When the Choices aren't so clear, the rule is
still limit the evil!
-- Fr. Frank Pavone, Director, Priests for Life
Preparing for elections involves converting people to the position that
abortion is the single most important problem of all, and that if we don't elect
people who will defend the right to life, our work to secure any other rights is
in peril.
But it also involves helping the converted to deal with imperfection,
uncertainty, and the limitations of politics. And that can be a harder task than
winning converts in the first place.
Once we understand that abortion is the most critical problem, then we know
that we cannot elect a pro-abortion person simply because he or she seems to
have a better idea about housing or education (or any other issue).
But on the specific point of abortion, if the only choices we have are "bad"
and "worse," what do we do?
Answer: We vote for the person who will do the least damage.
The fact that whoever gets in will be a problem is not our fault. We really
aren't free in such a case to choose the kind of candidate we want. So when
we're really not free, we can't be doing wrong. Where we are free
is to choose the person who will do less damage to life, who will allow fewer
abortions, who will protect more children than the opponent.
To drive home this point, we at Priests for Life have written the following
statement, which also reflects the thinking of numerous leaders in the Church.
It is our hope that those who are inclined not to vote at all may think again,
and use their vote to help accomplish the best possible progress at the moment.
Statement on Voting
November 7 provides an opportunity for our fellow Catholics
and all citizens of good will to use their vote to advance the cause of
life, especially the most vulnerable in our society - preborn children in
danger of abortion.
As Election Day draws near we are aware that some people are
in a moral quandary and think that no candidate is worthy of their support. Some
are even inclined not to vote at all. In our role as teachers of morality, we
would like to clarify that while we can never choose between two evils, we can
choose to do good to limit an evil. When one's choice of candidates who have a
viable opportunity to win is limited to two unfavorable candidates, to choose to
limit evil by voting for the better of the two is to choose a good. To vote for
an imperfect candidate is not to endorse that candidate’s position on every
issue. Nor is it to compromise our ultimate goal which is the protection of all
pre-born children.
We urge all citizens to fully participate in the political
process and to use their vote to defend the most vulnerable in our society. By
doing so we will move closer to that day when each and every human being is
welcomed in life and protected in law.
Fr. Frank Pavone
Founding Director, Priests for Life
Fr. Peter West
Associate, Priests for Life
Fr. Denis G. Wilde, O.S.A.
Associate, Priests for Life
Fr. Walter Quinn, O.S.A.
Associate, Priests for Life
Fr. Richard John Neuhaus
President, Institute for Religion and Public Life
Editor, First Things
Dr. William E. May
Professor of Moral Theology, John Paul II Institute for
Studies on Marriage and Family
Click here for further
reflections on this important question.
