Dear
Senator John Kerry: But
while Americans have always been a religious people, our faith is tied to
reason. We choose goodness and truth not only because faith tells us to, but
also because doing otherwise would be inherently wrong. Disagreements
will always exist in the civic arena. How high the minimum wage? How to best
provide educational opportunity for all? The appropriate level of
taxation? These are decisions that we work out in the political process
and upon which the Church has no specialized knowledge. As Catholics and
as Americans we are called to discern the truth in public policy and to
determine which candidate best addresses our concerns. There
are core truths, however, around which we as Catholics must rally. Not just
because it is the word of the Church, but also because of reason. This is where
we stand on opposition to abortion. Innocent
human life must always be protected. Senator John Kerry, you have said that
“life begins at conception,” but you have persistently supported abortion
and oppose all sensible restrictions on the practice. You
have voted six times against banning the barbaric practice of partial birth
abortion. You voted to spend taxpayers’ dollars to fund abortion at
least 25 times. You
opposed Laci and Conner’s Law, which protects pregnant women and their unborn
babies from violent crimes. In
the most recent debate Senator Kerry, you said, "everything you do in
public life has to be guided by your faith” and that “everything is a gift
from the Almighty.” But apparently, when it comes to the issue of the right to
life, you follow neither your own faith nor your own reason. Senator
Kerry, your stand contradicts both your faith and reason. As
Americans and Catholics, both faith and reason lead us to President George W.
Bush as the choice for life, compassion and justice for all. For that
reason, we are urging fellow Catholics to join us in voting for the President on
November 2. Respectfully, Rick
U.S.
Senator Sam
Brownback, U.S.
Senator John
Roth, Kenny
Hulsof, U.S.
Congressman Maria
Sophia Aguirre, Professor,
Donna
Sytek, Former
Speaker of the State House Hadley
Arkes, Professor,
Lou
Barletta, Mayor,
Hazelton Douglas
A. Sylva, Catholic
Family and Human Rights Institute Bob
Bray
Frank
Stella, FD
Stella Products Linda
D. Barrasse, Cardiologist MaryBeth
Bonacci, Real
Love Inc. Mark
Ryland, President,
AMDG Foundation James
Barry, Bill
Brown, Austin
Ruse, President,
Culture of Life Foundation Mary
Ellen Bork, Women
Affirming Life Joe
Cella, President,
National Catholic Prayer Breakfast M.
Joe
Canizaro, Jack
Bruce
Chapman, Washington Former
Ambassador to the U.N. Teresa
Stanton Collett, Professor,
University of Connie
Marshner, President,
American Catholic Council Bob
Destro, Professor,
Bernard
Dobranski, Dean,
Leonard
Leo, Co-Founder,
National Catholic Prayer Breakfast Laura
Dolehide, Homemaker Nicholas
Eberstadt, Economist Former
Commissioner of Major League Baseball Michelle
Fischbach, State
Representative Robert
George, Professor,
Thomas
& Margaret Melady, Former
Brian
Golden, State
Representative Scott
Hahn, Ohio *
Group affiliation listed for identification purposes only and does not imply any
endorsement.
Professor of Theology and
Scripture,