Texas Bishops Issue Letter Against Abortion Rights

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 16 Oct 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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Roman Catholic bishops of the Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas, dioceses last week issued a letter calling abortion "intrinsically evil," the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. The letter, written by Fort Worth Bishop Kevin Vann and Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell, said that it would be "morally impermissible" for Catholics to vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights over a candidate opposed to such rights. They added that "as Catholics, we are morally obligated to pray, to act and to vote to abolish the evil of abortion." The letter was posted on the Fort Worth Diocese's Web site and was published in the North Texas Catholic, a newsletter that is distributed to 56,000 homes in the diocese. It also was read from the pulpit during the Oct. 12 mass at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Grapevine, Texas, according to Fort Worth Diocese spokesperson Pat Svacina. Svacina said that the letter called abortion "the defining moral issue," adding that it does not instruct Catholics to vote for a particular candidate. Betsy Kopor -- executive director of Rachel Ministries of North Texas, a Catholic-based abortion counseling center -- said the letter is "important" so Catholics can "have some clarity in the Catholic position." Kopor said, "There's a lot of ambiguity going on, so it's nice to have something from the Catholic hierarchy letting us know the Catholic position."

The letter has drawn criticism from some Catholic abortion-rights supporters. Former Chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party Art Brender said the letter "bothers me because it seems that this letter is really a partisan letter and not a statement of faith." Texas Christian University political science professor James Riddlesperger said that he is unsure if the letter will change many votes because the Catholic Church's position on abortion is so well known. Jon O'Brien -- president of Catholics for Choice -- said that the "overt letter" being released so close to an election is "more likely to turn Catholics off," adding that the bishops "speak with such an obsession with the issue of abortion that it makes their social commentary redundant and really out of touch with where most Catholics are" (McGee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10/14).

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