Can Catholics Vote For Pro-Choice Politicians?

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In this hotly-contested debate, the charge is often leveled that people who answer "no" to the question "Can a catholic vote for a pro-choice politician" are simply republican supporters who believe this issue will help their candidate of choice win. Therefore, the argument goes, republicans are really republicans at heart, not truly pro-life.

Such a motivation is not truly Catholic, of course, for Catholics are bigger than any particular political party. And it is ironic that individuals who support republican candidates because they are pro-life are labelled "partisan", while individuals who support democrat candidates despite being pro-abortion are seemingly exempt from such criticism.

Speaking personally, and - I believe - thinking about this question in a way proper to a Catholic, I would be thrilled if both republicans and democrats vied with one another to be the most pro-life party. Sadly, however, this is not the case. One could fairly say, I submit, that often republicans are reluctantly pro-life, but democrats are very often energetically pro-abortion. In consequence, a simple survey of both parties reveals that one of them is closer to the Catholic position of supporting unborn human life than the other party is.

In my next argument, I will briefly compare the two 2008 platforms of the republican and democrat parties to illustrate my point.

In conclusion, if the republican party wishes to be a more welcoming party to Catholics, it must never hesitate to follow through on its promises. If the democrat party wishes to be a more welcoming party to Catholics, it must seriously reconsider its unabashed support for and expansions of the "right" of women to have abortions.

Think about it in this way: a Catholic who supports a pro-choice politician has basically admitted that nothing else this candidate would do could endanger that Catholic voting for him, but a Catholic who supports a pro-life politician always holds out the possibility that should that candidate become pro-abortion, he will lose that Catholic's vote.

Thus I think it should be more clear that many, many republicans who support pro-life candidates are not republican first, they are pro-life first, as all Catholics should be.