Editor's note. I hope you have a chance to read Part Two, which talks about the Knight of Columbus letter criticizing pro-abortion Sen. Joe Biden, and Part Three, which is the full letter. Please send your thoughts to daveandrusko@hotmail.com.

As a non-Catholic, I try to be very cautious when talking about the in-house debate over whether a Catholic can support someone as committed to not only maintaining abortion on demand, but embedding it even deeper in the culture as Sen. Barack Obama. But this topic came up again yesterday when a friend forwarded an entry on the blog of the magazine "America."

The author was Prof. Sidney Callahan, whose work I have admired over the years. In her first paragraph, Mrs. Callahan establishes her credentials, downgrades the importance of abortion, and tells her audience why Obama is her candidate.

When I finished her entry, I was reminded again of the staggering irony that is at the heart of "Catholics for Obama." They seem to believe that Obama is really a reasonable fellow, with no real investment in abortion, and, if given a quarter of a chance, will "do the right thing"--lead the way toward a "reduction in the number of abortions."

The problem is there is absolutely nothing--NOTHING-- in what he's said or done that suggests that Obama would retreat an inch from his extremist position on abortion and lots and lots to show that he's just getting started.

Let me just tick off a couple of items.

Obama is a 100%er in his votes--for all the bad stuff, and against all the good proposals. That includes everything from support for partial-birth abortion to opposition to parental involvement in life-and-death decisions made by their pregnant daughters to making you and me pay for abortions.

And, as you may already know, Obama supporters spend almost as much time as the Obama campaign denying/deflecting his opposition to Illinois' Born-Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIPA). Obama calls us liars for showing his deep involvement in killing legislation to protect born-alive survivors of abortions. They simply say indignantly that no one could oppose a piece of legislation like BAIPA. The inconvenient truth is that Obama did just that--four times--and then has spent the past four years + covering up what he did.

And Obama's supporters--Catholics or otherwise--simply refuse to deal with the "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA). Why? It's simple: they have to. FOCA demolishes the core of their ability to excuse Obama's record--the promise that he would "reduce the number of abortions."

In the October issue of National Right to Life News, NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson unpackages the full threat of FOCA. It is worth noting that Obama appears to be the only senator in the last year or two who has vocally promoted FOCS. As we have noted in this space many times, last year, speaking to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Obama said, "The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do."

It is difficult to image a more sweeping piece of pro-abortion legislation. Its reach extends further even than Roe v. Wade's and would, in the words of the National Organization for Women, "sweep away hundreds of anti-abortion laws [and] policies."

There are also other aspects of Obama's proposals--specifically as relates to health care "reform"--that would guarantee an increase, potentially a major increase, in the number of aborted babies.
What is the answer of Catholics for Obama, or Protestants for Obama, or Atheists for Obama? Their answer speaks volumes.

Silence.

Part Two -- Biden Criticized by Knights of Columbus
Part Three -- OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR JOSEPH BIDEN