How "seamless" a garment? The Catholic Bishops and the politics of abortion.

Abstract

Since the Supreme Court of the United States opened the way for states to restrict access to legal abortion, a number of Catholic bishops have been applying direct pressure on pro choice Catholic politicians. Bishops have barred such politicians from speaking at Catholic functions, denied them Holy Commu nion, raised the possibility of excommunicating them, and even warned them that they ran the risk of going to hell for their support of abortion rights. In short, a substantial segment of the American Catholic hierarchy has responded to the new, uncer tain politics of abortion by reiterating the church's condemna tion of abortion and reemphasizing the political implications of that condemnation. In doing so, these bishops have eclipsed the consistent ethic of life espoused by Chicago's Cardinal Joseph Bernardin and many other American bishops. Not for the first time, the consistent ethic, or as some call it the seamless gar ment of respect for human life, has been overwhelmed by an approach to the political process that emphasizes abortion over all other issues. Cardinal Bernardin first articulated the consistent ethic in a