Christian Science Monito Examines Effect Of Palin, Abortion Rights On Catholic Vote In Presidential Election

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 23 Sep 2008 - 8:00 PDT

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The Christian Science Monitor on Friday examined how the nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate has caused some observant Roman Catholics to return to the party, a trend that could "mark a partial setback" for Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). According to the Monitor, despite Obama's willingness to discuss a moral dimension to abortion, churchgoing Catholics, who usually are "passionate foes of abortion," struggle with his record in support of abortion rights.

According to the Monitor, Catholics are an important subset of voters because more than 40% are not affiliated with either party, but they are not a monolithic bloc of voters. John White, politics professor at Catholic University of America, said Catholics are key swing voters who are divided along ethnic lines -- Hispanic versus European ancestry -- and by frequency of church attendance. Although McCain and Obama were split among white Catholics who attend church weekly prior to the parties' conventions, a poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center found that McCain has a 16 percentage-point lead among this group. However, Obama continues to gain among Hispanics, two-thirds of whom are Catholic, and Obama is even with McCain among Catholics who attend church services occasionally or never.

Scott Keeter, director of survey research at the Pew Research Center, said a boost in Catholic support for Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) is related to his choice of Palin as a running mate. According to Keeter, there is "strong evidence that the Palin pick was the big part of it," adding that Palin's large family and decision to have her fifth child despite a diagnosis of Down syndrome symbolize her support of antiabortion beliefs that are important to many observant Catholics.

Despite growing support for McCain among Catholic women, however, the Monitor reports that "[i]dentifying with a Republican leader" might be new for some Catholic women. Lara Brown, a political scientist at Villanova University, said that the "gender gap persisted not because women chose the Democratic Party. But men moved to the Republican Party, and women essentially stayed. Palin gives these women who are culturally conservative an opportunity to say, 'Wow, someone represents me.'"

The Monitor reports that the Obama campaign could benefit from political advocacy among liberal Catholics. For example, Catholics United, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and other groups emphasize how Catholic social teaching applies to a variety of issues and argue that the most effective way to reduce abortions could be through economic policies. A new report from Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good found that increased aid to low-income families and increased male employment are linked with lower abortion rates.

Furthermore, language in the Democratic Party platform that aims to help women who decide to have a child was the work of Obama, and his campaign says the U.S. "can do more" to support women who need pre- and postnatal health care, parenting skills and income assistance. Chris Korzen, founder of Catholics United, said, "The key for the Democrats is to start to draw some clear connections between issues like abortion and the economic root causes of those issues." Korzen added, "In places like Pennsylvania and Ohio -- swing states -- it's a losing strategy to dichotomize social- and economic-justice questions. Social justice is the best way to resolve the abortion question."

According to White, "Democrats have to figure out how to reach church-minded Catholics. The problem for Republicans is how to reach out to people who don't have ties to a church institution" (Arnoldy, Christian Science Monitor, 9/19).

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