Dear Michael:

Fr Matthew Habiger, from Human Life International stated in his article, Sin to Vote for Pro-Abortion Politicians?:

It is not sufficient to think that, since candidate X takes the 'right position' on other issues such as the economy, foreign relations, defense, etc. but only goes wrong on abortion, one can in good conscience, vote for him/her. Abortion deals with the first and most basic human right, without which there is nothing left to talk about.

There are no issues that outrank abortion. The economy does not benefit a person who is dead. 

I suggest reading the entire article from Dr. Habiger.

In July, 2004, in a document pinned by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, provided moral guidance on this:

“A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons” (“Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion: General Principles”).

The phrase, "which can be permitted in the presence of proportional reasons" has be misinterpreted in a disingenuous way as an excuse to vote for a pro-abortion candidate. Catholics for Obama twist Church teaching to excuse their support for Obama — the most blatantly and unapologetic supporter of killing babies we have ever seen in the White House.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann states, on the other hand:

“There are no ‘truly grave moral’ or ‘proportionate’ reasons, singularly or combined, that could outweigh the millions of innocent human lives that are directly killed by legal abortion.”

Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., state this in a very personal way:

“A proportionate reason for voting for a pro- abortion candidate has to be a reason we could, with an honest heart, expect the unborn victims of abortion to accept when we meet them and need to explain our decision, as we someday will.”

Now to devolve into my personal opinion, which carried no wieght: I would propose that we must vote for whomever the Republican nominee is, even Trump, because otherwise Hillary will get the White House. In my view Hillary must be not win the election. This view is based upon both the abortion issue, which is the primary issue, and also because she is a progressive-socialist, a protégé of Saul Alinsky, the author of "Rules for Radicals" and who was the father of "community organizing". While he never joined any organization, his views were socialist. In her senior thesis, Hillary took the views of Alinsky and proposed to take them into the political realm and not just in community organizing. In other words, she proposed working from inside elected politics.

Alinsky, by the way, said in a Playboy interview, that if given the choice he would rather to to hell, but those in hell are "his kind of people." He said, "Hell would be heaven for me. All my life I've been with the have-nots. Over here, if you're a have-not, you're short of dough. If you're a have-not in hell, you're short of virtue. Once I get into hell, I'll start organizing the have-nots over there." emm.

We do not need another four-eight years of a person who is an unabashed supporter of abortion or an unabashed supporter of socialist/progressive views that has no respect to the Constitution of the United States.

I will vote for the Republican candidate, even if it is Trump, in an effort to keep Hillary out of the White House. My vote will not a pro-Trump, but anti-Hillary.

As for Trump, he is a narcissistic person (but not more than Obama) who blusters and uses a polemical technique. Look away from all that to what he says of substance in his policies. Also, keep in mind that no candidate can fulfill all of their promises and plans. They discover this once they get to the Oval Office. If Trump wins, I imagine his approach will be significantly different. He will also have advisers to help him, and perhaps moderate him a little.

It is not the first time blustering was used during an election. If I remember correctly, Theodore Roosevelt did the same thing.

Bottomline: No Christian can vote for Hilliary or Sanders due to their decided promotion of abortion. There is no issue that outranks this one. Ecomonic, foreign policy, health care, or whatnot outranks the abortion issue.

I hope this helps.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary