On June 18, Bill Donohue spoke to the “On Common Ground” forum that RHRealityCheck.org launched on abortion.
Donohue said that the terms “dialogue” and “common ground” are innocuous enough, and may even convey something benign. But when selectively invoked by ideologues as a political vehicle, they are devious. Such is the case with the latest effort by RHRealityCheck.org.
RHRealityCheck.org may have been able to persuade reasonable persons like Steven Waldman of Beliefnet to join in this effort, but too many of the announced participants are hardened pro-abortion activists. Moreover, the website demonizes a number of religious conservative groups by labeling them “far right” organizations. It even posted an attack piece on Donohue done at the behest of the nation’s most notorious anti-Catholic group, Catholics for Choice; this shell of an organization has twice been condemned by the U. S. Bishops.
As bad as these aspects of the project are, they are nothing when compared to the vicious denunciations of Crisis Pregnancy Centers. If giving young women an alternative to abortion is considered taboo, then the entire Common Ground project is destined for failure. It also shows that their alleged interest in adoption is a ruse.
Donohue ended his statement saying, “Religious conservatives should not only reject offers to participate in this forum—they should condemn it as a fraud.”