Can a Catholic be pro-choice? I am a practicing Catholic who is very pro-life. I know several Catholic women who are pro-choice. I’m an old man who thinks this is a contradiction.
In common usage, the term pro-life for most people today means anti-abortion. The protection of unborn life is fundamental for all other human rights. Many people, Catholics included, see no connection between being pro-life and opposing the death penalty. The late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin advocated for a “seamless garment ” of life issues, but he was severely criticized by many Catholics (including several US cardinals) who felt he was betraying the pro-life cause.
The fact that more girl babies are carried to full term than boy babies in the United States suggests that more girls are being aborted in countries where most abortions are not chosen because of an unborn child’s gender.
Every year since 1976, Catholic bishops have issued a “Faithful Citizenship ” document a year before a presidential election. They have always affirmed the rights of the unborn, but they have never taught that all Catholics must consider only abortion in choosing for whom or what to vote.
