Archbishop Chaput blasts Kmiec, other pro-Obama Catholics
October 20, 2008
Saying that he ‘either misunderstands or misuses my words,’ Archbishop Charles Chaput offered strong criticism of law professor Douglas Kmiec’s support of the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama on Friday. ‘I believe that Senator Obama, whatever his other talents, is the most committed ‘abortion-rights’ presidential candidate of either major party since the Roe v. Wade abortion decision in 1973,’ said Archbishop Chaput during a talk sponsored by ENDOW (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women). ‘Despite what Prof. Kmiec suggests, the party platform Senator Obama runs on this year is not only aggressively ‘pro-choice’; it has also removed any suggestion that killing an unborn child might be a regrettable thing.’
Archbishop Chaput continued, ‘Prof. Kmiec argues that there are defensible motives to support Senator Obama. Speaking for myself, I do not know any proportionate reason that could outweigh more than 40 million unborn children killed by abortion and the many millions of women deeply wounded by the loss and regret abortion creates. To suggest-- as some Catholics do-- that Senator Obama is this year’s ‘real’ pro-life candidate requires a peculiar kind of self-hypnosis, or moral confusion, or worse. To portray the 2008 Democratic Party presidential ticket as the preferred ‘pro-life’ option is to subvert what the word ‘pro-life’ means … I think his activism for Senator Obama, and the work of Democratic-friendly groups like Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, have done a disservice to the Church, confused the natural priorities of Catholic social teaching, undermined the progress pro-lifers have made, and provided an excuse for some Catholics to abandon the abortion issue instead of fighting within their parties and at the ballot box to protect the unborn.’
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