Where to begin?

The election of Barack Obama as president gives Catholics and all people of faith an historic opportunity to set a new course for America - both in terms of meeting domestic human needs and restoring our nation's moral leadership in the world.

It's up to us to help our nation realize this opportunity. In the coming months and years our movement will have an unprecedented chance to help shape a new national moral agenda, on everything from the economy to health care to finding real ways to prevent abortions. Right now, Catholics United needs your help determining what issues we should address first as an organization.

Click here to tell us what you think our priorities should be in the months to come.

Catholics United worked hard through this election season to make sure that our nation's dialogue on faith and politics reflected the full spectrum of Catholic social teaching. With your help we were able to play an integral role in changing this conversation - which in recent years had come to center around only a handful of issues that served a partisan agenda.

Based on input we've received over the past several months, we've identified a list of Catholics' top priorities: affordable health care for all; common ground abortion reduction initiatives; an end to the war in Iraq; economic support for those in poverty; oil independence and renewable energy; support for workers' rights; and humane immigration reform. All of these are of course essential concerns.  But we'd like to know which is the most important to you.

Take Catholics United's post-election survey to help us decide which issues to address first.

Together we are making a difference. Now we have an opportunity to advocate for positive social change. Help make this happen by letting us know what you think our priorities should be in the months to come.

Submitted by ckorzen on Fri, 2008-11-21 16:13

How Will Catholics Vote Today?

Catholic voters are an excellent predictor of the outcome of presidential contests, having favored the winner of the popular voter in the past nine elections. These Catholics account for about 1 in 4 voters nationwide, with higher concentrations in battleground states like Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Catholics United has prepared a "Reporting the Catholic Vote" memorandum that points out some of the key areas to watch as returns come in this evening.

Submitted by ckorzen on Tue, 2008-11-04 12:53

Pro-Life Catholics and Mothers Call for National Abortion Policy Based on Results not Rhetoric

At a press conference in Springdale, Ohio today, Cincinnati’s Healthy Moms and Babes joined the national advocacy group Catholics United in calling on political candidates and public officials to pursue initiatives that bring Americans of all ideological backgrounds together to find common-ground solutions to the abortion tragedy. Today’s event is part of a broader movement of Catholics and other people of faith to move beyond the angry rhetoric of the abortion “culture war” and enact policies that achieve actual results by addressing the root causes of abortion: lack of jobs, health care, and other economic supports for women and families.

"Women who find they are facing an unplanned pregnancy can be scared and overwhelmed. They are worried about how they will be able to afford a child and who will be there to support them," said Kay Brogle, executive director of Healthy Moms and Babes. “Our society must realize that an effective pro-life strategy needs to entail standing with women who face unplanned pregnancies, and providing them with personal and financial support through the pregnancy and beyond. For Healthy Moms and Babes, our mission is the health and well being of the mother and child…that means providing moms with help with food, shelter, clothing as well as educating them in the care of themselves and their children through prenatal, postnatal, parenting and women’s health programs."

Recently, Catholics United and the social justice group Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good released studies demonstrating a clear connection between availability of family support and lower abortion rates. “Research shows that pregnant women and families are much more likely to choose life when they have the tools they need to do so,” said Dr. Joseph Wright, Ph.D., author of the Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance studies. “In order to build a true culture of life, our nation must make a serious commitment to ensuring that our nation’s families have the health care, education, and economic supports they need.”

One study, Reducing Abortion in America: The Effect of Economic and Social Supports, examined 20 years of national data and found that increased state-based economic assistance to families correlated with at 20 percent lower abortion rate. In the 1990s, states with more robust nutrition support through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program had 37 percent lower abortion rates, and those with higher male employment had 29 percent lower abortion rates.

Another study, Reducing Abortion in America: Beyond Roe v. Wade, found that overturning the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision would have a relatively small effect on the overall abortion rate, as few states are likely to ban abortions, and women living in those states could easily obtain abortion services in neighboring states or an extralegal abortion market.

In an effort to take its message directly to Catholic voters, Catholics United has mailed more than 50,000 “Pro-Life Means All Life” postcards to pro-life Catholic households in Ohio, New Mexico and Pennsylvania.

“People of faith are tired of leaders who wear the pro-life label without enacting policies that actually prevent abortions,” said James Salt, organizing director for Catholics United. “It’s time for candidates and elected officials, regardless of party affiliation, to move from rhetoric to results by addressing a comprehensive strategy to address abortion in America.”

For more information:

Submitted by jsalt on Thu, 2008-10-30 15:52

Catholics United Responds to Allegations Made by Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput

Catholics United executive director Chris Korzen issued the following statement today in response to Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput’s accusation that Catholics United has “done a disservice to the Church, confused the natural priorities of Catholic social teaching, undermined the progress pro-lifers have made, and provided an excuse for some Catholics to abandon the abortion issue instead of fighting within their parties and at the ballot box to protect the unborn.” The archbishop’s comments were delivered at an Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women dinner in Denver on October 17, 2008.

“Catholics United welcomes an open, honest, and productive dialogue about how best to represent the values of the our faith in public life. We recognize that Catholics can differ in good conscience about which policies will achieve the most effective results, even on issues as important as abortion. We are concerned that Archbishop Chaput’s comments – even those made in his personal capacity – will have a chilling effect on this dialogue. It is also profoundly unfortunate that Archbishop Chaput has chosen to make personal attacks on lay Catholics acting in good faith to promote Catholic values in the public square.”

“During the past eight years we have watched a president rise to power on a ‘pro-life’ platform only to pursue other priorities: perpetrating an unjust war, opposing expanded health care coverage for pregnant women and children, promoting the intrinsic evil of torture, deregulating the financial markets, and mortgaging the future of America’s hard-working families on tax cuts for the rich and powerful. Scant, if any, progress was made toward ending or reducing abortions – quite the contrary, we fear that the looming economic crisis will impel more women to have abortions as people lose their jobs and their homes. This experience serves as poignant reminder of the need for Catholics and other pro-life Americans to look beyond campaign rhetoric and elect candidates who will deliver real results on the issues that matter most.”

“With due respect to Archbishop Chaput, we believe that by pursuing efforts to de-polarize the abortion debate and bring Americans of varying ideological backgrounds to the table to find common ground solutions, organizations like Catholics United are doing at least as much to promote Church teaching on human life as those who have insisted on the same ineffective strategies of the past 35 years.”

Submitted by ckorzen on Sat, 2008-10-18 18:33

New Catholics United Values Voter Guide Compares McCain and Obama on Key Catholic Issues

This week, Catholics United mailed 50,000 Catholic households in Pennsylvania and Ohio a message encouraging voters to consider the fullness of church teaching on human life at the voting booth. Today we are releasing a candidate comparison guide that outlines the positions of both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama on some of the most important moral issues facing our nation: life, torture, the economy, the Iraq War, health care and climate change. We need your help getting these resources into the hands of those who need them most.

Here's what you can do:

  • Print copies of our values voter guide and "Pro-Life Means All Life" flyer and pass them out at community and political events in your area. Please consult with your pastor before distributing these materials on church property.
  • Let us know what you're up to by sending an email to info@catholics-united.org. Just today a Catholics United member from Wisconsin wrote to say that she's mailing our flyers to 900 people in her parish. This kind of activity is vital to getting our message across.
  • If you haven't already done so, please make a donation. It costs us about $20,000 to mail to 50,000 households, and we literally can't do this without your support.

For too long, the far right has manipulated the Catholic faith to suit its partisan agenda. Let's make 2008 the year we put an end to all that. Please join our efforts to get the word out.

Submitted by ckorzen on Thu, 2008-10-16 17:08

Direct Mail Campaign Challenges Hypocrisy of Pro-Life Political Candidates

As the religious far right steps up its efforts to use abortion as an election-year wedge issue, Catholics United is sending 50,000 Catholic households in Pennsylvania and Ohio a direct mail piece asking voters to consider the real meaning of “pro-life” at the ballot box this November. The organization believes that Catholics who want to promote a true pro-life agenda are often better off supporting candidates whose policies will address the root causes of abortions than those candidates who merely preach the rhetoric of criminalization.

Catholics United believes that it’s time for Catholics and other people of faith to take a serious look at whether some avowed ‘pro-life’ candidates really have a record to run on. Even as many political leaders have talked a good talk on the abortion issue, they have let our economy collapse, opposed expanding health care coverage for pregnant women and children, and started an unprovoked war. This hardly constitutes a ‘pro-life’ agenda.

The mailer – which is similar to a “Pro-Life Means All Life” flyer currently in wide national distribution by Catholics United members – challenges the conventional wisdom of abortion politics by offering four essential points for pro-life Americans to consider at the voting booth:

  • The best way to combat abortion is to give women and families the tools they need to choose life.
  • Being pro-life is 1 percent talk, 99 percent action.
  • Pro-life means ALL human life - without exceptions.
  • Overturning Roe v. Wade will not end abortion in America.

In 2004, many were led to believe that President Bush’s stated position on abortion made him the only acceptable candidate for the pro-life Catholic vote. The experience of the past eight years proves what an absolute disaster this sort of thinking can be.

Catholic households in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Canton and Cincinnati, Ohio will receive the mailer over the next several days. Later this month, Catholic United will mail the same voters a values voting guide comparing the records of Senators Obama and McCain on issues of abortion, torture, economy, war, health care, and the environment.

The “What Does Being Pro-Life Really Mean” mailer is part of a wider Catholics United campaign to challenge the apparent hypocrisy of elected officials who run on pro-life platforms but enact policies that work against the common good. Last year, the organization earned national media attention for running radio ads in the districts of twenty “pro-life” Members of Congress who voted against expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, calling these votes “not pro-life” and “not pro-family.”

For further information:

Submitted by jsalt on Wed, 2008-10-15 12:24

"Pro-Life Means All Life" Flyer

October 5 is Pro-Life Sunday, and with the November elections just around the corner, some groups on the far right as using the occasion as an excuse to bombard Catholics and other people of faith with the message that all that matters in this election is a candidate's stated position on the legality of abortion. To help inform Catholics about the fullness of our Church's teachings on life, Catholics United has published a new flyer entitled "Pro-Life Means Action on Behalf of All Human Life."

We've seen this before. Although some of the groups that push this message are operating under a heartfelt desire to help the unborn, all-too-often this single-issue approach to values voting is designed to strongarm people of faith into voting for candidates who do not share our values. Candidates who believe in unjust and preemptive war, candidates who believe healthcare is a privilege for the most fortunate. Candidates who support torture and promote economic policies that place the wants of the few ahead of the needs of the many.

We produced this flyer at your request, and with the help of a Catholics United volunteer from Los Angeles. It helps paint a vision of a true pro-life agenda, and provides valuable talking points for activists who want to counter the far right's attempt to water down the social teachings of our church.

Download the flyer: English | Español

Submitted by ckorzen on Fri, 2008-10-03 10:43

Knights of Columbus Ad Campaign Distracts Catholics from the Real Issues of this Election

Catholics United executive director Chris Korzen issued the following statement today regarding the Knights of Columbus' launch of a political ad campaign targeting Senator Joseph Biden. The Knights of Columbus are publishing an open letter to the senator in the form of full-page political newspaper advertisements in an apparent effort to influence the election.

"The Knights of Columbus' ad campaign is yet another unfortunate distraction from the serious and urgent issues Americans are facing in this campaign: lack of health care, a crumbling economy, a war that has gone on far too long, and finding solutions to the tragedy of abortion that offer results instead of rhetoric. By choosing to focus on Senator Biden's own unhelpful comments instead of offering a comprehensive vision of what it means to be pro-life, the Knights are doing a major disservice to the unborn, indeed to all Americans."

Submitted by ckorzen on Fri, 2008-09-19 16:09

Help Fund Our "Actions Speak Louder Than Words Ad Campaign"

Catholics United has released an ad entitled “Actions Speak Louder Than Words,” challenging Arizona Senator John McCain to embrace policies consistent with his stated pro-life views.

The “Actions Speak Louder Than Words” ad campaign is one of the most ambitious and expensive projects we’ve undertaken to date. If we can raise $100,000 in the coming weeks we can expand this campaign to reach more members of our church. Your contribution of $100 or more will go a long way toward helping us reach this goal.

Help us bring or authentic pro-life message to those who need to hear it the most. Click here to make a donation to Catholics United today.

Submitted by ckorzen on Fri, 2008-09-19 10:32

John McCain: Actions Speak Louder than Words

Catholics United today unveiled a new ad campaign encouraging Senator John McCain to embrace a broad pro-life agenda including support for health care and effective assistance to pregnant women, children, and families. The ad – which will run on cable television in heavily Catholic areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan – comes as Catholic and other religious groups are calling for a national abortion dialogue that prioritizes effective and common good solutions over political rhetoric.

The thirty-second spot features a Catholic pro-life mother of three from the Midwest who states that “actions speak louder than words” when it comes to a pro-life record. She proceeds to cite Senator McCain’s August 2007 vote against the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and support of the Iraq War as examples of actions inconsistent with authentic pro-life policy.

“Many Americans, particularly Catholic Americans, are fed up with leaders who use the ‘pro-life’ label to score political points without delivering real results,” said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United. “‘Pro-life’ is more than just a campaign slogan. It’s a broad and deep call to defend human life at all stages, and especially to implement social and economic assistance for women and families. These are effective policies to reduce the number of abortions that Americans across the political spectrum can support.”

Even as the Republican Party abandoned proposed platform language last month aimed at embracing bipartisan solutions to the abortion tragedy, a Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good study showed a clear connection between increased economic supports for women, children, and families and lower abortion rates. Catholics United also released a study showing that allowing states to criminalize abortion – as would happen in a post-Roe v. Wade America – would have little effect on the abortion rate.

Starting Friday, September 19th, the ad will run in limited markets for seven days on major news networks, and on networks with high percentages of women viewers. Catholics United plans an expanded ad buy beginning in early October.

Ad Script:

“I'm a mother of three children and I am pro-life. John McCain, it's not enough to say you're pro-life. Actions speak louder than words. You voted against one of the largest support programs for pregnant women. You voted against health care for our children. And you voted for a war that has killed thousands of Americans. Senator McCain, when will you start defending all human life, without exception?”

For More Information:

Submitted by ckorzen on Wed, 2008-09-17 09:24