WASHINGTON -- February 2 -- As President Bush prepares to deliver his State of the Union Address, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, the nation's leading advocate for personal privacy and a woman's right to choose, called on the President to answer the challenge presented in a recent speech by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton -- finding common ground between supporters and opponents of a woman's right to choose on steps to reduce unintended pregnancies, and with them the need for abortion.

”We hope the President uses this speech to establish a different tone for his second administration. His message should be about unifying the American people, not continuing to divide them.

“In a speech last week, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton reaffirmed what pro-choice Americans have long believed: there is common ground in the abortion debate. And today, NARAL Pro-Choice America invites President Bush to join us in helping pass at least three common-sense, common-ground policies this year that would reduce the need for abortion:

• Boost funding for Title X, the nation's family planning program. It funds contraception - not abortion - for low-income women who might otherwise have no access to birth control.
  
• Establish contraceptive equity. Health-insurance plans should not be allowed to discriminate against women, and should cover birth control equally with other prescription drugs.
  
• Make emergency contraceptives accessible. The Food and Drug Administration should stop delaying and approve the application allowing women access to the morning-after pill without a prescription. And the Department of Justice should include the morning-after pill in its list of services offered to victims of sexual assault. If it were more widely available, it could cut the rate of unintended pregnancy - and the need for abortion - by as much as half.
  
• Provide young people with honest sex education. Federally funded sex education plans should give young people honest, age-appropriate information that would prevent unintended pregnancies. "Abstinence-only" programs don't work, and some evidence even shows they discourage young people from using contraception—but not from having sex.

“Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s Prevention First Act (S. 20) would be good place to start. Senator Reid understands that, although people may disagree on choice, we can find common ground on a prevention agenda.

“In addition to these policy changes, the American people want a deliberative, thoughtful process in the event of a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

“The President should use his address to the public to announce that he will seek consensus in filling any Supreme Court vacancies, following in the footsteps of President Clinton who consulted with Senator Orrin Hatch and picked nominees who could receive broad bipartisan support. It is clear that the President’s extreme far-right supporters are pushing him to use the likely vacancy on the Supreme Court to put in motion a plan to overturn Roe v. Wade. But the President knows that the vast majority of Americans are opposed to overturning Roe v. Wade and want a moderate nominee for the Supreme Court.

“The ball is now in the President’s court. We hope that tomorrow’s speech reflects his desire to move toward the mainstream and join the majority of Americans who want to work on these important issues facing our country.”

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