This particular topic needs little introduction, yet it is upsetting to see how many Catholics can justify voting for pro-abortion politicians despite the Church’s clear stand on this fundamental issue. We can easily see that the Catholic Church has opposed abortion from the beginning; but relativistic modes of thinking and a profound misunderstanding of freedom now plague many in the West.
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It’s worth looking at what Pope Benedict XVI said on this subject while he was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith:
“A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion. if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.”
When the Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about participation in social life, it talks about “the common good” and the duties that those in authority have for upholding the common good. It’s clear that the fundamental rights of human persons, even those who are still in the womb, must be protected.
1907 “First, the common good presupposes respect for the person as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person.”
The Catechism also hits upon social justice, noting that “society ensures social justice when it provides the conditions that allow associations or individuals to obtain what is their due,” and one would presume that the right to life is at the very top of what is their due.
1930 “Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy. If it does not respect them, authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the Church’s role to remind men of good will of these rights and to distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims.”
A politician – even if he has many other attractive qualities/positions – who has a track record of supporting the rights of abortion, is an individual that Catholics can’t support. A leader of society who allows innocent children to be murdered, without doing anything concretely to stop it, has flaws in his moral reasoning that should pose a serious concern for all Christians.
