Is it always sinful to vote for a pro-abortion politician?

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BornInMarch

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To start out, I know abortion is evil. Any woman who gets an abortion is committing murder and will have to answer for it in at the end of her life.

But what if there are no pro-life candidates?

Some time ago, my state voted on a governor. Now, the way American Politics unfortunately works is that it eventually comes down to two choices: one left leaning and one right leaning. The third parties never win, so a vote for them is a vote wasted.

In the most recent governor election in my state, both candidates were pro-abortion.

Now, in this situation, would it be sinful to vote for the lesser evil or should I just stay out of the voting booth?
 
From Fr. John A. Hardon’s Modern Catholic Dictionary:

DOUBLE EFFECT

The principle that says it is morally allowable to perform an act that has at least two effects, one good and one bad. It may be used under the following conditions: 1. the act to be done must be good in itself or at least morally indifferent; by the act to be done is meant the deed itself taken independently of its consequences; 2. the good effect must not be obtained by means of the evil effect; the evil must be only an incidental by-product and not an actual factor in the accomplishment of the good; 3. the evil effect must not be intended for itself but only permitted; all bad will must be excluded form the act; 4. there must be a proportionately grave reason for permitting the evil effect. At least the good and evil effects should be nearly equivalent. All four conditions must be fulfilled. If any one of them is not satisfied, the act is morally wrong.

An example of the lawful use of the double effect would be the commander of a submarine in wartime who torpedoes an armed merchant vessel of the enemy, although he foresees that several innocent children on board will be killed. All four required conditions are fulfilled: 1. he intends merely to lessen the power of the enemy by destroying an armed merchant ship. He does not wish to kill the innocent children; 2. his action of torpedoing the ship is not evil in itself; 3. the evil effect (the death of the children) is not the cause of the good effect (the lessening of the enemy’s strength); 4. there is sufficient reason for permitting the evil effect to follow, and this reason is administering a damaging blow to those who are unjustly attacking his country.
 
I believe it is a matter of personal conscience. I myself, could not bring myself to empower a person who would support the legislative right to abortion. I would not bring such a man across my threshold as a guest. I would not walk across the street to meet him. I find better moral company in my gold fish. I would not vote.
 
Petaro said:
I believe it is a matter of personal conscience. I myself, could not bring myself to empower a person who would support the legislative right to abortion. I would not bring such a man across my threshold as a guest. I would not walk across the street to meet him. I find better moral company in my gold fish. I would not vote.
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How big is your family? Because if, like me, you have family members who mistakenly think abortion is okey, then thanksgiving dinners will be awkward.

Last time I checked, half the country has fallen for the false-notion that murdering unborn babies is anything other than horrific.
 
You should vote for the lesser evil. While you are voting for someone who supports abortion, you will at least be voting to prevent even more evils from being heaped upon your state should the more wicked candidate win.
 
It is also permissible to disbelieve what a candidate says is his position, especially if he has only come to that position recently and has absolutely no voting record on which his claims can be checked. In that case you could vote for one that was not pro-life if there were other proportionate reasons to do so.
 
Yes, it’s always evil to vote for pro-abortion politician. Because NOTHING is as important as the sanctity of life- not taxes, schools or roads- or anything else.

My state also had two pro-abortion candidates. I voted for ths third party candidate. I knew that person would never win. However, I also knew that when pro-abort candidate was supporting/enacting loose abortion laws, I’d have felt awful knowing that I helped that person get into office.
 
When you have pro-abortion vs. pro-abortion, our pro-life group recommends a vote for the non-incumbent, as that person might be easier to defeat the next time.
 
signit said:
When you have pro-abortion vs. pro-abortion, our pro-life group recommends a vote for the non-incumbent, as that person might be easier to defeat the next time.
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Yes. I’ve heard several priests say this too. They’ve said it’s NEVER ok to vote for a pro abortion candidate.
 
BornInMarch said:
The third parties never win, so a vote for them is a vote wasted.

… or should I just stay out of the voting booth?
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So you will not vote third part because it is “wasted” but you will consider not voting at all? How is not voting not considered “wasting” your vote in your opinion? This makes zero sense to me.
 
oliver927 said:
So you will not vote third part because it is “wasted” but you will consider not voting at all? How is not voting not considered “wasting” your vote in your opinion? This makes zero sense to me.
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Not voting is also a waste … But at least it is an honest waste.

How many Third Party Presidents has the U.S. had?
 
Regina7 said:
Yes, it’s always evil to vote for pro-abortion politician.
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No, that’s not what the Church teaches:
When all candidates hold a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma. The voter may decide to take the extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate or, after careful deliberation, may decide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed position and more likely to pursue other authentic human goods.
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In making these decisions, it is essential for Catholics to be guided by a well-formed conscience that recognizes that all issues do not carry the same moral weight and that the moral obligation to oppose intrinsically evil acts has a special claim on our consciences and our actions.
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(from the 2011 edition of the USCCB’s document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship)
 
Gorgias said:
No, that’s not what the Church teaches:

(from the 2011 edition of the USCCB’s document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship)
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Is abortion specifically mentioned earlier/later in the passage? I would like to know whether the evils of different gravity are clarified. For example, the evil of abortion is more grave than the evil of sloth or gluttony.

I find it hard to believe that:
Candidate A and B are avid abortion supporters. Their voting record is 100% pro- abortion.

Candidate A has better tax reform ideas.

But it’s morally permissible to vote for Candidate A? Even if there’s absolutely no indication that s/he will change the stance on abortion?
 
It is preferable to vote 3rd party, at least you are performing your civic duty by voting at all. It’s no more a “wasted vote” than it would be to vote for any other candidate that doesn’t win. 😉
 
In today’s politics, a vote for a candidate also is a vote to strengthen his party. So even if the candidate is pro-death, his party may not be.

With no alternative, I would go with the party that has done more for the pro life cause.
 
*No, you can never vote for someone who favors absolutely what’s called the right to choice of a woman to destroy human life in her womb, or the right to procure an abortion. You may in some circumstances, where you don’t have any candidate who is proposing to eliminate all abortion, choose the candidate who will most limit this great evil in our country. But you could never justify voting for a candidate who not only does not want to limit abortion, but believes that it should be available to everyone.”

*Cardinal Burke
 
estesbob said:
Correct-you may vote for a pro-abortion candidate if their opponent is more pro-abortion than they are. As Archbishop Chaput explained it such a vote is not voting for the lesser of two evils, it is voting to lessen evils
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How is it voting to lessen evil if both are 100% pro abortion?
 
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