By James Fossett

Weve written before that political cleavages around embryonic stem cell issues and other public bioethical issues are increasingly different from conventional party alignments and even red state/blue state divisions around abortion and other values issues. Republicans are increasingly divided into pro- and anti-stem cell groups, and traditional liberal groups such as public employee unions and minority groups have been lukewarm supporters of stem cell research at best. Some womens health advocacy organizations, who are unreservedly pro-choice, are strong detractors of egg acquisition practices and have called for restrictions on stem cell research until safety issues connected with these practices are resolved. Among the strongest supporters of stem cell research in many states are its potential beneficiaries — disease advocacy groups, universities and medical schools who do the research and want financial support, and governors and other politicians wishing to claim credit for improving their states images and economic futuresmost of whom dont qualify as traditional liberals. As in much else, politics continues to make strange bedfellows.

A column by E.J. Dionne in last weeks Washington Post calls attention to a deliberate attempt to move beyond established political cleavages around these and other issues. A report issued by the Third Way, entitled Come Let Us Reason Together (pdf), purports to present a framework for bridging the cultural divide that has existed between many progressives and Evangelicals co-authored by both progressives and Evangelicals. The report notes the diversity of political and moral belief among Evangelicals (though it doesnt address comparable variations among progressives) and argues for a common position on stem cell issues that bans germline engineering and any commerce in human eggs or embryos. Perhaps more controversially, the report also calls for an explicit recognition of the role of religious values in public life and a cessation of progressive sneering at public expressions of faith.

While such efforts are unlikely to put an end to the culture wars, at least in the short run, its unambiguously a good idea to encourage them. Framing issues in ways where more people can wind up on the same side is an undervalued political skill, and an outcome which is worth giving up a considerable amount of philosophical clarity to obtain.

James W. Fossett co-directs the Rockefeller Institute of Government/AMBI states and bioethics program. He is also responsible for the Rockefeller Institutes health and Medicaid studies and is Associate Professor of Public Administration and Public Health at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany.