Despite abortion stance, Obama takes Catholic vote

Exit polls show that 54 percent of Catholics who voted in the presidential election voted for Barack Obama, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. I was among that group. Before and after the election there were commentaries in both the secular and religious press about the voting obligations of Catholics related to pro-life issues. These ranged in tone from the abstract and scholarly to the vitriolic and judgmental. The central question raised by some clergy and Bishops was whether Catholics had an obligation to refrain from voting for candidates who had publicly announced a pro-choice position. There have been instances of Catholics who supported Obama being denied communion or told to confess this “sin” in confession.