No in Every Circumstance I've Seen

For Catholics, the default answer to the question “Can I

Vote for a Pro-Choice Politician” is an emphatic “No.” This is because abortion

involves the killing of an innocent human life, a human tragedy that we must

never tolerate. Moreover, in America ,

legalized abortion has resulted in the deaths of almost fifty million

individuals. No other moral issue facing America

today threatens, to the same degree, as many members of its society.

Abortion strikes at the right to life – the foundation for

all other rights, in much the same way that slavery opposed the dignity of the

human person, and rightfully took priority, for a time, over the other

injustices inflicted upon the marginalized of society. For a Catholic, being

truly pro-life must include defending the right to life of all people, born and

unborn. It also must include rendering assistance to women facing problem

pregnancies, and include addressing the economic and social factors that cause

women to seek abortion as the solution. The Catholic solution has always been

“both/and” – we must both directly oppose abortion and care for those who are

tempted to seek it.

Therefore, in the vast majority of cases, Catholics ought

not to vote for a politician who favors the status

quo, and certainly not vote for those who would allow or support the proliferation

of abortion access.

In

the most recent voting guide issued by the American Bishops in 2007, Faithful Citizenship ( PDF ) says: “a

candidate’s position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as

support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a

voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support” (#42).

In

the same document, the Bishops say the first question each Catholic must ask their

candidates is: “[Will you] Address the preeminent requirement to protect the

weakest in our midst—innocent unborn children—by restricting and bringing to an

end the destruction of unborn children through abortion” (p. 29). This is the

first answer any politician must answer before he can presume a vote from a

Catholic.

Catholic

teaching does admit the possibility of voting for a Pro-choice politician, for very

grave reasons, and   specifically not to “advance narrow interests or

partisan preferences or to ignore a fundamental moral evil” (#35). This

exception addresses the scenario (becoming more common) where both

candidates support or promote abortion.

Numerous

bishops have stated that no other moral evil is as pressing in American

society than abortion, for instance the bishops of New York, “The inalienable

right to life of every innocent human person outweighs other concerns where

Catholics may use prudential judgment, such as how best to meet the needs of

the poor or to increase access to health care for all” ( source ).

If

Catholics make it clear to their representatives that they will not tolerate the

killing of innocent life, they will positively transform the culture and be a

witness to the teachings of Christ as well as the love which Christians are called to live.