The recent murder of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller has increased tensions between groups on both sides of the abortion debate at a time when the White House is advocating a move toward “common ground” on the issue, the Los Angeles Times reports. Tiller, one of the few doctors who performed abortions later in pregnancy, was shot to death in his church on Sunday. According to the Times, some advocates feel that the murder will further complicate the Obama administrations efforts to find areas for agreement in the abortionrights debate. Abortionrights advocate Cristina Page an author and blogger who attended initial White House meetings on forming effective reproductive health policies called Tillers death a “massive setback” to the idea of finding common ground with abortionrights opponents. She added that it is “sort of like having a family member murdered and then being asked to make nice with the assassins family. Its unnatural.” However, some antiabortionrights groups say that President Obamas policy moves, such as his proposal to rescind the Bush administrations provider “conscience” rule, have undercut his calls for compromise. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said, “It is very hard to find common ground when none of your policies overlap with the people you are trying to find common ground with.”

The Obama administration in the coming months plans to continue meetings with advocates on both sides of the abortion debate as it drafts policy proposals aimed at preventing unintended pregnancies and reducing the need for abortion, the Times reports. According to the Times, one area of debate that arose after the first meeting was the White Houses distinction between reducing the need for abortion versus some antiabortionrights advocates focus on reducing the number of abortions. After the meeting, Wendy Wright, president of the antiabortiongroup Concerned Women for America, blogged that she disagreed with abortionrights advocates objections to the phrase “reducing abortions.” Page said that Wright seemed to aim to start a fight over words to impede discussion. “Weve gotten dragged very quickly, by [Wright], back to the same debate that weve all suffered through for 36 years,” Page said. Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said that the “issue should be reducing the number of unintended pregnancies.” Melody Barnes, head of Obamas Domestic Policy Council, said in an interview in May that the White Houses “goal is to reduce the need for abortions. … If people have better access to contraception, thats a way of addressing the issue at its root, rather than do a tally of abortions” (Wallsten/Abcarian, Los Angeles Times, 6/3).

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