New York Times Examines Obama's Support Among Catholics, Possibility Sen. Casey Will Speak At Convention

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 08 Aug 2008 - 8:00 PDT

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The New York Times on Thursday examined "concern" among some Democrats that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), who supports abortion rights, needs "to do more to regain the allegiance of Roman Catholic voters." In the Democratic primary earlier this year, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) received far more support among Catholics in some states than did Obama, the Times reports.

According to the Times, abortion is "central to the political crosscurrents around Catholics," who "broke decisively for President Bush in 2004, and could be crucial to the outcome in a number of battleground states this year." The Times reports that opposition to abortion rights is a "non-negotiable issue" for many lay Catholics and Catholic officials. Charles Chaput -- the Catholic archbishop of Denver, Colo. -- has said that voting for candidates who support abortion rights or human embryonic stem cell research is a sin that must be confessed before receiving Holy Communion, according to the Times.

According to the Times, Republicans are "gearing up campaigns" to portray Obama as a "radical" on abortion issues, citing his opposition to the federal ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortion and his votes against the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act (Broder, New York Times, 8/7). The legislation, which did not pass in 2001 and 2002, would have made it illegal for doctors to allow a fetus to die if it were delivered alive during an abortion procedure. Obama in August 2004 said he voted against the legislation because it did not include an exception to protect the life of a pregnant woman (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/16/07). He also said the bills were poorly written and could have threatened Roe v. Wade, adding that he supported a similar bill passed in the U.S. Senate because it did not have the same constitutional issues as the Illinois bill.

The Times reports that Obama plans to emphasize that there are other issues that Catholics can "base their votes" on. Douglas Kmiec -- a conservative Catholic law professor at Pepperdine University, who was denied Communion earlier this year by a priest because of his support for Obama --said that although the formal teachings of U.S. Catholic bishops emphasize protecting fetuses and embryos, Catholic doctrine allows for voting on other grounds, including the Iraq war, which the church has opposed. Kmiec said, "The proper question for Catholics to ask is not 'Can I vote for [Obama]?' but 'Why shouldn't I vote for the candidate who feels more passionately and speaks more credibly about economic fairness for the average family, who will be a true steward of the environment, and who will treat the immigrant family with respect?'" Kmiec said Obama should invite Catholic Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.), who opposes abortion rights and endorsed Obama during the primaries, to speak at the Democratic National Convention to answer to people who believe they cannot vote for someone who supports abortion rights.

William Galston, a former domestic policy adviser to President Clinton and current senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said some Catholics still "speak with vehemence about the exclusion" of Casey's father, former Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey (D), from speaking at the 1992 Democratic convention. Galston said having Sen. Casey speak this year would "be a dramatic act of historical rectification that would resonate with Catholics." The Obama campaign has not said if Casey would be given a "prime-time" speaking slot, the Times reports. Casey said that he has not received a formal offer to speak at the convention but added, "I think we'll get something worked out" (New York Times, 8/7).

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