What this coalition does not deliberately comprehend is that there are certain moral issues, such as abortion on demand, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, etc. that one is morally obliged to take a certain position on in the public arena because they concern INTRINSICALLY EVIL acts, and are, hence, NON-NEGOTIABLE.  That is, under authoritative Catholic Social Teaching, one is morally obliged to ALWAYS oppose these intrinsically evil acts as a matter of public policy.    

However, Catholic Social Teaching does permit one to take differing positions on issues that call for prudential judgments, and these issues often times do have moral implications.  But the debate over the expansion of SCHIP does not implicate intrinsically evil acts in the same way that, say, the debate over taxpayer funding of abortion undoubtedly does.

The recent radio ads trying to conflate the NON-NEGOTIBALE issue of opposing abortion rights with the prudential policy judgment of whether to expand SCHIP (under the current Democratic scheme) are way off base:

"The script for the radio commercial reads: `I'm the mother of three children, and I'm pro-life. I believe that protecting the lives of our children must be our nation's number one moral priority. That's why I'm concerned that Congressman X says he's pro-life but votes against health care for poor children. That's not pro-life. That's not pro-family. Tell Congressman X to vote for health care for children. Call him today at XXXX, that's XXXXX.'" See: http://www.catholics-united.org/schip-ads

As the Detroit News recently reported, the Congressmen actually support SCHIP, but they have made a prudential judgment that they cannot support expanding the program because in its currently proposed legislative form it is untenable:

"Spokesmen for both Knollenberg and Walberg said Friday that they support SCHIP, which provides health insurance for children in low-income families, and seek to extend its funding. But they say they oppose the Democratic scheme to finance an expansion of the program."  See: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071013/POLITICS/710130325/1041/LIFESTYLE04

Even my Congressman, Tim Walberg, an ordained Protestant minister and obviously not Catholic, recognizes what the application of authentic Catholic Social Teaching is emphatically clear about: health care for the least among us in society is a public good, but one can legitimately disagree on how to best achieve that public good.  

Thus, in contrast to Catholics United et al, truly non-partisan Catholic entities, such as the Michigan Catholic Conference and the Archdiocese of Detroit, have made sure to distance themselves from the leftist radio spots.  See again:    http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071013/POLITICS/710130325/1041/LIFESTYLE04

Of course, that hasn't stopped Catholic Democratic partisans in positions of power, even within those entities, from taking-up the cause against three of Michigan's most reliably pro-life (and Republican) Congressmen:

"`The important thing to communicate to them is that Catholics regard this as an issue of social justice and basic human rights -- this is a life issue,' said Michael Hovey, the director of the Office for Catholic Social Teaching for the Archdiocese of Detroit." See again:    http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071013/POLITICS/710130325/1041/LIFESTYLE04

Sorry, Mr. Hovey, you're wrong now just as you were in November 2005 when I heard you give a talk at St. Mary Student Parish in Ann Arbor in which you said that the Vatican violated Catholic Social Teaching by opposing the murder of Terri Schiavo.  

I am sad to see that, two years since I last thought about Mr. Hovey, he still does not grasp the difference between public policy issues with moral implications that call for prudential judgments and moral issues that call for NON-NEGOTIABLE positions.  

Of course, with this past week's astoundingly misguided radio campaign, Mr. Hovey and his ilk from Catholics United et al appear more eager than ever to take their cues about Catholic Social Teaching from the Democratic Party's talking points rather than from the Vatican.

About the author: Andrew Shirvell, Esq., is a pro-life citizen activist who writes a weekly column that is published every Thursday for RightMichigan.com in which he focuses upon Michigan pro-life issues. Shirvell attended Ave Maria School of Law - Ann Arbor, where he served as president of the school's Bioethics Society, from 2004-2005.  He also served as president of Students for Life at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, from 2000-2002.