The White House is setting up a meeting with evangelicals to discuss "abortion reduction". Right Wing Watch raises an interesting question about this: why?!

The Rewire team is in Boulder pounding out our exciting future but I wanted to point folks towards the meeting taking place at the White House next Tuesday.

Concerned Women for America (CWA) and the Family Research Council are set to meet with Josh DuBois, the head of this administration’s Faith Based Office to discuss abortion reduction. TBN.com’s David Brody writes:

The meeting plans to focus on the need to reduce abortions in the country and on responsible fatherhood programs. Also present at the meeting will be Tom McClusky, Senior Vice-President of the Family Research Council as well as representatives from the Christian Medical Association and Care Net, a pro-life Evangelical pregnancy crisis group.

And though Wendy Wright of CWA has this to say, via an email to The Brody File, about the meeting:

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“The Obama administration says they want to be inclusive and represent all Americans. The White House faith-based office is now tasked with reducing the number of abortions – something that pro-life groups have very good experience in accomplishing. Pregnancy resource centers and regulations on abortion have a terrific track record in helping women choose alternatives to abortion. Funding abortion or abortion providers is one of the worst things that could be done. What the government funds, we get more of. We hope to begin a dialogue that results in policies which actually work, not just financially benefit certain interest groups like abortion providers.”

Kyle at Right Wing Watch parses out just how closed the extreme religious right really is to "common ground" work:

If the Obama administration thinks that it is going to win support for anything that it does on this issue from groups like CWA and FRC, it is sorely mistaken … which is something they will presumably learn once this meeting takes place. These are not moderate, open-minded groups looking for common ground – they are militant, anti-choice groups committed to, above all, making abortion illegal everywhere and for everyone, with no exceptions. It is hard to understand what the administration expects to gain by meeting with such groups to discuss efforts to reduce abortion considering that the only option such groups support is to outlaw them entirely.

Well said. If the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives wants to work on taking care of women’s health and lives why not focus on proven pregnancy prevention tools? Why not clear a path for faith based programs to provide access to health information and services to women who cannot afford care otherwise?

Read more at Right Wing Watch.