“I am a church-attending Roman Catholic and my political stand is that the Supreme Court should reverse Roe vs Wade and return abortion law to the pre-1973 condition. Does this mean my bishop should direct my parish priest to turn me away from communion?
Permit me to explain. From a political standpoint, reversing Roe vs Wade (or advocating that conservative justices be appointed to effect that change) is a pretty firm pro-life position. From a Catholic Church standpoint, anything short of a Human Life amendment to the Constitution goes contrary to Church teaching on abortion.
Pre-1973, most states had defacto abortion on demand with spousal consent. To my knowledge, the state laws regulating this matter permitted abortions to protect a mother’s health, and it was like rich kids getting doctors to find some flaw in their health to keep them out of Vietnam. The motivation for abortion law was more “preventing vice” than “protecting the rights of the unborn”, and doctors could readily offer abortions to married women with consenting spouses without drawing attention from the D.A..
The Catholic Church famously was against theraputic abortions, even when there was serious peril to the life of the mother. Even in the most restrictive abortion law conditions for the U.S., there was considerable separation of Church and State, and there were matters the State deemed legal that were left matters of conscience for individual Catholics to follow Church teaching without the compulsion of law.
The political system is never going to enact the level of restriction on abortion to satisfy Catholic teaching. Our political system enacts laws to maintain an orderly society, not to satisfy the dogma of a particular church. I happen to disagree with Mr. Kerry regarding what level of restriction on abortion is required to maintain an orderly society, but if Mr. Kerry is turned away from the sacraments, we both should be turned away.” – more feedback on the Letters Page.
HEADS UP: Call me a masochist, but at 2 pm ET today, I’ll be on Bob Dornan’s radio show on the Talk Radio Network, discussing the new edition of my anthology, “Same-Sex Marriage, Pro and Con: A Reader.” The official launch of the book is next Monday – Marriage Day. More to come next week. Over the past year or so, many of you who work for talk radio stations have asked me to come on to debate the marriage question, and, because of other commitments, I’ve been unable to. But next week, I’m in full media-whore mode. If you want to book a radio interview, contact Fernando Montero at Vintage books. His email is fmontero@randomhouse.com.
The Dish 