A common theme among the Opinion section’s content today is a reflection on the topic of abortion.

This is by design. Tuesday, Jan. 22, marked the 40th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed American women the legal right to choose.

Despite the court’s ruling – or, some would say, because of it – there continues to be a heated debate between “pro-life” Americans who want to limit or eliminate the legality of the procedure, and those who are “pro-choice” and support its legality.

This is a raw, painful, emotional topic for those on both sides of the issue, especially at Catholic colleges across the country. We want to be clear that we are not trying to incite controversy by publishing this content – though we always welcome members of our community to join in the conversation.

Rather, we felt that – not in spite of, but because of – our community’s relationship to the issue, we would be remiss if we did not reflect on it at this time.

As a staff, we will not take a stance on Roe v. Wade or abortion rights, but we will say this: we believe that both sides are just trying to do what is best for the country and for society as a whole.

The philosophical chasm between the two camps is so great that it would be naïve to ask for a truce. There is no way that the debate over the issue will be settled in the foreseeable future – no matter how many marches, elections, lawsuits, tears, attacks, broken families, strained friendships or even casual disagreements, the controversy will remain.

At the very least, we hope that one day there will be a feeling of mutual empathy between the opponents.

Please, recognize that we’re all just trying to do what we think is best for each other. You don’t have to agree with the activists or even like them, but you can recognize the patriotism in their attempts to do what they know to be right.

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