Catholics Can Support Obama, Oppose Abortion, Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 10 Sep 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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Douglas Kmiec -- who headed the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel in the late 1980s -- in a Chicago Tribune opinion piece writes that it is "unfair" of Republican partisans to try and "close the door" on Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) "in the name of the [Roman] Catholic faith." According to Kmiec, Obama's campaign "believes there are alternative ways to promote the 'culture of life'" other than outlawing abortion. Kmiec writes that the "central hope" of the Obama campaign is to "find common ground" in the abortion debate "not by 'favoring'" the procedure but by "dealing with the legal reality in a way that at least reduces the likelihood of abortion." The Republican Party "thrives on demonizing its opposition," which is "too bad because additional avenues for strengthening a culture of life open up" when such actions are avoided, Kmiec writes.

He adds that Republicans advocate opposition to abortion but "often do little, promising that some judge not yet appointed is the answer or advocating leaving it all up to the states to decide." Obama's plan "seeks to extend a helping hand" by promising to increase funding for prenatal care, maternity leave and less expensive adoption, which "shows an astute understanding of how closely economic circumstances and abortion are related," Kmiec writes. He concludes that McCain is an "honorable man caught between a failed presidency and the tired ideas of his party that only invite repetition of that failure. There's no reason that failure should be extended in a way that blocks the greater protection of unborn life" (Kmiec, Chicago Tribune, 9/9).

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