By Judie Brown
I was not going to write a commentary on this subject because, as you probably have guessed by now, I cannot talk about candidates due to American Life League's tax status as a nonprofit organization and because our focus is on principle, not politics. It has always been my view that no man or woman who resides in the White House or is elected to any public office will end abortion until the majority of Americans recognize the child in the womb as a person rather than a political issue.
However, there have been far too many Catholics who have e-mailed me privately who are awash in sorrow, dejection and fear. The reason is best exemplified in the following message from a strong Catholic who is currently feeling like a beaten-up wrestler:
I am a practicing Catholic in California and have been saddened to learn that practically all the other Catholics I attend church with each Sunday are voting for pro-choice candidates, voting against a ban on same sex marriage, and justifying it along the way, as are the pastors in many of the surrounding churches. . . I have been made to feel judgmental for my conservative view. What is going on?????
I answered this particular person the same way I have been answering everyone: We are living in times of moral relativism, and the price that faithful people, regardless of their religious affiliation, are paying is painful because we are constantly made to feel like we are either out of step with reality or politically naïve.
It is not so easy to explain why this is so. But I think the crux of the problem is simply that those who have chosen to avoid Christ's truths find it easier to condemn those who are not willing to succumb to this evil rather than admit that their choices are wrong.
Either way, it is imperative to keep our eye on the truth.
Bishops Kevin Farrell and Kevin Vann of Dallas and Forth Worth, Texas, respectively, have written a wonderful statement to the faithful of their dioceses.
In their statement, they make a point that needs to be repeated over and over again.
As they make perfectly clear,
The destruction of the most innocent of human life through abortion and embryonic stem cell research not only undercuts the basic human right to life, but it also subverts and distorts the common good. As Pope John Paul II clearly states:
Disregard for the right to life, precisely because it leads to the killing of the person whom society exists to serve, is what most directly conflicts with the possibility of achieving the common good… It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop. . (The Gospel of Life, 72; 101)
And they point out,
To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or "abortion rights" when there is a morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in the evil – and, therefore, morally impermissible.
Yet I have seen and heard so many misrepresentations of this simple message in the media, from the pulpit and in conversation that it boggles my mind. There seems to be an absolute disconnect when it comes to the intrinsic evil of abortion, euthanasia, infanticide and human embryonic stem cell research and a Catholic's moral obligation to vote according to God's law.
This is the crux of the problem in our culture today. It seems that many are being misled into thinking that all "issues" carry the same weight and that abortion is not the only one we should concern us. It is my humble opinion that the reason for this is twofold:
• silence from the pulpits regarding the fact that every abortion is an act of murder, and
• rejection of Church teaching when that teaching does not conform to the chosen lifestyle of the Catholic in question.
In addition to this problem, I cannot tell you how frequently I have seen quotes from either Pope John Paul II or Cardinal John O'Connor used to defend the position that the "lesser of two evils" is actually the "greater good." While I cannot find that in any of my moral theology textbooks, all of which predate 1964, I am sure such thinking is rampant in our culture and is at the crux of the reason why people like the California Catholic who wrote me feel so downtrodden and rejected.
The more we excuse a little abortion as being better than a lot of abortion, the more confusing it becomes for those who must vote or, more importantly, for those for whom votes are being cast. Politicians always gravitate toward the lowest common denominator, even when that means supporting abortion in certain cases. And we, by our applause and accolades enable this.
To my mind, this is a sign of despair, which is the opposite of hope. It is as if we have given up on personhood and decided to settle for some killing and label it better than nothing. It is not a far stretch from that perspective to the idea that abortion is just a political issue and not all that important in the first place.
As we at American Life League have pointed out in our "Voter Guide," there are four non-negotiable questions upon which there cannot be compromise: abortion, euthanasia, human embryonic stem cell research and cloning. We state,
If a candidate respects the dignity of human beings in some circumstances but not in others, he cannot hold the belief that every human being's life is sacred and inviolable. That candidate, no matter how right he is on other topics, should not receive your vote.
In an increasing number of cases, elections feature two major party candidates, neither of whom is in total agreement with the Church. Some say it is "throwing away your vote" to choose an independent or third-party candidate whose position is consistent with Catholic teachings. But our obligation as Catholics is to vote for the person who reflects Catholic teaching. None of us can control the outcome of an election; each of us can vote for the solidly pro-life candidate.
Section 73 of Pope John Paul II's Evangelium Vitae, which speaks of limiting the harm, is frequently used to justify the "lesser of two evils." But Pope John Paul II did not say it is permissible to vote for a candidate who violates one of the four non-negotiables.
Why not vote for a candidate who promises to do his best to eliminate the harm? That is, the candidate who promises to do his best to make abortion illegal? The goal, after all, is not to limit abortion; the goal is to do away with it altogether. If your well-formed Catholic conscience tells you the independent or third-party candidate is the best choice for the babies, then that's a pretty good indication of what you should do in the voting booth on Election Day.
The bottom line is that regardless of what the popular thought or philosophy may be among the so-called Catholics like Nancy Pelosi , Father Michael Pfleger, Douglas Kmiec and others, the truth is unchangeable. As pro-life Americans and as people of faith, we are called to do that which is in harmony with God's laws, and if we do that, then our conscience will be clear and our action will be correct. To do anything other than that is to succumb to the despairing attitudes of those who have chosen to set aside the truth for the sake of popular trends.
Judie Brown is president of American Life League and a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
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