Douglas W. Kmiec on 'Obama's Miracle'
"Deacon Fournier is, of course, absolutely right: these pro-choice positions are not what the Catholic Church prays for, and so we shall keep praying."
The greatest challenge for truly Pro-life Americans is, through prayer, persuasion and activism to work to protect the lives of innocent unborn children under this new administration while we continue our efforts to build a new culture of life and civilization of love in America and around the world.
PrintMALIBU, California (Catholic Online) - As the readers of Catholic Online know very well,Professor Doug Kmiec and I disagreed quite seriously on how a faithful Catholic citizen should approach the exercise of their vote in this recent Presidential election in the United States. This strong disagreement over proper moral decision making and human action led to many articles and exchanges. However, the election is now over. We have a new President Elect, Barack Obama. I communicated with Doug following the election and he sent me the following article asking that it be published. (Deacon Keith Fournier, Editor) :
"Obama's Miracle"
There was a miracle in America Tuesday evening. Pro-life and Pro-choice views on abortion met in Chicago’s Grant Park and in similar settings across the nation. Each respected the other’s perspective and each understood how they could both work, differently, to promote human life.
The Catholic bishops in their “Call to Faithful Citizenship” document urged us to vote responsibly knowing that no candidate in the race was perfect. Senators McCain and Obama both varied from the absolute prohibition of abortion and embryonic stem cell research in Catholic teaching. Senator McCain favors turning “the choice” back to the states; while, Senator, now President-elect, Obama respects the woman’s decision.
Deacon Fournier is, of course, absolutely right: these pro-choice positions are not what the Catholic Church prays for, and so we shall keep praying, but as President-elect Obama articulated in his acceptance last night – the hill may be steep, but we will continue to climb. And no Catholic should be distraught at this happy moment when race has been transcended and there is a promise of both social justice and peace at hand.
We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to those bishops who did not violate our conscience, or theirs, by stepping into the role of partisan advocate for a candidate, or who even more outrageously, presumed to consign to eternal damnation those Catholic voters who studied, prayed, and formed their conscience prior to casting a ballot for Senator Obama. Neither man was eliminated from Catholic consideration. Neither was pro-abortion. After ascertaining that, it was up to each voter to consider the totality of Catholic teaching on the culture of life -- from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death and every point in between in order to give due weight to proportionate considerations.
While we must continue to strive to structure our personal lives and the larger society to honor life to the full, let us not overlook the miracle of a free election naming as President someone who a century and a half removed would have not even been acknowledged to be a created human being entitled under the Declaration of Independence to the unalienable rights of life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness.
Now is also the time to work together in the joy of new hope and fresh ideas. I have extended a hand of friendship to Archbishop Chaput who some told me had some especially harsh words for me because of his strongly held view against Senator Obama. It’s a free country and the First Amendment protects the Archbishop’s political perspective as well as mine own. And likewise in the exposition of the faith, the Conference of Bishops, knowing how to write with sensitive and fine grain pen, gave us both the opportunity to best assess how to promote human life within the context of a Republic of many different religious beliefs some of which see life beginning when a child is born alive and not before.
Of course, as John Paul II taught in Veritatis Splendor, no democracy should set itself against the truth of the human person. When John McCain proclaimed himself to be “pro-life,” many thought we would hear from him a call for some effort to bring the Constitution in line with the protection of life. Ronald Reagan was a champion of this idea though he did not succeed in achieving it. The Reagan amendment would have included the unborn in the constitutional definition of “person” and it had the benefit of simplicity. Yet, given again the related criminal liability for mother and doctor, it lacked the support needed for ratification.
Is there another way to show legal respect for life? Obama’s own cultural affirmation of enhanced support for the expectant mother points the way toward common ground. In this regard, a more modest constitutional amendment could be pursued that would presume life to begin at conception, while further providing that no government, federal or state, was competent to legislate on the question absent a specified supermajority. This would at least take the Supreme Court’s “activist” thumb off the scale against life (no more waiting for a “fifth justice”) while at the same time avoiding the criminalization of a women’s freedom. Again, not the ideal Catholic position, but closer.
Going forward with our new President, it is likely that looking for new ways to be pro-life will hold more promise than re-arguing the merits of an election that brought a miracle our ancestors did not foresee. That same election miracle may hold the promise of yet another the outline of which may at this moment only be dimly perceived; namely, an amendment to our basic charter presuming life to begin from its earliest moment even if that would still leave it up to us to find the necessary supermajority or additional ways to honor that legal presumption consistent with our many faiths and collective freedom.
Impossible? I don’t see why. In the language of the moment: “Yes we can!”
****
Douglas W. Kmiec is the Caruso Family Chair & Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University School of Law and the author of “Can a Catholic Support Him? Asking the Big Question About Barack Obama” (Overlook/Penguin 2008)
"Obama's Miracle"
There was a miracle in America Tuesday evening. Pro-life and Pro-choice views on abortion met in Chicago’s Grant Park and in similar settings across the nation. Each respected the other’s perspective and each understood how they could both work, differently, to promote human life.
The Catholic bishops in their “Call to Faithful Citizenship” document urged us to vote responsibly knowing that no candidate in the race was perfect. Senators McCain and Obama both varied from the absolute prohibition of abortion and embryonic stem cell research in Catholic teaching. Senator McCain favors turning “the choice” back to the states; while, Senator, now President-elect, Obama respects the woman’s decision.
Deacon Fournier is, of course, absolutely right: these pro-choice positions are not what the Catholic Church prays for, and so we shall keep praying, but as President-elect Obama articulated in his acceptance last night – the hill may be steep, but we will continue to climb. And no Catholic should be distraught at this happy moment when race has been transcended and there is a promise of both social justice and peace at hand.
We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to those bishops who did not violate our conscience, or theirs, by stepping into the role of partisan advocate for a candidate, or who even more outrageously, presumed to consign to eternal damnation those Catholic voters who studied, prayed, and formed their conscience prior to casting a ballot for Senator Obama. Neither man was eliminated from Catholic consideration. Neither was pro-abortion. After ascertaining that, it was up to each voter to consider the totality of Catholic teaching on the culture of life -- from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death and every point in between in order to give due weight to proportionate considerations.
While we must continue to strive to structure our personal lives and the larger society to honor life to the full, let us not overlook the miracle of a free election naming as President someone who a century and a half removed would have not even been acknowledged to be a created human being entitled under the Declaration of Independence to the unalienable rights of life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness.
Now is also the time to work together in the joy of new hope and fresh ideas. I have extended a hand of friendship to Archbishop Chaput who some told me had some especially harsh words for me because of his strongly held view against Senator Obama. It’s a free country and the First Amendment protects the Archbishop’s political perspective as well as mine own. And likewise in the exposition of the faith, the Conference of Bishops, knowing how to write with sensitive and fine grain pen, gave us both the opportunity to best assess how to promote human life within the context of a Republic of many different religious beliefs some of which see life beginning when a child is born alive and not before.
Of course, as John Paul II taught in Veritatis Splendor, no democracy should set itself against the truth of the human person. When John McCain proclaimed himself to be “pro-life,” many thought we would hear from him a call for some effort to bring the Constitution in line with the protection of life. Ronald Reagan was a champion of this idea though he did not succeed in achieving it. The Reagan amendment would have included the unborn in the constitutional definition of “person” and it had the benefit of simplicity. Yet, given again the related criminal liability for mother and doctor, it lacked the support needed for ratification.
Is there another way to show legal respect for life? Obama’s own cultural affirmation of enhanced support for the expectant mother points the way toward common ground. In this regard, a more modest constitutional amendment could be pursued that would presume life to begin at conception, while further providing that no government, federal or state, was competent to legislate on the question absent a specified supermajority. This would at least take the Supreme Court’s “activist” thumb off the scale against life (no more waiting for a “fifth justice”) while at the same time avoiding the criminalization of a women’s freedom. Again, not the ideal Catholic position, but closer.
Going forward with our new President, it is likely that looking for new ways to be pro-life will hold more promise than re-arguing the merits of an election that brought a miracle our ancestors did not foresee. That same election miracle may hold the promise of yet another the outline of which may at this moment only be dimly perceived; namely, an amendment to our basic charter presuming life to begin from its earliest moment even if that would still leave it up to us to find the necessary supermajority or additional ways to honor that legal presumption consistent with our many faiths and collective freedom.
Impossible? I don’t see why. In the language of the moment: “Yes we can!”
****
Douglas W. Kmiec is the Caruso Family Chair & Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University School of Law and the author of “Can a Catholic Support Him? Asking the Big Question About Barack Obama” (Overlook/Penguin 2008)
- - -
Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.
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Doug Kmiec is a tragic figure. We need to pray for him.
Has anyone read the script to the movie called "The Day the Clown Cried"? It had to do with a man who was a clown during Nazi Germany, who lead the Jewish children into the gas chambers playfully. When I read this article by Doug Kmiec, I imagined him with grease paint on his face.
Could you imagine the early Christians being sold out by their brothers and sisters to Nero and the anti-Christians? Could you imagine the things that they said to their brethren, about not worrying about Nero, or that the lion pits were a lie? I'm sure there were quite a few traitors to the early Church back then (more than we'd like to admit), who brought about the thousands of martyrs we know today.
Doug, I want you to think about the unborn children that die each year to abortion. Now I want you to think about how many of those COULD have been Catholics. How many of those COULD have been the greater "black" president. How many of those COULD have been the next great philanthropist.
I agree, the conundrum of outlawing abortion is the question of punishment to the non-conformists, but no one in the Pro-Life sect has urged prison time for misguided would-be mothers. You color us all in a very bad shade when you point to legal arguments; even more so when you attempt to use Obama's race as an excuse to outweigh the scales against the teaching of your own church.
You need to read what you've been writing, and open your eyes to the fool you've made yourself into. Come home, Doug, and repent this foolish path you've chosen. Deep down, you know that Obama is not going to relent his position. Life isn't about being on a team that "wins" all of the time; it's about being on the side of God.
Don't let yourself be weighed with the burden of justifying the actions of a mad man. Obama will leave you high and dry when it signs FOCA, forces healthcare providers to performs operations they morally wish not to, and cause the rest of America to monetarily support the actions and atrocities of a culture of death (a culture, I might add, that the majority of people agreed ought to have been limited - according to a survey posted by the Knights of Columbus). You are putting your faith in a man who has proven himself eager to be in commision with institutions that commit an intrinsic evil. This blood will be on your hands as well.
OK -- are you kdding me? -- you think your prayers will change Obama's agenda. His record showed who he is and those pro-lifers who voted for him were just kidding themselves I guess.
And just putting the evils of eugenics aside for a moment -- in these trying economic times it is Obama's priority to have US taxpayers pay for abortions WORLDWIDE. Are you all insane? You did not know he is as passionate about eugenics as Catholic-hating Margaret Sanger herself.
Kmiec is no idealist -- he is a pawn of George Soros who put together a slick propaganda campaign to lure Catholics into believing Obama was pro-life. How ignorant are these people who did not just research Obama's record -- actions speak louder than calculated propaganda.
Welcome to Sodom and Gomorrah. Now I'm just waiting to see how God's going to handle this -- nobody's hearing Him and He doesn't usually respond well to that.
Aside from the theological arguments, complex moral issues, culpability/sin issues,how to best promote the sanctity of life debate, the role of faith for Catholics in the political system, the moral responsibility of Catholic politicians, and the Constitutional Law issues (Fed vs. State), I am struck by several points. One is the magnitude of abortion vs. the sancity of human life.
What does the sanctity of human life really mean? We have been throwing that phrase around a lot lately without defining very much what it means. God created it. It was His design, His plan, His intent out of love. Once conceived, everything is there that makes a complete, unique individual. A process of development begins that lasts a lifetime - learning to walk, talking,adolescence,puberty,etc. Nothing is added or subtracted.
If life is truly sacred, 50 million deaths of innocent life in its early development since Roe v. Wade, it seems to me, should be a "Oh My God" kind of issue. It should arouse passion.
What strikes me about Mr. Kmiec and his colleagues is that there level of concern about abortion seems lethargic compared to their level of concern for electing Senator Obama and the other issues. I emailed the head of Catholics United about the Freedom of Choice Act and commented how curious it is that President-Elect Obama stated it is one of the first things he will sign as President. The response I got was that it is "regretable." Regretable?!
There seems to be a disconnect between Obama's statements about doing a better job teaching about the sanctity of life and rushing to sign a bill that not only keeps abortion safe and legal, but that removes any restrictions, leaves lots of room for penalizing Catholic hospitals, doctors, and pharmacists for not performing abortions, and says the taxpayer has to pay for it. Will that reduce abortion? (Polls show that while a wavering majority support choice, it is not for unlimited and unrestricted abortion in all cases). Yet, the level of support for mothers, newborns, education, reasonable crises pregnancy centers, and adoption programs is vague in law, government support, goals, and funding compared to the Freedom of Choice Act.
Along with this, the public positions of Mr. Kmiec and groups like Catholics United in demand for such programs seems weak and their statements seemed oriented toward removing abortion as a big issue in choosing for whom to vote. I wonder if the editorials, public eloquence, determination, and phone banks of these Catholics will be as zealous, determined, financially generous, active, and loud in demand for a softening of the Freedom of Choice Act and for legislation that really puts some meat on the bones of alternatives to abortion. I would think that morally, these Catholics have just as certain an obligation to fight abortion in any way they can just as energetically and publically as they did to remove it as the most important issue and elect Mr. Obama.
Perhaps the most insidius thing about making abortion okay is that, over time, it makes it less and less of a moral or public concern until future generations do not think it a big deal at all. What have we done then?
At least Senator Biden has let Catholic teaching inform his conscience as he did not vote for late-term abortion or public funding. Sadly, many of our other Catholic politicians never saw an abortion enabling and expansion bill they didn't like. It may be one thing for a Catholic to support keeping it safe and legal. It is quite another to support removing all restrictions, late-term abortion, public funding and penalties against those who refuse to cooperate with abortion, etc. How anyone can be "serene" about so many sanctified lives being brutally destroyed is beyond me.
A philanthophist named Farmer, who gave up his career to minister to the sick and suffering around the world, writing about his experiences, said that the biggest problem in the world today is that some lives are considered less important than others. It is that profound fact that is the reason for all the violence, poverty, and disease that goes so much against the Christian message. It strikes me that with abortion, someone has decided that for the first nine months of his or her life, human life is less important than someone or something else, or worse, expendable. How does that stack up with the "sancity" of human life? What price is worth paying to uphold the sanctity? Is there anything morally justifiable as a reason to destroy innocent human life if we really believe it is sacred? I think all the injustice in the world, including abortion, is connected and that until we consider NO life less important, we will never truly get it right about any of the social justice issues we face, because it is isn't right in our hearts.
I think it important and I challenge Mr. Kmiec and his like-minded colleagues to closely follow the abortion statistics and programs, and to monitor their own level of passion and action in eliminating it in light of their professed Catholic faith and the teaching authority of the bishops. How much "meat is on the bones" of their own engagement to end abortion now that we celebrate the election of Mr. Obama? I am not criticizing this political choice, but questioning the zeal for demanding an end to abortion going forward, however they can influence it. I haven't seen a lot of that publically yet. My sense from their statements prior to the election is that their immediate goal was just the opposite - to remove it as an obstacle to electing Mr Obama.
Granted, we have to do a much better job of catechizing the faithful about the sanctity of ALL human life, particularly about why abortion is so awful and what Church teaching is about it. We have to teach better about how Catholics should be engaged in society and about the authority of the bishops. We have to hold Catholic politicians responsible for promoting all Catholic social values, even in a diverse, democratic society.
Having said all this, I fully understand and celebrate the significance and promise for our country of Mr. Obama's victory and I pray for his success, especially in his pledge to support life. I fear though that he is too supportive of those who see abortion as a perfectly okay thing and want unlimited access to it. We'll see how right his supporters are on this issue over time.
It's time to unite the fight for the unborn. Whether you vote for Obama or not. If you vote for Obama, pray that Obama will not sign the law of not protecting the unborn. Otherwise you have to pray hard coz you voted for him. Everybody needs to pray hard coz if he does we failed the unborn. God bless our soul.. Amen
Apparently, after all this time, Prof Kmiec has still failed to learn anything about the Freedom of Choice Act, otherwise he would not have stated in this article, that neither candidate is pro-abortion. Obama IS pro-abortion and vowed as his first act as President to sign the FOCA. In addition, what planet are you on, when you think Obama would ever concede to any kind of legislation that identifies unborn children are human beings with rights. He answered the question at the Saddleback Convention, of when life begins, as "being above his pay grade". I have no income, and I can answer that question readily!
Sorry, to murder is not a freedom;
and the truth of life begins at conception need not be 'presummed' by law. Let us 'presume' that a narcotic drug is harmless, so people can have the freedom to sell/buy and consume them without them breaking the law so that they shall also have the freedom to choose. Same principle can be applied to many things now prohibit by law. Try also sex with minors.
Impossible? I don’t see why.
In the language of the moment: “Yes we can!”
How blind and selfish can we be? There is human lifes involve!
Just as Jesus says, the truth is not revealed to the 'learned'. That includes many 'Catholics' who hears but not listens.
Ken
Professor, Obama won, and the unborn lost. And you're still twisting the Truth? I have no respect for you!
Will Obama ignore half of the nation and promote the false elements contained in the left wing agenda? He said, "Well, the first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do." Well that's a terrible thing to do first thing in The White House - sign a death penalty for millions of American babies - many of them African Americans.
This is asking a lot to accept from a president by practicing Catholic citizens or any believing Christians.
If we are to take Obama at his word, his first priority as president is to serve an early death sentence on millions of unborn American children.
In one hand Obama offers lower income taxes. In the other hand he wants blood of aborted children - 50% black! As a result, Obama's death signing is a form of genocide.
And we want God to bless America?? I doubt it!! Not with such a calculated evil intention by presidential fiat that promotes genocide against African Americans!
Batten down the hatches! it's going to be a rough ride for four years! You would think politicians like Obama have learned the value of human life after witnessing 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq War. But I guess it's going to take more intense catastrophes to get America's attention about the value of human life.
Just like from the old TV show, "will the real Catholic Church please stand up?". Does the Catholic Church I long to join exist in theory only, and not in wide spread practice? Why do Catholics vote in such huge numbers for a candidate that is against the Church on what must be it's most fundamental issue? To do anything but condemn a pro choice candidate is shameful. I look for the Rock and I find only shifting sand.