300 community mediation centers around the country, is now the home for the Network though SCG remains a cosponsor of the program. NAFCM can provide resource materials, professional assistance to work with local groups and national conversations, and contacts with the people carrying on this important effort. Contact information for both organizations is in Chapter Ten. Acknowledgments The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Laura Chasin, of the Public Conversations Project, who provided invaluable editing of the first edition of this Manual as well as advice and support throughout the life of this project. Thanks are also due to Network Senior Program Associate Peter Altschul and interns Nancy Showalter and Erin Weiss for their help with this second edition. With gratitude we recognize Network staffers of past years whose valuable contributions are reflected here: interns Karl Schumann, Megan Park and Jill Peddycord, and in particular, our colleague, Jennifer Stephens. We recognize also the support and encouragement of our colleagues at Search for Common Ground including President John
Page 1 and 2: The Common Ground Network for Life
Page 3 and 4: Common Ground Concepts Appendix 1.1
Page 5: over abortion. The Network came int
Page 9: About the Authors Mary Jacksteit wa
Page 12 and 13: others are “wrong.” Debate tend
Page 14 and 15: other people with the same label, d
Page 16 and 17: etween people related to one anothe
Page 18 and 19: Appendix 1.1 THE COMMON GROUND DIAL
Page 20 and 21: • Dialogue questions, not “topi
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Page 25 and 26: CHAPTER TWO: GETTING STARTED People
Page 27 and 28: eferred interested people to the lo
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Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER THREE: PLANNING FOR DIALOGU
Page 33 and 34: Another type of workshop might have
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Page 39 and 40: First Small Group Dialogue After th
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Page 43 and 44: Appendix 3.1 WORKSHOP PLANNING MEET
Page 45 and 46: Appendix 3.2 Dialogue Workshop Mate
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Page 53 and 54: Appendix 3.6 COMMON GROUND DIALOGUE
Page 55 and 56: Session Time: 30 minutes.
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(5 meaning strongest agreement and
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COMPARISON OPINION SURVEY If you ar
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5 4 3 2 1 (5 meaning strongest agre
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Appendix 3.9 OPINION SURVEY RESULTS
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Appendix 3.10 Exploring Stereotypes
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COMMON GROUND WORKSHOP Evaluation Q
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language, insuring understanding be
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address another aspect of structuri
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also to: (1) find out how others fe
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The dialogue design presented in th
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f) Encouraging people to use "I" me
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12:15-1:00: LUNCH. This is not a "w
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[5 min] -Communicate care for the s
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someone has said earlier. It might
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Appendix 4.4 WORKSHOP FACILITATOR T
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the Part A or Part B sheets. Partic
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3) How can you not care that poor w
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1) We [Feminists for Life] think we
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CHAPTER FIVE: “WHAT NEXT?” Freq
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dialogues: • Reducing the rate of
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direct involvement with teen pregna
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very happy to find a fresh and posi
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• Periodically sponsoring a day-l
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leaders in the nearby town of Amher
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• Working together to remove the
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Cohen and another group member to j
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Appendix 5.4 A Structured Community
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to the prevention of teen pregnancy
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Before starting, tell the group tha
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Structuring an email dialogue Organ
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it is important to stress the signi
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listserve and, possibly, the facili
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would be attending at their own exp
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impartial. To the extent possible,
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Engaging one's adversaries in a pos
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Appendix 6.1 On-Line Dialogue Dear
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Time frame. In order to give the gr
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CHAPTER SEVEN: ADAPTING THE DIALOGU
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undermine the genuineness of the di
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Discussion in small groups follows
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Afternoon Small Group Session [This
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Appendix 7.1 A Day of Dialogue on G
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otherwise. Another problem is that
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Appendix 8.1 COMMON GROUND CONFEREN
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ealize," agrees Frederica Mathewes-
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CHAPTER NINE: RESOURCES There are c
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The Common Ground Network for Life and Choice Manual

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