Catholic Conundrums

In the vice presidential debate last week the moderator asked Vice President Biden and Congressman Ryan, who are both Catholics to state their views on abortion rights.


Ryan predictably said he agreed with his church's view that life begins at conception and that he supported the Romney position (at least his position as expressed this week) that if elected they would support legislation to outlaw abortion except in the case of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother. They would also like to see Roe v Wade overturned. (It should be pointed out that Ryan has previously stated his support of “personhood” legislation that would outlaw abortion in any circumstance.) 

Biden, as a Catholic, was also predictable in stating that he accepts the church's teaching that life begins at conception. He didn't say be believed that, he just said he accepts it. But then he went on to say that he did not have any intention, nor did he feel he had the right, to tell other people what to believe or how to act. He is happy with the status quo and supports Choice for women.


My intention here is not to be lengthy but to point out a couple of things that really irk me about these arguments.


First is the irony of the conservative position on abortion. The parties of the right who purport to be in favour of individual rights, the right to bear arms for instance, in both the US and in Canada, think that it is fair and reasonable to impose their views on abortion on women of all faiths or no particular faith. This position reinforces my argument in a previous post that they are the ultimate hypocrites when it comes to freedom.


Second, believing life begins at conception does not make it so. None of us, including scientists, know the secret of life. It remains to this day one of the mysteries of the universe. As Biden pointed out on several other issues, facts matter, but on this one issue there are no facts. Beliefs are leaps of faith, not facts. If I said that I believe life begins at birth that would not be a fact either. These are really irrelevant arguments and should not be taken into account in making public policy.


We should always side with the politician who is in favour of providing the greatest amount of freedom as well as preventing the greatest amount of suffering. At times these will conflict but not on the issue of abortion rights. Taking Choice away will clearly cause suffering both for women who do not want to be pregnant and for all of the unwanted children who will be brought into the world. And it will clearly take away the freedom of women to choose what to do with their own bodies.


Let's hope that the forces of freedom win out over the forces of fascism.