A Major Divide on the Fundamental Issue

By Fr. Frank Pavone

Abortion is at the front and center of this election, more prominent than it has ever been before.

When we go to the polls in November, we literally will be casting our ballots in favor of the culture of life or the culture of death.

For Catholics, there is only one choice. Just look at the platforms of the two major parties, and you’ll know the right way to vote.

One party has included as part of its current platform the following statement on human life:

“The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can ‘be deprived of life, liberty or property’ deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that ‘all’ are ‘endowed by their Creator’ with the inalienable right to life. Accordingly, we assert the sanctity of human life and affi­rm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.”

The other party had this to say about “reproductive rights.”

(We) “… are committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice. We believe unequivocally that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured. We believe that reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and wellbeing…. We will continue to oppose—and seek to overturn—federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment.”

The differences between the parties on this fundamental issue of the right to life have never been wider. Right now the party of death recognizes no limit on when a child can be aborted, and does not even support a bill that would save the life of a child who survives abortion. The party also wants taxpayers to foot the bill for abortion, and if they get into power, they will export their abortion ideology all over the globe.

The party that respects the unborn, on the other hand, has logged many successes in the last three years, including

Cutting $60 million in Title X funding to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s number one abortion seller

Taking the pro-life movement to the world stage at the United Nations

Placing 200 pro-life judges on the federal courts.

These are just a few of the pro-life accomplishments our nation has seen since the election of President Trump.

I understand that some Catholics are wary of Trump and to them I always say, it’s not about his past failings, but his present policies and their future impact on our children and grandchildren, on our courts and culture. We are electing a president, not canonizing a saint. Look at what he’s done, both for the unborn, for religious freedom, and for America. He reveres the Constitution of the United States. The same cannot be said of his presumptive opponent and the party from which he sprang.

The division we see between the two parties today is not merely on policy, but on principle. Our political divide is not simply about prudential judgments, but about "the fundamental rights of man" and "the salvation of souls" referred to by the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Catechism, and numerous other sources.

The Republican Party stands firmly for the principle that government cannot authorize the killing of babies, and the Democrat Party firmly rejects that principle by embracing unrestricted abortion.

Never has the voice of the Church been more needed. Everything we stand for and have fought for is on the line.

 

FATHER FRANK PAVONE is the National Director for Priests for Life