"Let the lie come into the world, but not through me." - Letter from a Priest

Jack and Barbara Willke, Parents of the Pro-Life Movement

Editor's note: I received this thoughtful letter from a priest in response to my Open Letter to Bishop Callahan. I agree with much of what Father says, although I could not in good conscience vote for a Democrat, without a compelling reason, as long as their party embraces whole-heartedly sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance. But Father's criticism of Republicans is totally justified. For too many years, pro-lifers have been the neglected step-children of the Republican party which is why I never support the party, only individual candidates. I have added my response to Father's letter in the comments section. I hope you will read his letter and give me your thoughts as well.

LETTER FROM A PRIEST

Let me try to give some background of who is responding to statements of Father James Altman, which you have written about. In 1968 I was in the seminary and I was invited to go to a motel to hear a talk by someone who I had never heard of; it was Jack & Barbara Willke, who made a presentation and showed slides of the pre-born child and the reality of abortion (at the time I knew nothing about this issue). At that time abortion was still pretty much illegal in most of the states. 

I was absolutely blown away by both the slides of the developing pre-born child and the aborted pre-born children. I was determined then to do something about this issue. So, I joined a small group of interested people to begin the [a local right to life organization] which was one of the first pro-life groups in the country. I was also on the speakers’ bureau, giving talks to many groups in our area. 

We were also concerned about the difficult situations that women with crisis pregnancies were faced with. So, we also started one of the first Birthrights in the country (later on I helped start another Birthright near a campus where I was a college chaplain). 

I was involved with Project Rachel for many years and I have seen a ton of women (and some men) who have had deep wounds because of their abortions. Also, being involved in Project Rachel is probably one of the most transforming experiences of grace that I have witnessed in my years of being a priest. My ministry in Project Rachel also increased my commitment to work against abortion because I have seen firsthand the devastation that abortion does to women (and men). When I preach about the abortion issue, I often use stories of these broken women to bring about the point of the destructiveness of abortion; which is not just to pre-born children but these wounded mothers as well. Someone once said that the greatest affirmation of the reality of pre-born may not always be an ultrasound picture but the sense of a grieving mother. 

It is also the reason that I am currently working on getting a Mobile Ultrasound Van for our area. Studies have shown 30% of women considering an abortion do not finally make up their mind until just prior to the procedure; and there are reports that 80% of women who boarded the Mobile Ultrasound Van, choose life; ICU Mobile says its ultrasounds have convinced 56 percent of women who had already decided on abortion to change their minds, and 87 percent of those who were undecided to choose life. In addition, a 2011 study by Quinnipiac University’s concluded that “ultrasound laws had a very significant and negative effect on the abortion decision.” As someone once said: “Every time a woman goes on a Mobile Van and walks away from undergoing an abortion at Planned Parenthood, she has overturned Roe v. Wade.” So, the Mobile Ultrasound Van becomes a matter life or death, a “last chance for mercy” for these vulnerable women in unsupported pregnancies, heading to Planned Parenthood, and this project doesn’t depend on Republicans or Democrats. I have also been trained as a sidewalk advocate to witness near Planned Parenthood because we know if we “save” the woman, we will save her child. So, for 50 years I have tried, although imperfectly, the best I can, to advocate for pre-born children and women facing unsupported pregnancies.

I would like to offer another perspective on Fr. Altman's statement that one “cannot be a Catholic and a Democrat.” First of all, the statement is incomplete because it implies that this isn’t a problem for a Catholic to be a Republican. Remember that Republicans (who were supported by pro-life Catholics) such as Ronald Reagan, appointed Sandra Day O'Connor and Justice Kennedy to the Supreme Court. (As pro-choice Governor of California, Reagan signed the Therapeutic Abortion Act which changed a total of 518 legal abortions in California in 1967 to an annual average of 100,000 in the remaining years of Reagan’s two terms; more pre-born children’s lives taken than in any U.S. state prior to the advent of Roe v. Wade.)  George H. Bush, a Republican, (supported by Catholic voters) appointed David Souter.  If these three Supreme Court Justices appointed by Republican presidents (and voted for by Catholic voters), had been truly pro-life judges, they could have in 1992 (if not before) overturned Roe V. Wade, and done far more to change the tide abortion than any Democrats could have done. 

President George W, Bush, a Republican (supported by Catholic voters) conceded to federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, and in doing so allowed the federal government for the first time in history to fund research that relies on the destruction of some individual human beings for the possible benefit of others. (John McCain, a Republican, also supported embryonic research.) President Bush's policy actually stimulated interest in the field, including the passage in California of three billion dollars for stem cell research. President Bush's compromise approach actually removed the ethical restraint of using taxpayers' money to destroy life.  This isn’t even taking into the account of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (where between 100,000 to 600,000 civilians were killed) that President Bush initiated. Finally, President Bush appointed Chief Justice John Roberts and the verdict is still not in on him, in terms of his voting on the abortion issue.

 

In the past anti-abortion Republicans have thought nothing of campaigning for pro-abortion rights Republican politicians like Rudy Giuliani, George Pataki, and Arnold Schwarzenegger to name a few (Sen. Rick Santorum, who was considered one of the strongest pro-life senators, and yet he campaigned for pro-abortion Senator Arlene Spectre); and some of these same pro-abortion politicians were highlighted by speaking at past Republican Conventions. You have Republican Senators like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski continually unwilling to vote for legislation restricting abortion, and may not vote for the next supreme court justice nominated. In addition, a 2017 poll stated that 36% of Republicans identified as pro-choice and 70% agreed that abortion should be legal in some cases. In light of all of this, you can understand why I am an Independent rather than a Democrat or Republican and could never vote for any one who supports abortion, no matter what their party affiliation.

 

The problem was stated well by the US Bishops when they state: “Participation should help transform the (political) party to which we belong; we should not let the party transform us in such a way that we neglect or deny fundamental moral truths.” (Faithful Citizenship-Forming Consciences #14); yet this is what has happened over the years, to too many Catholic voters, both Republican and Democrat.

 

Martin Luther saw so many flaws that he broke away from the Catholic Church. Instead of trying to be a part of the renewal of the church, he remained an outsider, powerless to bring change. It is not the ideal but that is what pro-life Democrats, many who are Catholic, can do, when they keep working towards changing their party’s platform on abortion from inside the party, which would not happen as an outsider. If the pro-life movement is only represented by Republicans, it may continue to lose millennial votes. A 2019, the Marist Poll found an unexpected 34 percent of Democrats self-identify as pro-life. 130 Democratic state lawmakers cast pro-life votes during the 2019 legislative sessions; and there are the 21 million Democratic voters who support the sanctity of life (including about 10% of black voters who are Catholic). 

Democrats for Life in America, sent a letter signed by over 100 current and former Democratic lawmakers to the Democratic National Committee, asked for a recognition of the pro-life caucus’s views in the party platform. Take for example, State Senator Katrina Jackson, who is a strong Christian and a Democrat, she was the one who helped get one of the strongest pro-life legislation passed in Louisiana, which was signed by Governor John Bel Edwards, another Democrat, who is also Catholic. 

Finally, what if Trump is re-elected president but the Republican Senate majority changes and to pass a supreme court justice, he needs Democratic Senator Bob Casey or Democratic Senator Joe Manchin’s vote to be confirmed; what would happen? What happens to all of these potential allies if we write them all off.? In addition, there was a study that estimated that 90 million eligible voters are not likely to vote at all in the November election (50% of eligible Americans are not even registered). Are those who are Catholic, in these categories, even ever mentioned.

 

As an Independent, I can see that behind Father Altman’s declaration is contained an important point for a conversation and further education; until the Democratic Party (or the Republican Party) experiences the discomfort of losing the Catholic vote, will they reconsider their commitment to different aspects of the culture of death? For too many Catholics (Democrat or Republican) their position on abortion is distorted, and for a significant percentage, abortion is merely a concept and thus, not a very important issue. If abortion was truly a preeminent priority for Catholic voters, whether Republican, Democrat or Independent, then New York State wouldn’t have passed recently the Women’s Reproductive Act, which basically allows unfettered abortions up until birth (New York State already had the second highest number of abortions of any state in the United States and is one of the few states where abortions are paid for by taxpayers). The Governor, the Attorney General, the State Senate and the State Assembly, as well as 68% of voters, are all Democrats, despite 40% of the population listed in New York State as Catholic

 

A Pew Research poll done before the 2016 election asked Catholics: what was the most important issue? Abortion came in #13 out of 14. Only 46% of Catholic voters said abortion was a “very important issue.” Another Pew research found that 51% of Catholics say that abortion should be legal in most or all cases. Only 42% stated that abortion should be illegal (though that number shoots up to 83 percent among Catholics who attend services regularly). It is estimated that 25-30% of abortions are done on women who list themselves as Catholic. I would propose, from these facts, that there has been a failure of many bishops, priests, deacons, religious and lay leaders to form our Catholic parishioners and to make abortion an actual preeminent priority, whether a Democrat or Republican (except in a place like the Diocese of Dallas, which supports the Pro-Life Catholic Community, which has an annual budget of over a million dollars, with over 30 full and part-time pro-life staff). 

 

Yet our Catholic bishops state: “A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of an intrinsic evil such as abortion, racism, genocide, torture, the targeting of non-combatants in acts of terror or war. (in the previous version of Faithful Citizenship-Forming Consciences #23 & 34) The Bishops go on to state: “The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is just not one issue among many. It must always be opposed.” (FCFC # 28) The Bishops quote St. Pope John Paul II: “Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights - for example, the right to health care to home, to work, to family, to culture, is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other rights, is not defended with maximum determination.” (FCFC # 26). Pope John Paul II also stated: “It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all other inalienable rights of the individual are founded and from which they develop.” 

Pope Benedict stated: “The fundamental human right, the presumption of every other right, is the right to life itself.” Pope Francis states: “The right to life is the first among human rights.” Also, Pope Francis stated in his exaltation (“Rejoice and be Glad” #101): “Our defense of the unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development.” Pope Francis agreed with the U.S. bishops “identifying the protection of the unborn as a preeminent priority.” In other words, these statements affirm that all people are equal in value but not all rights are equal. Unfortunately, the Democratic Platform, its politicians and a majority of Democrats, go completely against this Catholic teaching.

Using as a guiding principle, we can say protecting pre-born children (and helping women in crisis pregnancies) is the first priority because if one does not exist, the other human rights will not come into play, nor will the person be able to promote a consistent ethic of life, or to live out the non-violent teachings of Jesus, if they aren’t allowed to exist. Also, the pre-born are the most invisible, voiceless, defenseless, powerless, vulnerable innocent lives in our society, as well as the most unequal and excluded of any human beings in the world. Yet, once you stop abortions and these children enter the world, we can’t allow their dignity to be denied or their lives to be then destroyed by wars, other forms of violence, and poverty.

 

I have been involved in the pro-life area for 50 years, and one continual concern that I have heard from many Catholic parishioners over all these years, is that they never or rarely ever hear a pro-life homily on abortion or see much information in their bulletins or speakers in their parish in terms of adult education programs on this topic. All of these factors (and other ones) point to the reality that abortion has not been a preeminent priority, despite the fact that close to a million pre-born children lives end every year in the United States from abortions and 125,000cabortions are done EVERY DAY in our world; plus millions of women’s whose lives are devasted by their abortion 

 

For too long Catholics (whether Democrats or Republicans) have let the political parties to which they belong transform them, instead of Catholics transforming the political parties and the voting process. I said years ago that the greatest challenge for Catholics in the next millennium is deciding whether they are going to be CATHOLIC Americans or AMERCAN Catholics. I think a better way is to keep challenging Catholics, whether Democrats or Republicans to remind them that they are first Catholic Americans ahead of being American Catholics; to remember, as Catholics, that although all people are equal in value, not all rights are equal (the preeminent priority of the pre-born).

 

Finally, to remember St. Paul’s words: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:10). We can all acknowledge that this is the root cause of all we face but the love of God is stronger than anything we will encounter. Alexander Solzhenitzen once wrote: “let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph, but not through me.” This is the challenge which lies ahead for of all of us as Catholics, whether Republican, Democrat or Independent; not only on election day but after the election, every day of the year.

 

Father Altman may have different position than his Bishop, but he also has common interests. I hope he can maintain his values, but still find a way to work things out.