Cardinal O'Malley cheers Trig Palin

It makes me think I might want to return to the church. I think we all know in our hearts the Cardinal is right. I thought all along the real basis for the left-wing rage against Governor Palin was that baby........the subconscious guilt they experienced over supporting the right to choose an abortion under any circumstances. How could you look at that baby and think it would have been ok to have chosen to abort him?

Another example of the increasing irrevelevance of the Catholic Church

Just like the Church's stance on the Iraq War, right Bob? What a bunch of self-righteous drivel these folks promote- give me the church of Cheney and Paris Hilton: torture porn, baby.

Larry, are you kidding me! The "rage" at Sarah Palin is that she is wholly unqualified to be Vice President of the United States. And as to the baby, good for her for making that choice --- but "choice" is the point!!

I am sorry in her situation choice wasn't the point. Every halfway educated adult knows about the risks of down syndrom whith growing age. So in her case she took the risk and I believe the choice shouldn't be available to her.

I am pro life, with the opinion VICTIMS should have a choice.

Doesn't make her a better candidate, can we get back to her (non)abilities... this is ridiculous.

Well, Paul, what are your qualifications to judge??

What if all you "Choice" types had been aborted? Connie

I agree, the broader issue regarding Trig, is choice. She had one and she made one given information she gained long before his birth. She had time to prepare herself and her family for the birth of her son. Still, her qualifications are not enhanced by her choices, or her family status. Her experience is very thin no matter how you look at it. Not my choice!

Wow. To indicate that Trig was the star of the convention speaks to a political and moral myopia that is frightening in a religious leader supposedly in touch with the people. How many people have died as a result of an Iraq war that didn't need to be? How many deaths could have been prevented by not going to war in the first place?

Larry--I have no rage against Sarah Palin. She is just not qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Interesting commentary.... As to choice, it was Sarah Palin's choice to fly 8 hours back to Alaska, on a public airline, after her water broke. Clearly a sign of imminent birth, or not. Is anyone questioning this chioce?

Interesting points but some journalism is better left with "comments disabled." You just know that a post like this is going to generate comments similar to holding a lighter in front of a can of hairspray. Or squirting lighter fluid into a fire. Gosh, these burgers taste awful...

All you're going to get is ragefully outright offense and defense--and all of it generally offensive.

It seems like a more tech-savvy version of Boston Herald button-pushing--with a better vocabulary.

Okay, folks. Moooooove it along. Don't make it worse by adding your hooligan spit-in-someone's-face vitriol. You're better than that... Just walk away.

Please forget the political vitriol for a moment and just consider the Cardinal's remarks in substance: 90% of Down Syndrome babies are aborted because they will require extra care, and do not fit their parents' (understandable) dreams for what they want their child to be. Can you honestly say that the practice of aborting these fetuses does not diminish our appreciation and respect for life? Where will the line be drawn in the future between who is judged worthy to live and who is not?

Anyone espousing selecting death for any human fetus may as well have voted for starting a war against pregnancies!
Anyone seeking to save lives must not support war of any kind.

Anyone seeking wiggle room on these issues is flirting with gross hypocrisy.

If "qualifications" and "experience" were paramount for Democrats/liberals, Hillary R. Clinton would be your standard bearer. The President/Vice President represent the Executive branch of the Federal Government. As such, Governor Palin, is the only member of either ticket with ANY executive level experience whatsoever. Senator Obama "qualifications" for President: writing books and running for President. Thin gruel indeed.

Olliek - I don't get what you're saying. Are you saying that older mothers shouldn't be given any choices because there is a risk of Down Syndrome? Or just that they shouldn't have children at all?

One benefit of Sarah Palin is that we have a child with Down Syndrome in the public eye who provides an example of the healthy life a child with Down Syndrome may live. There is so much fear about having a child with Down Syndrome that is wholly unjustified and does contribute to that 90% abortion rate. These days there is so much medical, technological, and professional help out there for children with all different abilities. Quality of life is a lot different than it was just a few decades ago.

To Larry: this is the 2nd time I've heard the right-wing canard about the "rage" the left feels about Sarah Palin's choice to have a Down Syndrome child. Let me set the record straight: I personally don't give a rat's about her choice to have that child. What I care about is her stated desire to take that choice away from others. I'm glad that the Palin's have the support (and the $$) to provide a full happy life for their baby; others may not be so fortunate. What about this is so hard for you and your ilk to understand?

Anne: we are fortunate to live in a nation of plenty where, as one writer put it, we can afford the moral position of caring for the disadvantaged. As the uncle of a wonderful Down's nephew, I have seen the battles that must be fought to get expensive educational services that were needed for him. The battles are very wearing on the family. He remains an eternal child, with the innocence to match. He does have a part time job as a grocery bagger, but will never live independently. As a parent, you do take on that full responsibility for the remainder of your life with a Down's child. Extra Care does not begin to state the lifetime commitment that being a parent of a Down's child entails.

I don't think my family feels nobler or superior for having made that choice, it just is what it is.

to Connie: if all use "choice" types had been aborted, then your IQ would be lower than it already is.

McCain loves the war that has killed 10's of thousands of innocent people in Iraq. Still thinks it was the RIGHT thing to go there, even though non of the probable cause was there. He said reciently, "We needed to GET Sadam, he was a problem."

Now the people of Iraq live in hell. We still haven't been able to fix the power generation in the cities to the level of they had before the war. Sanitation is still worse than when Saddam was in power. How did things get so bad there, Our Mass Made Raythoen cruise missles did such a good job at killing and flattening infrastructure.

THe vatican has rejected the french ambassador becuase he is gay and they can't have any gays in the vatican. The man is a regular gay, not a child preditor like the ones the church has protected for years. They have a long history of not really giving a rats ass about the welfare of children from the Pope on down.

Long live seperation of church and state.

Yeah she also decided that running for Vice President was more important than taking care of that special needs infant, not too mention she cut special education and special needs programs in her home state.

WAY TOO GO SARAH!!!

>What if all you "Choice" types had been aborted? Connie

This is such a stupid, specious question.

I wouldn't care, because I wouldn't know. And had I known, I would have respected my mother's choice. You apparently assume my massive ego and lust for my life alone at all costs trumps my concern for larger questions of humanity, such as the choice of a woman regarding the use of her body. It does not.

And, according to you Christians, if my mother had chosen to abort me, I'd be in heaven then, right? As a liberal elitist humanist atheist, I'm doing a hell of a lot of damage now and going straight to hell, according to you. So what's the problem?

Cardinal O'Mally and his church do not speak for me - or thousands of other
Americans. Isn't it about time for the Catholic Church to register as what
they are - a conservative political entity - and pay taxes for the
privilege?

I’m Catholic and Pro-Life
But – I’m total Pro-Life --- all issues – NOT just abortion
I voted for Bush awhile back due to this issue – and look where we are now ??
Dead is Dead – whether by the abortionist, lack of care (Katrina), terrorists bullets, hunger or homelessness
This year I’m for the greater overall issues of Pro- Life – not just the abortion issue and thus I will vote for Barack Obama

His Silliness just amazes me! Shall I imagine that he thinks families
who happen to be pro choice do not have mentally or physically
handicapped children who were welcomed and are loved. Does he think,
perhaps, that because I am prochoice that I don't have 2 grandchildren
that were born before my eldest daughter reached the age of 19? She
made her decision to have her babies, I went along.
That first baby (aged 28) is getting married this coming Saturday...I love that young woman with all my heart. BUT, when her 17 year old mother was pregnant with her I only had my17 year old child on my mind
and I wanted her young life back, college and all. My daughter finally
did go to college, became an RN, and also raised 4 well educated
children. BTW, my dughters Catholic High School turned her out and turned their back on her. My daughters "heroic" choice got her put out of school.
Palin is not a hero....she is just a woman like the rest of us.....and her children are not even well educated. She made her choice and the rest of us should be able to do so.

Catholic-bashing...the last socially acceptable form of overt hatred condoned (often encouraged) by our wonderful progressive know-it-alls.
Oh, and Barbara. You question the Catholic Church's tax exemption. How about the tax exemption that applies to the churches of Rev. Wright, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who spew their racist hate with such gusto?
How dare I bring that up! Must make me a....racist ...according to the likes of you.
Crawl on back to Cambridge or Brookline, Barbara.

I identify as a Catholic, Pro-Life voter. I vote Democrat for a variety of issues (social justice reasons, foreign affairs reasons, domestic reasons, and economic reasons), but it frustrates me that we do not discuss how Democrat legislative and executive bodies govern states with lower abortion rates because of better services for women & children and blue states have more comprehensive sexual education programs (condoms & abstinence). Pro-Life voters should vote for Democrats if they really respect life.

Deo gratis! Cardinal O'Malley God Bless you!

Luke, Just keep drinking the KoolAid, and I'll keep praying for you.

If all of us choice types had been aborted then you who were born would be living in a Theoracy! Can we focus on the born and living, and not on the sperm and egg that begin the potential for human life. You are not pro-life, you are pro-birth.
Get over you nonsense and Vote your pocketbook.

As a pro-choice atheist, I have to admit I have always considered the Catholic pro-life position to be more logically consistent than that espoused by other groups. At the very least, the church does take a morally consistent stand, opposing war, promoting social services and health care, and generally acting in a way that promotes not just the lives of unborn babies as a single issue, but as part of a larger imperative to protect and nurture all human life.

That said, what is the alternative to legalized abortion? I don't think I am being extravagant in saying that the termination of unwanted pregnancies has been with human society for a long time, and will not disappear completely just because of a legal determination. Let us say that, in a future where Roe v. Wade has been reversed, a 17 year old girl decides to terminate her pregnancy. What should be the punishment for a woman, (age 17 or age 40), who decides to terminate her pregnancy? Do we treat as murder the decision of a woman to NOT carry and give birth to a child?

I think we must remember that the only alternative to allowing women to choose abortion is to make that choice a crime, with penalties strong enough to discourage those who might otherwise seek an illegal abortion. And given all the goodwill Catholics and liberal progressives share towards the individuals who find themselves in such a situation, wouldn't our energies be better spent on creating a world where the choice of an abortion becomes less likely? By improving social services for single mothers, by destigmatizing unwed mothers, and by making adoption the centerpiece of a truly Pro-Life policy? Isn't the idea of trying and imprisoning those who choose abortion a rather heavy-handed solution to a social evil that we can all work together positively to stamp out?

The only sticking point I can see for collaboration between Catholics and progressives would be birth control. To my mind that would be a centerpiece of creating a world where fewer unwanted pregnancies happen. But perhaps even if we must work towards the same goal through different methods, we can at least agree that criminalization of abortion, although it may seem like a quick solution to a very unfortunate social ill, is not the best path towards a pro-life future...