U.S. National Right to Life Announces Endorsement of George W. Bush for President

WASHINGTON, February 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Today, National Right to Life PAC announced its endorsement of George W. Bush for President of the United States. "President Bush has shown himself to be a great pro-life president," stated Carol Tobias, political director of the National Right to Life Committee. "He has backed with actions his statement that unborn children should be 'welcomed in life and protected in law.'"

Article is here.

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45@hotmail.com), February 04, 2004

Answers

Bush campaign position papers are here: http://www.georgewbush.com/

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45@hotmail.com), February 04, 2004.

DUH!!! Who else are they going to endorse. It's not like pro-lifers have a flood of candidates to look at.

-- Scott (papasquat10@hotmail.com), February 04, 2004.

Be wary my friends! Bush is no friend for Catholics. He is a man that supports abortion in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother. That means he supports baby-killing some of the time, just not all of the time like others. That means: Catholics don't vote for him. He has to support the Catholic Church's position 100% to get that vote, otherwise we are voting for a man who supports sin. See how the situation unfolds. And arguments like, "Well, if I don't vote for him than so-and-so is going to get elected, and he support abortions is all cases!" That is called the Arnold Swartzenegger argument. No, my brethren, a lesser evil is still evil. Find a candidate that supports the position of the Church fully and he gets your vote. If you can't find him, then pray. That's not wasted. Chances are that if you are faithful to Christ your choices for cadidates will diminish in this country in the near future. Do you think St. Peter would have said if their were elections, "Well, Nero is our best choice this election. I mean, he really is helping the economy these days." We're Catholics! We don't care about parties or politics, we care about souls.

-- Sean (s22w22@yahoo.com), February 06, 2004.

[Moderator, please delete the above post, which has one HTML error involving italics. I hope I get it right this time ...]

Jmj

Sean, in case you think that you have shared pure facts with everyone, I need to let you know that you are mistaken. You have shared mostly opinions (plus at least one factual error), and no one needs to agree with your opinions. Let me analyze some of the things you wrote, because I have to oppose you in the strongest possible way -- for the sake of unborn babies and their expectant mothers:

1. "Bush is no friend for Catholics. He is a man that supports abortion in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother."

Response: The fact that President Bush [kindly refer to him with respect] has a mental block on these exceptions is a bad thing, but it does not render him "no friend [of] Catholics." No way! In fact, there has never been a President who is more of a friend of Catholics -- except arguably Kennedy and Reagan. (And I hesitate to include Kennedy, despite his claiming to be Catholic, since he was a poor role model [womanizer] and said that he would have acted against his own religious beliefs in some hypothetical cases.) The president seeks out advice from notable Catholics -- having some in his cabinet and others for informal counsel (such as Deal Hudson and Linda Chavez -- 100% pro-life).

2. "That means [Pres. Bush] supports baby-killing some of the time, just not all of the time like others. That means: Catholics don't vote for him. He has to support the Catholic Church's position 100% to get that vote ..."

You are free to follow the option of not voting for him, but Catholics have no obligation to imitate you -- and I hope that none do, because it would guarantee an even MORE pro-death America, if everyone followed your example.

You are wrong to think that it is morally wrong to vote for Pres. Bush or other "imperfect" candidates. No pope or bishop has ever said such a thing as you have said. Moreover, Fr. Frank Pavone (head of "Priests for Life" and an official in a Vatican dicastery) has stated this: "[When faced with two candidates, neither of whom is perfect on the subject of abortion,] it is morally acceptable to vote for the candidate who will do less harm. ... [B]y your vote, you can keep the worse person out. And trying to do that is not only legitimate, but good."

Sean, I strongly recommend that you read Fr. Pavone's whole essay on this subject of voting -- and as much of the other things you have time to read at www.priestsforlife.org.

In a "Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters" at the EWTN Internet site, I found the following:

8. What if none of the candidates are completely pro-life?

As Pope John Paul II explains in his encyclical, 'Evangelium Vitae' (The Gospel of Life), "…when it is not possible to overturn or completely abrogate a pro-abortion law, an elected official, whose absolute personal opposition to procured abortion was well known, could licitly support proposals aimed at limiting the harm done by such a law and at lessening its negative consequences at the level of general opinion and morality. This does not in fact represent an illicit cooperation with an unjust law, but rather a legitimate and proper attempt to limit its evil aspects."
Logically, it follows from these words of the Pope that a voter may likewise vote for that candidate who will most likely limit the evils of abortion or any other moral evil at issue.

9. What if one leading candidate is anti-abortion except in the cases of rape or incest, another leading candidate is completely pro-abortion, and a trailing candidate, not likely to win, is completely anti-abortion. Would I be obliged to vote for the candidate not likely to win?

In such a case, the Catholic voter may clearly choose to vote for the candidate not likely to win. [Alternatively], the Catholic voter may assess that voting for that candidate might only benefit the completely pro-abortion candidate, and, precisely for the purpose of curtailing the evil of abortion, decide to vote for the leading candidate that is anti-abortion but not perfectly so. This decision would be in keeping with the words of the Pope quoted in question 8 above.

3. "Find a candidate that supports the position of the Church fully and he gets your vote. If you can't find him, then pray."

As I think Fr. Pavone would say, "If you can't find a candidate that supports Catholic morality fully, then, yes, pray .. but also vote for the one who will do the most good and the least harm to the babies and other innocent, defenseless people (like the elderly)." In fact, let's take a look at a statement that Fr. Pavone and several other respected, 100% pro-life, orthodox Catholic leaders published:

As Election Day draws near we are aware that some people are in a moral quandary and think that no candidate is worthy of their support. Some are even inclined not to vote at all. In our role as teachers of morality, we would like to clarify that while we can never choose between two evils, we can choose to do good to limit an evil. When one's choice of candidates who have a viable opportunity to win is limited to two unfavorable candidates, to choose to limit evil by voting for the better of the two is to choose a good. To vote for an imperfect candidate is not to endorse that candidate’s position on every issue. Nor is it to compromise our ultimate goal which is the protection of all pre-born children. We urge all citizens to fully participate in the political process and to use their vote to defend the most vulnerable in our society. By doing so we will move closer to that day when each and every human being is welcomed in life and protected in law.
Fr. Frank Pavone -- Director, Priests for Life
Fr. Peter West -- Associate, Priests for Life
Fr. Denis G. Wilde, O.S.A. -- Associate, Priests for Life
Fr. Walter Quinn, O.S.A. -- Associate, Priests for Life
Fr. Richard John Neuhaus -- President, Institute for Religion and Public Life ... Editor, "First Things"
Dr. William E. May -- Professor of Moral Theology, John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), February 06, 2004.