On Memorial Day,
we honor those
who have made the
ultimate sacrifice
for our country.

We may disagree,
but regardless
of our political beliefs, 
we can come together today
in a spirit of gratitude to
REMEMBER
and
HONOR
the many brave heroes
who have given their lives 
for our freedom.

Their sacrifice
gives us 
us the
liberty
to
disagree.

We can 
honor their 
memory
by
disagreeing
​with one another
respectfully.

Doing so requires
its own
smaller 
kind of bravery.

Let's try to be brave together. 

​

"Pro-Life"
"Pro-Choice"
"No Labels"
"First Trimester"
"Heartbeat"
"Late-Term"
"Partial-Birth"
"Doctors"
"Politicians"
"Supreme Court"
"Privacy"
"Control"
"Autonomy"
"Removal"
"Murder"
"Embryo"
"Fetus"
"Unborn Baby"
"Faith"
"Science"
"Reproductive Health"
"Birth Control"
"My Body"
"Voiceless"
"My Choice"
"Protection"
"Freedom"
"God's Will"
"Personal Liberty"
"Women's Health"

"Rights"
"Rights"
"Rights"

Whose rights?

Whose decision?

Who's in charge?

We'll be hearing much more
about all this in the coming months.

We haven't focused on
abortion
much here at the
 Purple Living Room Project 
 because,
let's face it,
this is one of the most
divisive
issues of our time.

​And yet,
according to Gallup polls
there ARE a few 
Purple Points.

Gallup's latest polling suggests that...

29% of Americans
think abortion should be legal
under any circumstances
AND
an additional
50% of Americans
think abortion should be legal
in limited circumstances.

So...

79% of Americans believe
women should have access
to abortion in some circumstances.

When asked if abortion
should be considered legal
in a series of specific circumstances, 
the numbers were split fairly evenly
yes/no
for most situations,

But...

77% believe abortion should be legal
in the case of rape or incest

AND

83% believe abortion should be legal
when the mother's life is at risk

There also seems to be some
purple agreement around
WHEN 
abortion should be
legal...

87% of Americans
do not think that
abortion should be
generally legal
in the third trimester.

Can we all agree that 
decisions about abortion
are
difficult
and
painful
and have
lasting consequences
for those involved?

Let's try to have
empathy
for one another
and acknowledge that our
deeply held beliefs
are coming from a place of
​positive intentions...
even if we disagree vehemently
about what "positive intentions" look like.

Fortunately,
there seems to be one aspect of
reproductive health
that most of us can agree upon...

89% of Americans believe that
birth control is morally acceptable. 

Seems like a place to start...

Can we work 
TOGETHER
to make sure
all women 
have 
affordable access
to birth control?

​We can do that together.

Happy Mother's Day!

This year,
after you've called your mom...
why not check in on Mother Earth?

Did you hear the news this week?

One MILLION species face extinction.

One MILLION.

It's time for us ALL to do our part.

Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
RETHINK
REACT

What are the
purple points 
that we can act on
NOW
to protect
our environment?

Let's start talking.

We all need to help with the dishes.​

The White House Correspondents' Dinner
was held last weekend.

No comedians this year.

Instead,  
the featured guest
was acclaimed
 historian
Ron Chernow.

He offered
valuable insights
into the
relationship
between the
White House
and the
Press
throughout
our nation's history.

Chernow's speech
celebrated the important role
that journalists play in our democracy.

He quoted Thomas Jefferson,
who famously wrote, 
"Were it left to me to decide whether
we should have a government
without newspapers,
or newspapers
without a government,
I should not hesitate a moment
to prefer the latter."

Freedom of the press
is enshrined in our Bill of Rights.

We depend on a
free press to bring us
the facts
so that we can make
informed decisions.

And,
as Chernow says,
we need
the facts
in order to have
honest
disagreements.

Let's show our
gratitude
to the journalists
across our country
who work tirelessly to
bring us
the facts.

And let's try to
ground our
purple conversations
in these facts
rather than 
bombastic rhetoric.