By Russell Shaw

What an Obama presidency means for Catholics

Democratic senator's victory puts pro-lifers on the defensive, highlights Church divisions

So now it's back to reality. Like patients awaking from feverish dreams, Americans are waking up from a fevered election campaign to face a host of unpleasant facts. Among those who must do that almost at once are President-elect Barack Obama, the pro-life movement and the leaders of the Catholic Church.

During the campaign Obama and his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, both promised tax cuts along with expensive new domestic programs. But it's hard to see how Obama can keep those promises in the face of an economy in recession, a spiraling federal deficit approaching a trillion dollars this year, and a looming crisis in funding Social Security and government health care as the baby-boom generation heads toward retirement.

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As if that weren't enough, Obama, with no previous experience in foreign affairs, now must deal with the threat of international terrorism, a hostile Iran bent on acquiring nuclear capability, a nuclear-armed North Korea that hardly anybody trusts, a shaky quasi-democracy in Iraq, an ugly war in Afghanistan and eroding situations in several Latin American countries.

Pro-life challenges

For its part, the pro-life movement faces its gravest challenge since the Supreme Court legalized abortion nearly four decades ago. It is embodied in the election of a man often described as the most pro-abortion candidate ever to run for president on the ticket of a major party. Obama's victory puts pro-lifers on the defensive for at least the next four years.

Among other things, Obama as a senator co-sponsored legislation called the Freedom of Choice Act and promised he'd sign it into law if Congress passed it while he was president. Long sought by pro-abortion groups, the measure would overturn state restrictions on abortion, including bans on the partial-birth abortion procedure and would impose wide-open abortion policy on the entire nation.

When the chance comes, the new president also is expected to nominate Supreme Court justices who support legalized abortion. Chances are good Obama will get at least one and possibly more opportunities for that in his first term. With Democrats in control of the Senate by a wide margin, filibustering to block the confirmation of such nominees may not be possible.

The new administration also is expected to overturn current limits on federal funding of stem-cell research that involves killing human embryos and the "Mexico City policy" that bars funding for groups which promote abortion overseas.

One bright spot for moral conservatives was the apparent approval (as of press time) by California voters of a state constitutional measure to ban same-sex marriage, which the state supreme court earlier upheld. But President-elect Obama opposes adding such language to the federal constitution, and, as a decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court recently illustrated, pressure for same-sex marriage will continue in a number of states.

Bishops' influence

For the Catholic Church, the election underlines serious questions about the bishops' ability to educate Catholic voters to the moral implications of political choices considered in light of Church teaching.

The victory by Obama and his pro-choice Catholic running mate, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, puts the bishops under increased pressure to find a solution to this pastoral problem, which they were scheduled to discuss in Baltimore during their Nov. 10-13 fall meeting.

In a nutshell, the problem is this: While some Catholics who voted for Obama no doubt agonized about backing a strongly pro-abortion candidate, millions of others evidently voted this way without any qualms. According to exit polls, McCain got just over half of white Catholics' votes, down 13 percent from George W. Bush's showing in 2004. Obama's gain among these Catholics was said to be mainly among those who don't attend Mass weekly.

What can the bishops do? Clearly, they aren't of a mind directly to oppose pro-abortion candidates in the future -- for fear of losing the Church's tax-exempt status, because they believe it would conflict with their role as religious teachers, and because doing that might actually benefit the candidates they opposed.

But the evidence of 2008 is that broad consensus statements from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops like this year's document called "Faithful Citizenship" are of questionable value. Indeed, some pro-Obama Catholics actually mined "Faithful Citizenship" to find arguments in support of their choice.

The Church's growing difficulties became embarrassingly clear during the campaign when Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), also a Catholic, misrepresented Catholic teaching on abortion on national television.

In response, many bishops issued statements attempting to set the record straight, but Catholics of the left then accused them of inappropriately working for Obama's defeat. Worse still, bishops fell to disagreeing publicly among themselves about whether they were putting too much emphasis on abortion.

The hierarchy might find help in something Pope Benedict XVI said in France last September. While approving church-state separation, the pope spoke of the Church's "irreplaceable role" in forming consciences and helping to create "a basic ethical consensus in society."

In a sense, the Church in America has tried to do that for years. But the events of 2008 suggest that uncoordinated, scattershot efforts have diminishing results.

Part of the answer to the bishops' post-election dilemma could lie in launching a major new program to educate Catholics in forming their consciences, with the focus largely but not exclusively on political issues. Consulting loyal Catholics knowledgeable about politics and communications might also help.

With another round of national elections in just two years and another presidential election in 2012, the time for this or any other approach is short.

Mixed results on ballot measures

Arizona: Voted 56 percent to 44 percent to approve an amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

California: Approved a ban on same-sex marriage by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent, but rejected measure requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent.*

Colorado: Voted 73 percent to 27 percent to reject amendment that would define human person from moment of conception.

Florida: Approved a ban on same-sex marriage by a vote of 62 percent to 38 percent.

Michigan: Approved measure that would permit human embryonic stem cell research by 53 percent to 47 percent.

South Dakota: By a 55 percent to 45 percent, voters rejected ban of all abortions except in cases where mother's life or health is at risk or in cases of rape or incest for pregnancies of less than 20 weeks.

Washington state: Voted 59 percent to 41 percent to allow doctor-assisted suicide.

*Results not final as of press time.

Sources: CNN.com, The Los Angeles Times

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor. Let us know what you think by email us at feedback@osv.com.