Washington Post Examines Growing Rift Among Catholics Over Abortion Rights

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 21 Oct 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The Washington Post on Sunday examined a growing rift among Roman Catholics over abortion rights as the Democratic Party works "more aggressively" to court Catholic voters and some prominent Catholics have come out in favor of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), an abortion-rights supporter. According to the Post, "Rather than argue over the morality of abortion, these Democrats contend that the church's teachings on social justice and such issues as poverty, the environment, health care and unjust warfare should guide Catholic voters as much as abortion." According to the latest Post/ABC News poll, Catholics favor Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) -- who opposes abortion rights -- over Obama by 54% to 41%. However, the poll also found that white Catholics are more likely than other voters to say they would change their minds or remain uncommitted until election day, "making them a target for both campaigns," the Post reports.

The Obama campaign has found support among high-profile Catholic scholars who oppose abortion rights and progressive Catholic organizations that promote the idea that the demographic can vote for abortion-rights supporters. For example, Catholics United -- a social justice advocacy group -- and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good -- which calls for a "consistent ethic of life" on issues such as poverty and capital punishment -- argue that the most effective way to curb the number of abortions is to provide social services, such as affordable health care, to pregnant women. In a recent book on his decision to support Obama, Douglas Kmiec, a law professor at Pepperdine University who served in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, states that overturning Roe v. Wade would not end abortions and that the overall priority for Catholics should be addressing "the economic and cultural and social circumstances that force women to believe they must make a choice against life." Nicholas Cafardi, former dean of the Duquesne University School of Law and a Catholic canon lawyer, also endorsed Obama, despite Cafardi's belief that abortion is "an unspeakable evil," and later stepped down from his post on the board of Franciscan University. The Obama campaign also has worked to appeal directly to voters through its Catholic outreach team, which has trained field staff members to talk comfortably with voters about faith.

According to the Post, the "jockeying by the candidates and the conflict among Catholics this year stand in stark contrast to 2004, when a handful of bishops threatened to deny Holy Communion" to Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), and "encountered little organized opposition from other Catholics." Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College, said, "The stakes here are just so much greater," adding, "If you're one of those Catholics who makes abortion the absolute priority -- the issue of all issues -- and Obama wins, you could say goodbye for the rest of your life to Roe v. Wade being overturned. At the same time, (people) ... also think there are other issues and that the last eight years of the Bush administration have raised questions about economic and social justice -- core Catholic issues -- that simply have to be addressed" (Thompson/Salmon, Washington Post, 10/19).

Opinion Piece
Kmiec in a Miami Herald opinion piece writes that Obama's discussion of his support for age-appropriate comprehensive sex education, adoption and assistance for pregnant women during last week's presidential debate "is not just debate posturing. It is consistent with Obama's successful effort to add language to the Democratic platform affirming the choice of a mother to keep her child by pledging pre- and post-natal care, funded maternity leave and income support for poor women who, studies show, are four times more likely to pursue an abortion absent some tangible assistance." According to Kmiec, although McCain has said he would work to reverse Roe if elected president, "Republicans have been after this for decades, and the effort has not saved a single child." He adds, "Even if Roe were reversed -- unlikely, in my judgment -- it merely transfers the question to the states, most of which are not expected to ban abortion. A Catholic serious about preserving life could reasonably find Obama's educational and material assistance to mothers the practical, stronger alternative." Kmiec writes that although "this alternative is less than the absolute legal protection for unborn life sought by the Catholic faith," it "is more than the GOP delivers, or can deliver, with its speculations about judicial vacancies and reconsidered precedents." According to Kmiec, "Sometimes the law must simply leave space for the exercise of individual judgment, because our religious or scientific differences of opinion are for the moment too profound to be bridged collectively" (Kmiec, Miami Herald, 10/20).

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