Here's one!
Unusual? I imagine so. I suspect many more pro-choice Catholics will be comfortable supporting President Obama than pro-life ones.
What is a little unusual is that the author of this essay, Charles J. Reid, Jr., is a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, a Catholic institution. My impression is that strongly Catholic employers are not terribly happy about these kinds of public dissensions on abortion.
Professor Reid is pro-life, but he argues that President Obama's attempts to address poverty and reform the health care system are more likely to save unborn lives than a single-minded focus on overturning Roe v. Wade, especially when coupled with a political philosophy of "Randian individualism and the unfettered quest for riches above every human value."
"Fight poverty, and you fight abortion. So, I am voting for life-- Obama-Biden 2012."
Professor Reid also spends time describing President Obama's earlier life connections to the Catholic Church, in particular the part that focuses on social justice and poverty reduction. He's persuasive-- but maybe more persuasive to people who are on the more pro-choice end of the spectrum and already inclined to vote for President Obama.
Pro-choice Democrats love the idea that the term pro-life should be framed much more broadly to include proactive reduction of poverty, the protection of the social safety net, pregnancy and young-mother support, effective sex education, affordable access to effective contraception, gender equality, etc. Addressing all of these things-- rather than the myopic and reactive quest to stop any unplanned pregnancy from being aborted-- will more effectively reduce abortions and achieve social justice in line with Catholic social thought.
Just today, Thomas Friedman of The New York Times published a column making the Democratic "pro-life" case, even to include things like gun control and environmental protections:
Essay by Charles J. Reid at Huff Post Religion blog (October 26, 2012): Catholic, Pro-Life and Voting for Barack Obama
Column by Thomas Friedman at The New York Times (October 27, 2012): Why I Am Pro-Life
Unusual? I imagine so. I suspect many more pro-choice Catholics will be comfortable supporting President Obama than pro-life ones.
What is a little unusual is that the author of this essay, Charles J. Reid, Jr., is a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, a Catholic institution. My impression is that strongly Catholic employers are not terribly happy about these kinds of public dissensions on abortion.
Professor Reid is pro-life, but he argues that President Obama's attempts to address poverty and reform the health care system are more likely to save unborn lives than a single-minded focus on overturning Roe v. Wade, especially when coupled with a political philosophy of "Randian individualism and the unfettered quest for riches above every human value."
"Fight poverty, and you fight abortion. So, I am voting for life-- Obama-Biden 2012."
Professor Reid also spends time describing President Obama's earlier life connections to the Catholic Church, in particular the part that focuses on social justice and poverty reduction. He's persuasive-- but maybe more persuasive to people who are on the more pro-choice end of the spectrum and already inclined to vote for President Obama.
Pro-choice Democrats love the idea that the term pro-life should be framed much more broadly to include proactive reduction of poverty, the protection of the social safety net, pregnancy and young-mother support, effective sex education, affordable access to effective contraception, gender equality, etc. Addressing all of these things-- rather than the myopic and reactive quest to stop any unplanned pregnancy from being aborted-- will more effectively reduce abortions and achieve social justice in line with Catholic social thought.
Just today, Thomas Friedman of The New York Times published a column making the Democratic "pro-life" case, even to include things like gun control and environmental protections:
The term “pro-life” should be a shorthand for respect for the sanctity of life. But I will not let that label apply to people for whom sanctity for life begins at conception and ends at birth. What about the rest of life? Respect for the sanctity of life, if you believe that it begins at conception, cannot end at birth. That radical narrowing of our concern for the sanctity of life is leading to terrible distortions in our society.
Respect for life has to include respect for how that life is lived, enhanced and protected-- not only at the moment of conception but afterward, in the course of life.Links:
Essay by Charles J. Reid at Huff Post Religion blog (October 26, 2012): Catholic, Pro-Life and Voting for Barack Obama
Column by Thomas Friedman at The New York Times (October 27, 2012): Why I Am Pro-Life
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