DFW bishops to Catholics: Voting for pro-choice candidates is “morally impermissible”

by Vince Leibowitz of Capitol Annex

In a two-page encyclical issued last week, the Bishops of the Dallas and Forth Worth dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church decried pro-choice political candidates and told church members that voting for pro-choice candidates was “morally impermissible.”

The document uses the word “evil” no less than 16 times to describe abortion and embryonic stem cell research.

The encyclical urged Dallas and Fort Worth Catholics to “promote the culture of life in our nation,” and called abortion “the defining moral issue” of today and the last 35 years:

Therefore, we cannot make more clear the seriousness of the overriding issue of abortion – while not the “only issue” – it is the defining moral issue, not only today, but of the last 35 years. Since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, more than 48 million innocent lives have been lost. Each year in our nation more than one million lives are lost through legalized abortion. Countless other lives are also lost through embryonic stem cell research. In the coming months our nation will once again elect our political leaders. This electoral cycle affords us an opportunity to promote the culture of life in our nation.

While the document noted that Catholics should be concerned with social welfare issues like immigration, the poor, and healthcare–as well as the solvency of the economy and the war on terror–Catholics should separate those matters of “purdential judgment” from issues involving “intrinsic evils:”

As Catholics we are faced with a number of issues that are of concern and should be addressed, such as immigration reform, healthcare, the economy and its solvency, care and concern for the poor, and the war on terror. As Catholics we must be concerned about these issues and work to see that just solutions are brought about. There are many possible solutions to these issues and there can be reasonable debate among Catholics on how to best approach and solve them. These are matters of “prudential judgment.” But let us be clear: issues of prudential judgment are not morally equivalent to issues involving intrinsic evils. No matter how right a given candidate is on any of these issues, it does not outweigh a candidate’s unacceptable position in favor of an intrinsic evil such as abortion or the protection of “abortion rights.”

The encyclical went on to tell Catholics that it is never appropriate for Catholics to support a candidate who supports an “intrinsic evil” such as abortion even if the voter doesn’t agree with the candidate’s position on that issue. In short, the document tells Catholics that no intrinsic evil outweighs the issue of abortion, and that if both candidates support “this intrinsic evil,” a Catholic must try to “limit the evil done:”

The only moral possibilities for a Catholic to be able to vote in good conscience for a candidate who supports this intrinsic evil are the following:

a. If both candidates running for office support abortion or “abortion rights,” a Catholic would be forced to then look at the other important issues and through their vote try to limit the evil done; or,

b. If another intrinsic evil outweighs the evil of abortion. While this is sound moral reasoning, there are no “truly grave moral” or “proportionate” reasons, singularly or combined, that could outweigh the millions of innocent human lives that are directly killed by legal abortion each year.

Finally, the document notes:

To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or “abortion rights” when there is a morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in the evil – and, therefore, morally impermissible.

Here is what I find interesting: the Bishops say that it is “morally impermissible” to vote for a candidate who is pro-choice, as long as there is a morally acceptable alternative.

The reality is that, under the definition of the Roman Catholic Church, there are almost no morally acceptable alternative candidates in any race anywhere in the nation.

Even the vast majority of Republicans support abortion in cases of rape and incest, and to save the life of the mother. The Roman Catholic church, however, makes no exceptions for abortions in any of these cases.

Therefore, except for a few wingnut candidates like Sarah Palin and State Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston), who believe abortion should be illegal in all instances, American Catholics are between a rock and a hard place. Almost every politician, Republican, Democratic or otherwise, believes that there should be exceptions concerning abortions in the case of rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother.

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