The Catholic bishops have come out quite strongly against abortion pushing back against the Democrats who want to minimize this issue and make it a matter of personal choice. They are quite clear that the teaching of the church is settled on this issue and that Catholics cannot support pro-abortion candidates.
Bishop Gracida created an ad (to be used by Catholics to buy ads on their local radio stations) that makes it clear that a Catholic must vote their conscience, they cannot vote for a pro-abortion candidate and Obama is a pro-abortion candidate. He couldn't be any clearer, don't vote for Obama.
It will be interesting to see the results of this struggle in the exit polls. During the primaries Obama had a problem with Catholics but I'm not sure where he stands with them now. In the IBD shows a swing by Catholics to McCain, so who knows? The bishops may be having an impact on their flock.
In 2004 Kerry, a Catholic, lost the Catholic vote to Bush over the abortion issue but this year you have Catholics like Kmiec endorsing Obama as a pro-life candidate (when I saw that site I immediately thought of Isaiah 5:30). So, I think the issue is far from settled even though Obama is the most pro-abortion candidate that has ever run for president. That doesn't seem to bother his Catholic and Evangelical voters, their conscience appears to be clear.
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Oh...by the way...do you know who owns factcheck.org?
The Annenberg foundation (remember the "Annenberg Challenge"?)
From what I've read (including articles on this site), Obama is working hard to find points of compromise between the pro-life and pro-choice camps.
It seems to me that there's a difference between fighting to outlaw abortions and working to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. You can make it illegal, but you've only whitewashed the problem (to use a biblical metaphor) that doesn't get at the heart of the matter. As Christians, we should be less concerned over whether abortion is legal and more concerned over why abortion is wanted in the first place.
I fear too many of us in the church believe that by making abortion illegal, we've done what God asks. We should be putting our efforts towards making abortion obsolete, not illegal.
Please go to the Team Sarah website and join.
Then look
at the group
Catholics for Sarah where there are Many discussions, links and prayers about
Respect for Life.
So, no Catholic can, in good conscience, vote for Obama, eh? I wonder...can any Catholic, in good conscience, listen to anything coming from a group of men who, if they were not pedophiles themselves, were pedophile enablers? Can a group of men who participated in or tolerated such an atrocity ever be trusted in any area?
non-metaphysical stephen: thank you for your comment. I agree that the myopic focus to "overturn Roe" is not really on point. If I wave my magic Supreme Court wand and overturn Roe tomorrow, abortion would still be legal in all states. Granted a number of states would outlaw abortion quickly. But, as long as abortion is legal in some states, we've accomplished little. What are the chances of getting abortion made illegal in California, Massachusetts, or New York? The only winner in this scenario is Greyhound because they'll be selling a ton of tickets as young, pregnant women travel out of state to have abortions.
Why did abortions decline in the Clinton years and surge in the Bush years? Funding social and health programs is both a more compassionate and effective answer to the blight of abortion.
Let's stop trying to feel good and holy about ourselves and start focusing on how we reduce abortions.
Regardless of how we proceed, let's all keep the rhetoric reasonable and respectful - we all need eachother to solve this.
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