Q. In an October 2008 pastoral letter, several bishops wrote, “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.”
Are the bishops correctly stating the teaching of our Catholic faith? I live in an area where it certainly appears that the majority of Catholics voting choose the pro-abortion candidate over the pro-life candidate.
A. Yes, the bishops are correctly stating the teaching of our Catholic faith, but I am not sure the faithful who vote are paying close attention. It is true: no one is ever allowed to formally cooperate in evil, and to the extent possible all should also avoid material cooperation in evil. A politician who supports legislation that is permissive of abortion is cooperating in evil.
Those who vote for such politicians — all other things equal — also have some level of cooperation in that evil.
The statement you quote from the bishops in 2008 makes perfect sense to me. However, the difficulty lies in the interpretation of this phrase, “when there is a morally acceptable alternative.”
For some folks, the formation of their conscience is such that they will favor the pro-abortion politician who campaigns against global warming over the pro-life politician who is against mandatory increase of the minimum wage, because the pro-life politician who is against mandatory increase of the minimum wage — in their opinion — is not a morally acceptable alternative.
If you’re making $100 an hour, maybe you do not understand that; however, if you are making $7 an hour, you might understand that.
So what can we do? Pray and teach, and remind everyone of what St. John Paul II said on Oct. 7, 1979, on the Washington Mall: “And so, we will stand up every time that human life is threatened. When the sacredness of life before birth is attacked, we will stand up and proclaim that no one ever has the authority to destroy unborn life.”
How many innocent people have died this past year in the United States because of global warming, immigration problems, minimum wage issues, unemployment, etc.? I do not know. In my opinion, one would be too many. But I do know how many have been killed by abortion in the United States since 1973: 56 million.
I think a politician who is in favor of legal abortion has bad judgment and is not trustworthy to care for the common good. Remember, if you do not have a right to life, no other right matters.