“No More Blood Money”?

There is a new petition trying to encourage Catholic politicians to be pro-life, and asking American Bishops to do something if they are not. It is called “No More Blood Money.” You can find it here: http://www.onenationundergod.org/petition.html#petition

The idea behind the petition is that Catholic politicians should not accept money given to them by abortion-providers, and any money they have received from them should be given back. Personally, I think there is an element of guilt by association here: I don’t think it is necessarily wrong to take funds from people whose positions I oppose (if it were, democratic forms of government could never work). I also think the petition is too one-sided: there are many other intrinsic evils out there, with groups which support them, who give funds to politicians, and I would think, if there is any validity to this petition, it would affect more than those who receive funding from those who are pro-choice.  It is for these reasons I could not sign it; on the other hand, I do think there were elements of it which could serve as the foundation for something good, and so I don’t reject all the thoughts which lay behind it as well. If a Catholic votes for FOCA, they have a lot of explaining to do – and, unless they give a valid response, there cooperation with abortion would be of a level which does raise canonical questions.  And it is clear that American politics in part is decided by campaign contributors: those who give the most money get a chance to be heard, and so, while guilt by association is invalid, one can’t say contributors have no influence over those politicians they give money to, either. I just wish the concerns were stated in a better way, in a way which could get bi-partisan support.

Nonetheless, I think it is best to let the reader decide for themselves if they want to sign the petition or not.