For whom should I vote in the November 2012 election?
First of all, let me say that I do not believe that
an elected official can end abortion. What I do
believe is that Americans, one by one, need
conversion to the truth that a child exists from
his biological beginning and is, from that point
forward, a member of the human family.
When a Catholic enters the voting booth, he
must evaluate what his vote will mean for the
good of the nation—including restoration of
the culture of life. Likewise, Catholics must
realize that intentionally voting for anyone who
embraces an agenda of evil is sinning against God.
Informing yourself on each candidate’s positions
is the only way to safeguard your precious vote.
American Life League has developed voting
principles that will help you resist pressure to
compromise fundamental moral principles in
favor of expediency or perceived short-term
political gain—and avoid being deceived by
propaganda. These principles are tailored to
Catholics but are suitable for any voter, since
they are firmly rooted in biblical principles. The
full-length version of American Life League’s voter
guide is available at www.ALL.org (search for
“American Life League Voter Guide”).
With regard to intrinsic human rights, there are
four actions that are so intrinsically evil that no
Catholic can knowingly advocate for or promote
them without imperiling his salvation: abortion,
euthanasia, human embryonic stem cell research,
and human cloning. These are non-negotiable.
Be aware that candidates do not always adhere
to their party’s platform on these four nonnegotiables. A political party may claim that it
is pro-life, but that does not guarantee that
all of its candidates are pro-life. Likewise,
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September–October 2012
a political party might support decriminalized
abortion, but that does not necessarily mean
that all of its candidates support abortion.
In elections featuring two major party candidates
who do not totally agree with the four nonnegotiables, some consider it “throwing away your
vote” if you support a third-party candidate whose
positions are consistent with Catholic teaching.
However, our obligation as Catholics is to vote for
the person who reflects Catholic teaching. Section
73 of Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae
(The Gospel of Life), which speaks of “limiting the
harm,” is frequently used to justify voting for “the
lesser of two evils.” But Pope John Paul II did not
say it is permissible to vote for a candidate whose
position on any of these four non-negotiables
violates Church teaching.
If your well-formed Catholic conscience tells you
the third-party candidate is the best choice for
the babies, the disabled, the elderly, and the infirm,
then that’s a pretty good indication of what you
should do in the voting booth on Election Day.
The stakes are high, and
truth—not politics—is
the solution. Vote as you
know Christ would
have you vote. He
is the Way, the Truth,
and the Life.
Judie Brown is president of
American Life League and served
15 years as a member of the
Pontifical Academy for Life.
You can submit questions
to Judie on www.ALL.org.
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www.clmagazine.org.