Catholics for Choice Statement On the Common Good: Five
Inconvenient Truths for the Bishops |
Site last published: 01/06/10
Catholics for Choice Statement On the Common Good: Five Inconvenient Truths for the Bishops
November 12,2008
Washington,
DC—Jon O’Brien,
president of Catholics for Choice, issued a
statement today in response to discussions about
abortion at the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops fall assembly.
"It is by now well-known that the majority of Catholics disagree with the dictates of the Catholic hierarchy on matters related to sexual and reproductive health. In addition, the vast majority of Catholics do not believe they are under a religious obligation to vote on issues the way their bishops recommend. The election of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden proves this. Despite attempts by about two dozen bishops to make this election about abortion and abortion alone, the exit polls showed Catholics voted 54 percent for the prochoice Democratic nominee and 45 percent for antichoice Republican nominee, Senator John McCain.
"In the coming months and years, we would like to see the bishops focus on a pastoral approach to the common good that speaks to the majority of Catholics who voted in favor of a president who shares their values on sexual and reproductive health—as well as many other issues.
"In doing so, the bishops conference should consider the following inconvenient truths:
"It is by now well-known that the majority of Catholics disagree with the dictates of the Catholic hierarchy on matters related to sexual and reproductive health. In addition, the vast majority of Catholics do not believe they are under a religious obligation to vote on issues the way their bishops recommend. The election of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden proves this. Despite attempts by about two dozen bishops to make this election about abortion and abortion alone, the exit polls showed Catholics voted 54 percent for the prochoice Democratic nominee and 45 percent for antichoice Republican nominee, Senator John McCain.
"In the coming months and years, we would like to see the bishops focus on a pastoral approach to the common good that speaks to the majority of Catholics who voted in favor of a president who shares their values on sexual and reproductive health—as well as many other issues.
"In doing so, the bishops conference should consider the following inconvenient truths:
- Despite the fact
that a few bishops, less than 10 percent, tried
to make this election about abortion, Catholics
ignored them and voted, as did the rest of the
country, with a firm eye on the economy,
affordable health care and the two wars. The vast
majority of bishops either stayed silent about
abortion or issued statements in support of the
bishops’ 2007 document, Faithful
Citizenship. They were right not to
politicize the issue of Communion and the
ultra-conservative bishops should follow their
lead.
- As the
conservative bishops who rejected
Faithful
Citizenship showed, the USCCB does not have
the final word on how Catholics should approach
elections and other important decisions.
While Faithful
Citizenship is not a binding document, it is
a relatively moderate and thoughtful approach, an
approach that some bishops may need to consider
if they are not to further alienate American
Catholics.
- Catholic voters
and prochoice Catholic policy makers understand
the importance of the church’s teaching on
conscience in guiding them on the most important
matters. In voting the way they do in elections
and when making policy, Catholics follow their
own consciences and respect the consciences of
others.
- As does the
country, the bishops need to move on from the
divisiveness of the election, recognize why they
had so little impact and not seek to spin their
way out of it by blaming an uninformed and
distracted electorate.
- Americans, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, want to see policies that reduce the need for abortion. The question is not how many abortions there are, but about providing the support that women need, whether they chose to continue a pregnancy to term or not. Bishops need to support the common good and focus on reducing the need for abortion by encouraging comprehensive sex education and access to reproductive health care, including contraceptives and condoms. A vital first step would be to start lobbying the Vatican to reopen the debate on family planning and the use of condoms to prevent HIV.
-###-
Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to women’s well being and respect and affirm the moral capacity of women and men to make decisions about their lives.