Voting and abortion

by Michael Shackleton · December 13, 2006

Is abortion the moral equivalent of murder, even if not the legal equivalent, because of our pro-abortion legislation? If so, should this not morally preclude voting for pro-abortion political parties, even if only to achieve desirable political objectives, other than legalised abortion?

I have dealt with questions of the morality rather than the legality of abortion in previous columns. For one person to kill another is not in itself murder. Killings can be accidental and unintended, for example when they happen in a car crash.

Murder, on the other hand, is not an accidental killing but a deliberate, wilful and intended act that one foresees will cause somebody’s death. Your question therefore asks whether abortion is the equivalent of this kind of unjust killing.

Bear in mind that the Church upholds any individual’s inalienable right to life. A killer who directly commits murder, euthanasia or abortion, as well as anyone who assists in the killing, is guilty of a gravely immoral act which, of course, is a serious sin.

Obviously, if all unjust killing is sinful, then direct abortion is as morally evil as murder. The victim is the innocent foetus which, although in law is not considered a subject having legal rights, is morally a human person redeemed by Christ and enjoying the right to life and integrity and the potential to develop into a unique and useful member of society.

A candidate of a political party that seeks to legalise murder, euthanasia, abortion or any similar act that will deprive or threaten the human person’s right to life, and who actively lobbies for the electorate’s support by voting for him on basis of his anti-life platform, can likewise be said to be guilty of sin. One who votes in his favour because of this lobby, also commits a sinful act.

On the other hand, there is nothing immoral in a voter casting a ballot in favour of a politician who advocates social benefits which are plainly good for the community, while simultaneously is in favour of abortion.

Why? Because the voter does not directly intend the evil effect that could follow from his vote (legalised killing), but does intend the good effect that could follow from his vote (the desirable social benefits in question). The hope of obtaining the good effect will normally be sufficient reason for voting in this way.