EXCERPT: Amid many surprises surrounding passage of Healthcare Reform came the last minute plot-twist from Rep. Bart Stupak. Stymied in his effort to insert ironclad language banning federal funds for abortion, he obtained an equivalent “ironclad” executive order from President Obama, and led his supporters in casting the decisive votes for House passage. The ban will continue not only under the protection of the Hyde amendment, but now under the direct authority of the President. The same authority George W. Bush used to restrict stem-cell research is now applied to abortion by Barack Obama.
This stunning development produced several consequences, and also contains several lessons which are relevant to Catholic Social Teaching.
…Second Lesson: Bart Stupak’s move has altered the political profile of the pro-life movement, by showing that one can be both pro-life and progressive.
Conservatives have mostly monopolized the pro-life platform, but Stupak (despite his public image) never fit the mold. …Stupak’s mold is actually the classic “Catholic Liberal Democrat” we’ve known since the New Deal.
Since Roe V. Wade in 1973 this classic mold has broken down, as the country’s polarization between “pro life” and “pro choice” drove many Catholics to vote Republican – and led some (like RI legislator and Commonweal commentator David Carlin) to question whether a Catholic can be a Democrat at all!
Stupak has altered this dynamic, with his pro-life ratings (0% from NARAL, 100% from National Right to Life Committee). It is too soon to tell, but arguably he could offer a new profile for a style of pro-life progressive politician acceptable to both mainstream Democrats and mainline Catholics.
Third Lesson: Barack Obama has altered his own profile. …In one pen-stroke, Obama joined those banning federal funding of abortions while guaranteeing reforms that can reduce abortions. If Healthcare Reform does induce a significant decline in abortions, Obama will have accomplished more pro-life success than Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush combined.
Fourth Lesson: Finally, this episode exposes two dark dimensions of the pro-life movement.
On the one hand, we have witnessed the fanaticism of those who scorn the bona fides of anyone who disagrees with them or fails to match their own private standards. After months of touting Bart Stupak as a champion of their cause, they now call him traitor and worse, threatening him and his family. Such fanatics render Stupak a kind of profile in courage, but also reveal the ugly undercurrent of violence within the pro-life movement.
On the other hand, we have seen the cynicism of those prepared to exploit the unborn to promote their own politics. Stupak himself described that cynicism in the days following his coup:
The true motives of many blogs and organizations claiming to be pro-life have become clear in recent days: to politicize life issues as a means to defeat health care reform...The pro-life groups rallied behind me -- many without my knowledge or consent -- not necessarily because they shared my goals of ensuring protections for life and passing health-care reform but because they viewed me as their best chance to kill health-care legislation.
Catholics everywhere should decry such cynicism. We reject using the unborn as bait to lure others to our politics, and we reject attempts to dupe Catholics into embracing anti-Catholic social policies just because they are wrapped in pro-life ribbons. For us, protection of the unborn must be a principle, not propaganda.
No comments:
Post a Comment