Back on September 6th, I had a little op-ed I submitted to the Columbus Dispatch run..."Obama presidency would be a good fit for Catholics" Columbus Dispatch -Saturday, September 6, 2008
In the coming days I received many, many notes of thanks and encouragement from all over the country. And then a few notes on the nasty side. One was an email from a disgruntled Catholic in the Columbus area. So you take the good with the bad. Then two very brave people actually took the time to mail me a note of disagreement, but somehow their signature did not make it into the envelope. One though was very obvious and I wish her well with her local dry cleaning business.
Then yesterday, a letter to the editor regarding my piece was published....
"Catholics regard abortion as top issue"
Funny - The Catholic vote is actually a mirror of the American mainstream and independents, and by all rational accounts - it's the Economy stupid! - that Americans and Catholics are concerned about.... especially with the disastrous news from Wall Street today.
The letter writer is none other than Sally Testa, wife of Republican Franklin County Auditor Joe Testa. In Franklin County Ohio, Republicans are a rare breed, so they are often a bit disgruntled and angry as evidenced by the right wing talking points fueled letter that Sally submitted. Sally is also a member of the Republican central committee in Ohio. So was this letter written by a Catholic or a Republican supporting the failed policies of her party and McCain? I suspect the latter.
In her letter, Sally points to the Catechism of the Church and states:
"Let me refer him to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Article 2270: "Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person -- among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life." It doesn't get much clearer than that."
So right you are Sally. I am proud of the Church's teaching and I am very pro life. I do not agree with Senator Obama's pro life stand. However I recognize that the failed policies of the Republican party on abortion that McCain supports are out of touch and have actually led to an increase in abortion.
I am realistic and realize that to impact the abortion rate, that policies must be enacted to reduce the circumstances surrounding why a woman makes the choice to have an abortion. I am not naive to believe that simply overturning Roe V Wade will solve the abortion problem. It will not. It will simply return the issue to states where abortion will remain available on demand.
The question Sally should be asking is: Why did the Republican Party remove abortion reduction language from its platform at the RNC? Are Republicans not in favor of reducing and preventing abortions? Apparently not.
The questions I ask of Sally: Is not all life precious? From conception to death? Are you "pro life" or simply "pro birth"? What has the Republican party done to reduce Abortions in this country? What will McCain do to reduce abortions?
She then quotes the Republican operative Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. The same Chaput who has been marginalized by his fellow Bishops in the Bishops conference for his partisan political activities on behalf of the Republican party.
"Certainly employment, health care, education, energy and the environment are important issues, but the protection of life is, in the words of Archbishop of Denver, the Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, foundational. "Abortion undermines the foundation of all the rest. So if we don't oppose abortion, we risk the collapse of the whole structure," he said."
I think Chaput, like Sally Testa, McCain and the Republicans have got it backwards....it is the failures on the other issues that undermine the very foundation of this country and the American Family, thus leading to an increase for the demand of Abortion. The failure on these issues, employment, health care, education, energy and the environment continue to be a problem for McCain and the Republicans with Catholic voters and Americans.
McCain and his supporters like Sally Testa, can not win on the issues that truly impact Catholic Families in America, so they desperately try to insert the same failed and tired Rovian right wing wedge issues of the past.
McCain and Republicans like Sally Testa have driven this country into the ditch with their selfish wealth driven policies. Americans have had enough. Testa, McCain, Bush, Chaput and the Republicans do not stand with the working and middle class people of this country. They stand with the wealthy and the well connected. Catholic Voters will not be fooled this time.
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