York Daily Record: Voters weigh 'life' issues: Democrats vie for the Catholic swing bloc. |
Site last published: 01/06/10
York Daily Record: Voters weigh 'life' issues: Democrats vie for the Catholic swing bloc.
October 06,2008
By: Melissa Nann Burke
Oct. 6--The priests at Leroy Hanson's parish asked those in the pews to vote their "Catholic conscience" in the presidential election next month.
Hanson, a retired engineer, said his conscience tells him to vote for Republican John McCain to end legal protections for abortion.
"I could be tolerant of some (departures from church teaching) but not partial-birth abortion," said Hanson, 74, of Hallam.
To win Catholics in key states such as Pennsylvania, the Democrats' strategy is in part to broaden the agenda to issues beyond abortion upon which Catholics can base their votes.
White Catholics especially have been an important voting bloc in recent presidential elections because they tend to swing their votes between the parties.
In the hard-fought, southcentral region of Pennsylvania, where the population and economy are diverse, McCain leads Obama just 43 to 42 percent, according to a Franklin & Marshall College Poll published Tuesday.
Last week, Nicholas Cafardi became the second high-profile Catholic legal scholar and anti-abortion advocate to endorse Obama. He argues the Illinois Democrat's plan to reduce abortions will have more impact in the short term than trying to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Cafardi, who is former dean of the Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, also emphasized Obama's desire to stanch other "intrinsic evils" -- unjust war, torture and ignoring the poor.
As the Roman Catholic Church observed "respect life"
Sunday during the weekend, some lay Catholics said abortion is a non-negotiable matter.
"I don't think Obama has enough experience. Plus, abortion," said John Williams, 40, citing his top voting issues on the way to Mass at St. Joseph Church in Dallastown.
Williams has never voted for an abortion-rights candidate, he said.
Last fall, the U.S. bishops -- including Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Harrisburg -- issued a document saying Catholics cannot vote for a candidate who favors "intrinsic evils, such as abortion or racism, if the voter's intent is to support that position."
However, it's permissible to vote for such a candidate for other "morally grave" reasons, the bishops said. They urged Catholics to also consider issues such as torture and genocide.
Instead of a homily Sunday, Bishop Joseph Martino of the Diocese of Scranton ordered parish priests to read a letter directing Catholic voters to consider abortion above other issues.
"Being 'right' on taxes, education, health care, immigration and the economy fails to make up for the error of disregarding the value of human life," Martino wrote. "It is a tragic irony that 'pro-choice' candidates have come to support homicide -- the gravest injustice a society can tolerate -- in the name of 'social justice.' "
Small-business man Gerrit Strathmeyer, 52, of Manchester Township does not take his church's moral teachings into the voting booth with him, he said. He plans to vote for McCain because of his concern for government spending.
"I try not to mix political stuff and church," Strathmeyer said after Mass at St. Rose of Lima Church in York.
Ryan Sattler, a Catholic in Springettsbury Township who supports Obama, said, "The Catholic Church has been condemned over last couple of elections to be a one-issue church.
"If our church leaders really want to be the voice for the voiceless, the voice for the poor and for those who really aren't getting a fair shake in today's society, then it has to be broader than the pro-life movement in regards to how you pick a candidate."
771-2024; mburke@ydr.com
RESPECT LIFE SUNDAY
Coinciding with "respect life" Sunday, Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia urged Catholics "to help build a culture in which every human life without exception is respected and defended."
Rigali chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
On "respect life" Sunday, parishes and groups often sponsor prayer services, conferences and/or events such as the York County Life Chain organized Sunday afternoon by Human Life Services in York.
CANDIDATES ON ABORTION
McCain
Republican presidential candidate John McCain supports overturning Roe v. Wade and banning abortion except in cases of rape, incest or threat to the life of the mother.
During his 2000 primary campaign, McCain opposed a repeal of Roe v. Wade because it would "force X number of women in America to (undergo) illegal and dangerous operations."
He has an anti-abortion voting record and has promised, if elected, to appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of John Roberts Jr. and Samuel Alito, who "strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States and do not legislate from the bench."
In 2003, he voted to ban partial-birth abortions, keeping in line with his anti-abortion voting record. McCain supports abstinence-based initiatives and has said that he hopes there might be "a point where (Roe v. Wade) is irrelevant . . . because abortion is no longer necessary."
Obama
Democratic presidential candidate Obama supports abortion rights. In the Illinois State Senate, he voted against a bill to ban late-term abortions because, he said, it did not contain a clause to protect the life of the mother.
During an April 2007 Democratic debate, Obama said, "I trust women to make these decisions in conjunction with their doctors and their families and their clergy."
At an April 2008 candidates' forum on faith and compassion, Obama said "there is a moral dimension to abortion, which I think that all too often those of us who are pro-choice have not talked about or tried to tamp down."
To reduce abortions, Obama advocates a comprehensive sex-education program in which both abstinence and contraception are priorities. He also says, "We should make sure that adoption is an option."
Source: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
PA. ABORTION VIEWS
Percent of Pennsylvanians who say abortion should be:
--- Legal in most cases: 36 percent
--- Illegal in most cases: 26 percent
--- Legal in all cases: 17 percent
--- Illegal in all cases: 15 percent
--- Don't know/Refused: 5 percent
Source: Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey with a sample size of 1,896 and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points
Oct. 6--The priests at Leroy Hanson's parish asked those in the pews to vote their "Catholic conscience" in the presidential election next month.
Hanson, a retired engineer, said his conscience tells him to vote for Republican John McCain to end legal protections for abortion.
"I could be tolerant of some (departures from church teaching) but not partial-birth abortion," said Hanson, 74, of Hallam.
To win Catholics in key states such as Pennsylvania, the Democrats' strategy is in part to broaden the agenda to issues beyond abortion upon which Catholics can base their votes.
White Catholics especially have been an important voting bloc in recent presidential elections because they tend to swing their votes between the parties.
In the hard-fought, southcentral region of Pennsylvania, where the population and economy are diverse, McCain leads Obama just 43 to 42 percent, according to a Franklin & Marshall College Poll published Tuesday.
Last week, Nicholas Cafardi became the second high-profile Catholic legal scholar and anti-abortion advocate to endorse Obama. He argues the Illinois Democrat's plan to reduce abortions will have more impact in the short term than trying to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Cafardi, who is former dean of the Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, also emphasized Obama's desire to stanch other "intrinsic evils" -- unjust war, torture and ignoring the poor.
As the Roman Catholic Church observed "respect life"
Sunday during the weekend, some lay Catholics said abortion is a non-negotiable matter.
"I don't think Obama has enough experience. Plus, abortion," said John Williams, 40, citing his top voting issues on the way to Mass at St. Joseph Church in Dallastown.
Williams has never voted for an abortion-rights candidate, he said.
Last fall, the U.S. bishops -- including Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Harrisburg -- issued a document saying Catholics cannot vote for a candidate who favors "intrinsic evils, such as abortion or racism, if the voter's intent is to support that position."
However, it's permissible to vote for such a candidate for other "morally grave" reasons, the bishops said. They urged Catholics to also consider issues such as torture and genocide.
Instead of a homily Sunday, Bishop Joseph Martino of the Diocese of Scranton ordered parish priests to read a letter directing Catholic voters to consider abortion above other issues.
"Being 'right' on taxes, education, health care, immigration and the economy fails to make up for the error of disregarding the value of human life," Martino wrote. "It is a tragic irony that 'pro-choice' candidates have come to support homicide -- the gravest injustice a society can tolerate -- in the name of 'social justice.' "
Small-business man Gerrit Strathmeyer, 52, of Manchester Township does not take his church's moral teachings into the voting booth with him, he said. He plans to vote for McCain because of his concern for government spending.
"I try not to mix political stuff and church," Strathmeyer said after Mass at St. Rose of Lima Church in York.
Ryan Sattler, a Catholic in Springettsbury Township who supports Obama, said, "The Catholic Church has been condemned over last couple of elections to be a one-issue church.
"If our church leaders really want to be the voice for the voiceless, the voice for the poor and for those who really aren't getting a fair shake in today's society, then it has to be broader than the pro-life movement in regards to how you pick a candidate."
771-2024; mburke@ydr.com
RESPECT LIFE SUNDAY
Coinciding with "respect life" Sunday, Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia urged Catholics "to help build a culture in which every human life without exception is respected and defended."
Rigali chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
On "respect life" Sunday, parishes and groups often sponsor prayer services, conferences and/or events such as the York County Life Chain organized Sunday afternoon by Human Life Services in York.
CANDIDATES ON ABORTION
McCain
Republican presidential candidate John McCain supports overturning Roe v. Wade and banning abortion except in cases of rape, incest or threat to the life of the mother.
During his 2000 primary campaign, McCain opposed a repeal of Roe v. Wade because it would "force X number of women in America to (undergo) illegal and dangerous operations."
He has an anti-abortion voting record and has promised, if elected, to appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of John Roberts Jr. and Samuel Alito, who "strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States and do not legislate from the bench."
In 2003, he voted to ban partial-birth abortions, keeping in line with his anti-abortion voting record. McCain supports abstinence-based initiatives and has said that he hopes there might be "a point where (Roe v. Wade) is irrelevant . . . because abortion is no longer necessary."
Obama
Democratic presidential candidate Obama supports abortion rights. In the Illinois State Senate, he voted against a bill to ban late-term abortions because, he said, it did not contain a clause to protect the life of the mother.
During an April 2007 Democratic debate, Obama said, "I trust women to make these decisions in conjunction with their doctors and their families and their clergy."
At an April 2008 candidates' forum on faith and compassion, Obama said "there is a moral dimension to abortion, which I think that all too often those of us who are pro-choice have not talked about or tried to tamp down."
To reduce abortions, Obama advocates a comprehensive sex-education program in which both abstinence and contraception are priorities. He also says, "We should make sure that adoption is an option."
Source: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
PA. ABORTION VIEWS
Percent of Pennsylvanians who say abortion should be:
--- Legal in most cases: 36 percent
--- Illegal in most cases: 26 percent
--- Legal in all cases: 17 percent
--- Illegal in all cases: 15 percent
--- Don't know/Refused: 5 percent
Source: Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey with a sample size of 1,896 and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points