Can Catholics Vote For Pro-Choice Politicians?

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Here’s a premise: If as a matter of faith Catholics may not vote for a candidate who favors abortion rights, the Obama-Biden ticket is in trouble.

But whereas the first clause of the premise is probably correct, the second probably is not. A careful reading of Church teaching makes it clear that faithful Catholics must not vote for the Democratic presidential ticket, but it seems just as clear that a large number of Catholic voters are prepared to support Obama-Biden anyway.

It’s an important matter politically, since in many of the so-called Swing States, Catholic voters make up a significant part of the electorate. By some estimates, among undecided voters nationwide, 1 in 5 is a Catholic, and if every Catholic who votes in November follows Church teaching, McCain-Palin will win.

But my purpose in writing this essay isn’t to predict the results on Election Day. What I hope to do is demonstrate why the abortion issue is so important and how the magisterium (the teaching authority) of the Roman Catholic Church directs Catholic voters in choosing among candidates.

The question proposed to me by Opposing Views—the one that is this essay’s title—is not stated quite right. It ought to be: “May Catholics vote for a pro-abortion politician?”

The word “may” is important, obviously because any Catholic American, possessing the liberty of citizenship, can cast a vote for whomever he pleases. He can, that is, if he goes to the polls on Election Day and pulls the lever—for Barack Obama, say. But the question must go to religious propriety, not mere libertarian ability.

And the phrase “anti-abortion” is also important. The Catholic Church is not opposed to choice; it’s opposed to bad choices—specifically to sin. And the term “pro-choice” is a euphemism for a very grave sin—so grave that Catholics cease, in effect, to be Catholics if they vote for a pro-abortion candidate because he is pro-abortion.