The People: Three prominent pro-life leaders. The leaders had multiple affiliations with pro-life organizations, including Massachusetts Citizens for Life, the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment, the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing, the Pro-Life Committee of the National Confence of Catholic Bishops, the Pro-Life Office of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Women Affirming Life.

Three prominent pro-choice leaders. The leaders had multiple affiliations with pro-choice organizations, including the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, Ipas, National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, Planned Parenthood, and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

The Problem: In Boston, following the 1994 murder of two family planning clinic workers, representatives of both sides recognized the potential repercussions of extreme polarization.

The Shift: The Public Conversations Project was well versed in the issue of abortion, having developed its ground-breaking model through numerous citizen dialogues about the issue in the early 90s. In response to Boston leaders' call for "common ground talks," PCP brought together six highly influential leaders, three from each "side" of the issue. The leaders initially agreed to meet four times, but went on to continue meeting in private for five years. As part of their aim to eliminate violence, they went public in January 2001 with a co-authored story in the Boston Sunday Globe, "Talking With the Enemy."

Resources and Reading about Abortion Dialogues:

In spring 1990, PCP began its first series of dialogues, applying family counseling strategies to the design and facilitation of conversations between citizens on both sides of the abortion debate.

Six highly influential abortion leaders met privately for five years as part of their aim to eliminate violence. They went public in January 2001 with a co-authored story in the Boston Sunday Globe, "Talking With the Enemy."

PCP has developed numerous resources and published its findings about the success of its ground-breaking model in academic journals. These include:

A Hard Conversation Made Easier: Tips for Talking About Abortion

A Model for an Introductory Dialogue on Abortion

An Overview of PCP's Work on Abortion

Boston Prolife and Prochoice Leaders Dialogue

Constructive Conversation in the Abortion Debate

Creating Conditions for Dialogue on the Abortion Issue

For more resources, please visit Catalog of Articles or Plan a Dialogue: Resources.

This recent (June 12, 2009) story in The Huffington Post shares two examples in which activists have worked together to defuse the dangerously polarized dynamics of the abortion controversy.