Catholic Politicians Funded by Abortion Lobby
by Deal Hudson - December 12, 2008
Reprinted with permission.
Lisa Correnti is a San Diego mother of seven children. But like many other Catholic mothers, she has engaged in politics in order to defend the basic values of her faith. For several years she has quietly built her Web site, www.onenationundergod.org, into a goldmine of up-to-date information on the performance of Catholic politicians.
In the midst of compiling information on political donations, Correnti noticed large amounts of money being regularly accepted by Catholic politicians from the pro-abortion lobby. She decided to uncover the total amount of campaign donations given to Catholic members of Congress by organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Emily's List, NOW, and NARAL Pro-Choice America.
In the end, Correnti found that a number of the 162 Catholics currently in Congress have taken money from pro-abortion groups – to the tune of more than $9 million.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accepted nearly a quarter-million dollars – $244,113, to be exact; Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), $205,768; the "pro-life" Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA), $327,914; Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), $1.04 million; Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who assumed office only in January 2007, has accepted $986,619. (For a complete list of donations to Catholic members of Congress since 1990, click here.)
Correnti was alarmed by her discovery and called me. She knew that I directed a program, called the Catholic Advocate, that sought to encourage authentic Catholic involvement in politics. We discussed what could be done and decided to bring the situation to the attention of the bishops by sponsoring a petition drive among concerned laity.
Thus, Correnti and I have joined forces to gather at least 100,000 signatures on a petition to be sent to the president of the USCCB, Francis Cardinal George, to call upon all Catholic politicians to no longer accept campaign donations from pro-abortion groups. (To read and sign the online petition, click here.)
Correnti's reason for her effort, presented on her Web site, is straightforward:
With 54 percent of self-identified Catholics supporting a presidential candidate with an extreme abortion record it became evident that Catholics are not clear on their responsibility to safeguard life through just public policy and electing moral leaders to public office.
She expressed confidence that a joint effort with Catholic Advocate would make the petition drive more effective. "Catholic Advocate has been holding these 'Catholic' politicians accountable by giving national exposure to their hypocrisies. Working together with our bishops, we can create the necessary awareness among Catholic citizens to stop the acceptance of abortion money."
Our petition quotes Pope John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae, where he says that "abortion and euthanasia are crimes that no human law can claim to justify," and that for lawmakers "it is therefore never licit to obey it or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or vote for it."
Cardinal George has already made a powerful public statement warning Catholic politicians of possible excommunication if they support FOCA. Why shouldn't this warning apply to politicians who call themselves Catholic but accept money from organizations whose professed mission is to spread as far as possible what the Church calls an "intrinsic evil"?
The most recent, and most outrageous, example comes from Planned Parenthood of Indiana, presently marketing a program of gift certificates to "give an abortion for Christmas." How could any Catholic politician accept a donation from such a group?
It should come as no surprise that the vast majority of Catholics in Congress have abysmal voting records on the life issues. When a Catholic accepts a campaign contribution from NARAL or Planned Parenthood, he or she is declaring an intention to support their pro-abortion policies. With the Freedom of Choice Act looming on the horizon, you can bet these groups are looking for a return on their investment.
Please take a moment to read our petition and consider signing it.
Deal W. Hudson is the director of the Morley Institute, and is the former publisher of CRISIS Magazine, a Catholic monthly published in Washington, DC. His articles and comments have been published in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, National Review, Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Village Voice, Roll Call, National Journal, The Economist, and by the Associated Press. He appears regularly on television shows such as NBC Nightly News, One-on One with John McLaughlin, C-Span's Washington Journal, News Talk, NET's Capitol Watch, The Beltway Boys, The Religion and Ethics Newsweekly on PBS, and radio programs such as "All Things Considered" on National Public Radio. He was associate professor of Philosophy at Fordham University from 1989 to 1995 and was a visiting professor at New York University for five years. He taught for nine years at Mercer University in Atlanta, where he was chair of the philosophy department. He has published many reviews and articles as well as four books: Understanding Maritain: Philosopher and Friend (Mercer, 1988); The Future of Thomism (Notre Dame, 1992); Sigrid Undset On Saints and Sinners (Ignatius, 1994); and Happiness and the Limits of Satisfaction (Rowman & Littlefield, 1996). His autobiography, An American Conversion (Crossroad, 2003), is available from Amazon.com.
