Res Publica 2005

Mark Brumley notes:

So it's okay for Senator Kerry's Catholicism to influence his efforts against poverty, or to clean up the environment, or to fight for justice and equality. As he said, "All of those things come out of that fundamental teaching and belief of faith." But for some reason his Catholicism mustn't influence him to support the right to life for unborn children.

Thanks be to God, viewers of the debate were spared one misstatement Senator Kerry has imposed on audiences before: The claim that he accepts the Church's teaching on abortion, despite not being able to "impose that teaching on others." Presumably, he means by "accepting the Church's teaching on abortion" that he thinks abortion is something morally wrong and would never encourage a woman to have one. But, of course, the Church says more than that abortion is immoral. Cursing in your living room is immoral, but the Church doesn't advocate outlawing it.

Abortion is different because unborn children have an inalienable right to life, which the government must secure. Since Senator Kerry doesn't support the right to life for unborn children, it's false for him to claim to accept the Church's teaching on abortion, which includes supporting the right to life.

We have here a classic case of someone who seems so worried about "not imposing religion on people" that he doesn't even impose it on himself.

Source: NRO