According to the Pew Research Center, Catholics have voted pretty evenly for the Republican Presidential candidate and the Democratic candidates in ‘00 and ‘04. To be precise, Catholics voted 47%-50% Bush-Gore in 2000 and 52-47 Bush-Kerry in 2004.

Bush is pro-life. Gore and Kerry are both pro-abortion. The Catholic Church is pro-life. As it says in the Catechism:

Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.

It’s pretty imperative there. It says human life must be protected from the moment of conception.

So why wasn’t the vote more like 100-0, 100-0 in both elections?

Do I sound naive and too absolute? Well, abortion is one of the most serious issues for Catholics today. Some Catholic bishops go as far as to say that Catholic politicians who support a pro-choice position should be encouraged not to take communion.

Writes Bishop Paul S. Loverde in the Catholic Herald:

Prior to the 2004 presidential elections, the Administrative Board of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops published a small booklet entitled Faithful Citizenship: Civic Responsibility for a New Millennium, the purpose of which is to identify those issues which should be the concern of all Catholics. They include the protection of human life, the promotion of family life, the pursuit of social justice, and the practice of global solidarity. These four principles are just as important today in identifying the issues by which we should judge those who run for elected office.

The foundation for these principles is the first, the protection of human life, since without it the other three would be rendered meaningless. If we do not uphold and protect human life in its beginning at conception, there will be no life to uphold and protect thereafter.

If the protection of human life is vitally important - and of course it is - why do so many Catholics, who believe life begins at conception, even think about voting Democrat?

There’s the argument that “well, I believe abortion is wrong, but I don’t want to push my beliefs on others.” Well, the belief that murder is wrong is pushed on us, and no one has a problem with that.

If you believe that life begins at conception, then it follows that abortion is murder. And stopping murder is a belief that can be pushed onto others.

This irrefutable logic suggests to me that some people who say they don’t want to push their abortion beliefs on others don’t really believe abortion is that big of an issue, or even believe that it’s that wrong at all.

That’s the problem. They get lost in “well, I think this is also an issue that we should care about….a candidate isn’t only about abortion.”

There is more to politics to abortion. But while abortion is legal, we have to vote absolutely against it.

If Catholics only voted for candidates who were pro-life, would McCain be floating out a pro-choice VP candidate? Would he even think about it?

No!

But how do Catholics vote? Around 50-50 in the last two presidential elections!

Are you kidding me?!!!

As I mentioned, McCain is possibly planning to pick Tom Ridge as his vice presidential candidate - I think he’s pro-choice. I have definitively said that if McCain chooses a pro-choice running mate, I will not vote for him. I will absolutely not vote for a pro-choice presidential candidate.

My brother, formerly head of a pro-life organization at a public university, said that he still would. Why? He wants to beat Obama, and McCain/pro-choice VP would be the lesser of the two evils. He says that not voting for McCain would be the equivalent of voting for Obama.

This is the wrong way of thinking. Why? Because Pro-lifers have to take a bleeping stand. We have to show conservatives and Republicans that we will not accept anything other than a pro-life candidate. Otherwise, the more leverage you give to moderates like McCain, the more they will take, until they don’t feel they have to be particularly pro-life to get your vote, and the party won’t feel like it has to nominate pro-life candidates.

It’s insane. My brother is one of the most pro-life people I know, and he still would vote for a ticket with a pro-choice VP.

Ugh.

Abortion is high priority. People are dying all the time. They’re very young, but they’re people, and their youth just makes them that much more innocent.

Catholics voting for Democrats have probably taken an attitude of “I shouldn’t force my beliefs on others,” or “there are more issues than abortion.” But when it comes to abortion, ending the legal murder of babies is a belief we SHOULD force on people, and it is an issue of GREAT IMPORTANCE.

I’m not a perfect Catholic. And it’s not my place to judge the Catholics who get it wrong. But I can reserve my vote only for pro-life candidates, I can let politicians know with my tiny fraction of the democracy we have, I’m not willing to accept a candidate who is not as avid as he should be in protecting babies who need us to live.

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