From the May 6, 2005 Edition of The Pilot

Simply unnecessary

What makes Gov. Mitt Romney feel compelled to propose the reinstatement of capital punishment in Massachusetts? Critics say that a pro-capital punishment stance may give the governor an edge if he were to enter the 2008 presidential race.

Whatever his motivation, Massachusetts does not need the death penalty. This would be true even if, as Romney claims, he is able to establish an “error-proof” system to prevent the wrongly convicted from being put to death.

Capital punishment has no place in a civilized society such as ours, not because of the danger of wrongful executions but because it is simply unnecessary.

Catholics tend to be divided on this issue, just as society as a whole. Pope John Paul II advanced the Church’s teaching on capital punishment to reflect the realities of modern criminal justice systems. Capital punishment is not justified in any society capable of properly restraining criminals.

Rejecting capital punishment affirms the principle that life is sacred from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. Pursuing a society in which life is always respected by those in authority is the greater good Catholics should insist on.

Abortion distortion

Those who work for the advancement of pro-life causes are very familiar with “abortion distortion.” The term is used to describe a peculiar phenomenon: that rules and principles that apply in all other matters of life are routinely and inexplicably discarded when the subject at hand is abortion.

Perhaps the latest example of that “distortion” is the reaction to the April 27 passage of legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would prohibit taking a minor across state lines in order to circumvent abortion parental notification or consent laws in the girl’s home state.

In an April 29 editorial opposing that bill, The Boston Globe attempts to make the case for circumventing parental notification laws if the person who “impregnated” the minor was “a father or mother’s boyfriend.” The editorial goes on to say, “The bill adopted this week prevents even a grandmother, aunt, or older sister from helping a frightened teenager obtain an abortion, further isolating her from the adults she can trust.”

Is the Globe suggesting that adults knowledgeable of sexual abuse of minor should just accompany the abused minor out of state for an abortion, and simply allow her abuse to continue? Shouldn’t they have focused, instead, on the obligation to report the abuse and make sure that the abuse ends rather than on the quick fix of abortion?

Children cannot be given Tylenol at school without parental consent. But abortion rights advocates don’t see any problem in having a minor subjected to an abortion without their parents knowing and, most likely, finding out who was responsible for the pregnancy. Certainly the “abortion distortion” is alive and well.

Democrats and moral issues

News that the Massachusetts Democratic Party is planning to include same-sex marriage in their platform and that, according to state chairman Philip Johnston, it is expected to happen without “any serious debate,” is troubling.

It is sad to see the traditional party of many Catholics becoming the flagship of numerous controversial positions. Catholics in the Democratic Party in Massachusetts should reflect on the wisdom of allowing the most liberal secularists to lead their party. At the national level, Democratic leaders are calling for moderation on political positions related to the so-called “moral issues.” Massachusetts, meanwhile, seems to be following its own path.

DemocracyCorps, a Democratic think-tank, recently published a report called “Reclaiming the white Catholic vote” that makes the following assertion: “Less than a decade ago, Bill Clinton carried the white Catholic vote by 7 points (48 to 41 percent), but support for Democratic presidential candidates has fallen in successive elections, with Al Gore losing them by 7 points (45 to 52 percent) and John Kerry by a striking 13 points (43 to 56 percent) in 2004 – a 20-point swing against the Democrats over three elections.”

The study cites, among others, abortion and same-sex marriage as two important issues leading to defections from the Democratic Party.

The study, while national in scope, recognizes that Catholic support for Democrats has also dropped in New England. Local Democrats should not be surprised, therefore, when support from Catholics continues to decline as they continue to advance increasingly radical platform positions.

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