Catholic politicians and abortion
There are a number of Catholic politicians who have been attempting to ride the fence on the abortion issue, claiming that they can be good Catholics and still vote in favor of abortion. The Church is increasingly not buying this argument, and bishops are starting to withhold the sacraments from the likes of John Kerry. This in turn makes people fear the church, because it appears that "Rome is giving marching orders" to American politicians (as was claimed in the 19th century, and is claimed for Muslim candidates to Hamtramck MI city council today). I'm sympathetic to the problem, though I am not Catholic; as a libertarian, I am pro-choice, but I'm increasingly convinced by the Church's critique of people so anxious not to breed that they will kill a child in the womb.
I believe that there's a solution that I have not seen discussed before, that will satisfy the Church, square the conscience of the believing politician, and increase the Church's reputation overall. Catholic legislators should simply refuse to vote one way or the other on abortion issues, and Catholic judges should recuse themselves from abortion cases. When asked about their position, they should say, "I accept the teaching of the Church, but I believe this is not a matter for government to decide. So I will neither vote for nor against abortion."
On the pro-abortion side, it could be argued that such a stand weakens their support. And it does, but then, they should vote for non-Catholic governance. On the anti side, a refusal to stop murder could be construed as sin. But there are Protestants willing to do the heavy lifting on this issue. Given the Catholic Church's long history of forcing religion down the throats of captive peoples, they have some image repair to do, and this is one way to do it.
So...tell me why this won't work.
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