Last week, we reminded readers what the candidates actually said at the conventions about issues of importance to Catholics. This week, as promised, we want to remind readers how the candidates have voted on those issues.
Abortion
Pope Benedict XVI recently summed up the Church’s teaching: “The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every other right, is the right to life itself. This is true of life from the moment of conception until its natural end. Abortion, consequently, cannot be a human right — it is the very opposite. It is a deep wound in society.”
John McCain
Opposes the “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA), a bill which would prohibit states from placing limits on abortion.
On Supreme Court: “Chief Justice [John] Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito would serve as the model for my own nominees.”
In the U.S. Senate:
Voted YES, make unborn children eligible for the SCHIP health-care program.
Voted YES, keep federal money out of abortion.
Voted YES, use taxpayers’ money to kill human embryos in stem-cell research.
Voted YES, a parent must be notified when a minor gets out-of-state abortions.
Voted NO on promoting contraception to teens.
Voted YES, unborn victims of violence count.
Voted YES, ban partial-birth abortion.
Voted YES, ban abortion on military bases.
Voted YES on banning partial-birth abortions.
Voted YES on banning human cloning.
Barack Obama
Co-sponsored the “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA) and says his first act as president will be to prohibit states from placing any limits on abortion.
On Supreme Court: Obama sharply criticized the Supreme Court for its 2007 decision upholding the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.
Voted to allow “live birth abortion” when the “Born-Alive Infants Protection Act” came up in the Illinois Senate.
In the U.S. Senate:
Voted NO, don’t make unborn children eligible for the SCHIP health-care program.
Voted NO, parents needn’t be told if their children get abortions in other states.
Voted YES, use taxpayers’ money to kill human embryos in stem-cell research.
Voted NO, parent should be notified when their children get out-of-state abortions.
Voted YES on promoting contraception to teens.
School Choice
There is no official Church teaching on voucher plans that use government funding to help students afford private school, but many Catholics support vouchers.
McCain
In 1997, he voted YES on school vouchers for D.C.
Obama
He has not voted on the topic, but says he is opposed to private school vouchers.
Immigration
The Church has long taught that immigrants must be welcomed. On Aug. 31, Pope Benedict added: “A sense of responsibility must also be shown by the countries of origin, not only because their citizens are involved, but also to remove the causes of irregular migration, as well as to eradicate, at the roots, all forms of criminality linked to it.”
McCain
Voted YES on comprehensive immigration reform.
Voted YES, make English our official language.
Voted YES, build a fence on the Mexican border.
Voted YES, create a Guest Worker program.
Voted YES, give Social Security to illegal aliens.
Voted YES, help Guest Workers become citizens.
Barack Obama
His record is the same as McCain’s except:
Voted NO, don’t make English our official language.
Iraq
The Church has no official teaching on the Iraq war, but Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI called the invasion of Iraq unjust. The Church does demand that, once war is undertaken, an invader has an obligation to stabilize the area it invades.
McCain
Voted YES on authorizing use of military force against Iraq.
Supported the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq, which has helped stabilize the area after invasion.
Obama
Wasn’t in Senate when U.S. invaded Iraq.
Opposed the surge of U.S. troops, which has helped stabilize the area after invasion.
Marriage
The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith taught in 2003, “Laws in favor of homosexual unions are contrary to right reason because they confer legal guarantees, analogous to those granted to marriage, to unions between persons of the same sex.”
McCain
In 1996, he voted to prohibit same-sex “marriage.”
In 2007, he voted to kill the federal marriage amendment without even allowing it to be debated in the Senate.
Obama
In 2007, he voted to kill the federal marriage amendment without even allowing it to be debated in the Senate.