By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
The March 23 meeting between pro-life leaders and the White House Faith-Based Office director is being described as “cordial” and “honest” but did not result in any indication that the Obama Administration is interested in changing its hard-lined pro-abortion position.
According to an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, the person who initiated the meeting, said “It was a very cordial meeting. It was also quite honest. We provided information on the kinds of programs that don’t work in reducing abortions and the programs that do work and so we needed to be very honest in presenting that.”
Wright described the director of the White House Faith-Based Office, Joshua DuBois, as a “young and dynamic man” who seems to understand the faith perspective on pro-life issues.
Wright said the intention of the meeting was to open a dialogue and ensure that as the Obama Administration is forming its policies and programs, it takes into consideration the views of the faith-based community. Rather than gathering all their information from pro-abortion forces, she’s also hoping the White House will consider the evidence-based proof they presented at the meeting of what programs and policies actually work to reduce the number of abortions.
“It remains to be seen what they will do with that information,” Wright said. “Perhaps the information we gave to them was new to them, they’ve not heard it before. I hope that if that’s the case that the information will influence their current positions.”
Wright was joined in the meeting by representatives from the Family Research Council, Christian Medical Association, and pro-life pregnancy crisis group Care Net.
“Right now what we have seen from this administration has been very disappointing,” Wright said. “The kinds of policies and programs they have backed so far are the same kinds of things that have not reduced the number of abortions. We hope with meetings like this they will hear information they haven’t heard before and it could help to reshape their own positions.”
While she remains hopeful that this will be the first of many meetings to come, she says this first attempt at dialogue left her with no new information or a new impression.
“Generally what we heard are the same things that we’ve been hearing,” she said.
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