Most Americans these days have strong disagreements with President Bush on something - whether it's his handling of Iraq or his policy on immigration issues.But a leading Catholic newspaper says the president should enjoy consistent support from the pro-life community because of his sterling record.
A CBS News poll taken late last week found Bush at a record low of 27%, just one percentage point higher than the all-time, all-poll low recorded by Newsweek the previous week.
Fox News, whose surveys have generally shown higher approval rates than other polls, also reported its all-time low last week at 31%.
Given that most polls show anywhere from 50 to 55 percent of Americans call themselves pro-life and oppose all or most abortions, a significant number of pro-life advocates must think Bush is doing a poor job based on other political issues.
But, the National Catholic Register says its thankful Bush has been the president because of a sterling pro-life record he's put together.
Bush started his pro-life record on his first day in office by restoring the Mexico City Policy and making sure taxpayers don't have to finance groups that do abortions overseas or lobby other countries to change their pro-life abortion laws.
He's signed several pro-life bills into law, stood his ground on taxpayer funded abortions and spent heavily on promoting abstinence education programs.
But Father Owen Kearns, the publisher of the Register, says it is President Bush's second veto of a bill to force taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research that earns him the most praise.
"His decision was unpopular in the polls, and did not help him further his desire for a cooperative Congress. But it was the only morally viable option for a man of conscience to make," Father Kearns wrote in an editorial in the most recent edition of the Register.
"We salute the president for his courage — and point out that this veto shows precisely why it is such a disastrous idea to support a presidential candidate who is not pro-life, no matter what kind of deals he says he will make," Kearns added.
"When push came to shove, we are glad President Bush was in the right place at the right time to do the right thing," the Catholic leader concluded.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce