When Jack Kennedy ran for U.S. president, Republicans sent up a horrendous howl that in some unspecified way Kennedy would owe greater allegiance to the Pope than to the U.S. Constitution. I think Democrats and pro-lifers should be howling about the questionable loyalty of today's Catholic Supreme Court justices.
In 1869 it became canon Catholic Church law that the one and only possible moment for human ensoulment takes place exactly at conception/fertilization, and in the eyes of the Church this makes the zygote, embryo, fetus, and newborn all full-fledged, complete human beings. Then in 1871 the Church declared that the Pope and Vatican were infallible. These new doctrines were not supported by holy scripture, but were largely political, intended to revive the waning Church influence in Europe and the U.S.
For the rest of the 19th Century Catholic clergy waged an energetic campaign in the U.S. to get anti-abortion state laws enacted. In the 20th Century Church clergy vigorously opposed modern birth control methods. After the Supreme Court issued its Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion, Catholic officials labeled it as "mass murder," a "culture of death," and "another Holocaust," and the Church threw heavy resources into the pro-life anti-abortion cause.
The GOP adopted anti-abortion as a plank in their party platform to attract Roman Catholic and Evangelical voters. Over the years by hook and crook Republicans have installed several avowed Catholics on the U.S. Supreme Court, keeping clearly in mind the repeal of the Roe v. Wade decision.
For 150 years the Vatican has explicitly ruled that any abortion is a deadly sin and kills a human being. I strongly believe that the Catholic justices now on the Supreme Court are incapable of rendering an objective decision on Roe v. Wade. Unlike Kennedy, they have no "wiggle room on this specific issue and must obey their Church law.
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For this reason the Catholic justices on the Court should recuse themselves or be forcibly removed from the present case before the Supreme Court challenging Roe v. Wade.
Dudley Wells lives in Twin Valley, Minn.
This letter does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Forum's editorial board nor Forum ownership.
