Can Catholics Vote For Pro-Choice Politicians?

Can Catholics Vote For Pro-Choice Politicians?

“They don’t vote as a block anymore.” These words were recently spoken by Monsignor Joseph Rebman about Catholic voters. Once a powerful demographic, Catholics today are bitterly divided over whether it is acceptable to vote for pro-choice politicians. Many Catholics are proudly progressive, but others insist that abortion is non-negotiable. What are the spiritual implications of a Catholic vote?

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Jon OBrien

Catholics Can Support Pro Choice Politicians in Good Conscience

Jon O'Brien

President, Catholics for Choice

Catholics can rest assured that they are in good company, and in good conscience, in supporting prochoice policymakers. Church teachings on moral decision-making and abortion are complex and far more nuanced than the monolithic teachings as represented by the bishops. In Catholic theology there is room for the acceptance of policies that favor access to the full range of reproductive health options, including contraception and abortion.

For example, despite what many conservative Catholics may want us to believe, there is no firm position within the Catholic church on when the fetus becomes a person. In its last definitive statement on abortion, the 1974 Declaration on Procured Abortion, the Vatican acknowledged that it does not know when the fetus becomes a person: “There is not a unanimous tradition on this point and authors are as yet in disagreement.”

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