Colorado Catholic Conference
CV NEWS FEED // The Catholic bishops of Colorado have published a list of values Catholics should prioritize when determining whom to vote for in the upcoming election. The sanctity of life is in the top position.
“All of the listed values in the hierarchy are important; however, some are more foundational and therefore require more priority,” the Colorado Catholic Conference stated in its 2024 Catholic voter guide, which it published on October 11. Catholics have an obligation to vote so as to influence local and national society for the better, the Conference stated. They added that a theologically sound moral framework also enables Catholics to vote accordingly “and hold our leaders accountable, especially Catholic leaders.”
Further, Catholics must vote according to their consciences, which should be informed by objective truth, the Conference noted. The provided list reflects what 10 values, starting with the sanctity of life, should come first in one’s conscious decision of whom to vote for.
The first value has a descriptor that states: “Human life must be protected at all stages from conception until natural death.”
Putting this value first is consistent with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ recurring message that abortion remains the “pre-eminent priority” to address when voting.
Second in the Conference’s list is marriage and family life, followed by religious liberty, which is described as being “rooted in the dignity of the human person, including freedom of conscience and expression….”
Fourth is economic justice, poverty and welfare, which has a descriptor that states: “Economic decisions should respect human dignity and express a preferential option for helping the poor and vulnerable through safety nets and opportunities for upward mobility.”
Health care is listed as the fifth value, which has a descriptor explaining that it should protect life and conscience, and be affordable, among other factors.
The sixth value is immigration and promoting foreign peace, the descriptor of which states that promotion of peace is crucial for relations with other countries. It also states: “Immigration policy should provide immigrants with basic human needs, including the ability to work, and should encourage pathways to citizenship.”
The final four values are education, with a note that parents should be able to choose the best school option for their children; restorative justice, which relates to criminal justice reform and crime prevention; energy and the environment, which relates to good stewardship of material resources; and technology, which “must respect human dignity and protect children.”
>> Pope Francis: US Catholic voters ‘have to choose the lesser evil,’ according to conscience <<
Comparing abortion-related stances of presidential tickets
In late August, CatholicVote President Brian Burch addressed some of the abortion-related policy differences between the presidential tickets of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris:
We are choosing between one presidential ticket that will restrict taxpayer abortion funding overseas vs. the alternative that will spend hundreds of millions of our dollars on killing children around the world.
We are choosing between one presidential ticket that, regrettably, is willing to tolerate existing federal policies that harm women and destroy innocent life vs. the alternative that will dramatically expand these same policies, ending all reasonable regulations, and forcing taxpayers to fund them.
He also addressed where Trump and his vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, a convert to the Catholic faith, need to improve their message and positions about life issues.
“Trump and Vance need to speak clearly about the need to build a culture of life, while making clear that they are committed to doing what is possible to help women and protect children — given the political realities of the moment,” Burch said. “Running away from the life issue is not only unacceptable — it’s also dumb politics.”
As CatholicVote reported in early October, during Trump’s first term as President, his “policy effectively prohibited taxpayer funding from going to healthcare providers who actively promoted or partnered with the abortion industry, thereby excluding Planned Parenthood from receiving taxpayer dollars.”
“At the time, pro-life leaders praised the decision to pull federal funding from the abortion industry giant,” CatholicVote added. In 2021, President Joe Biden reversed this prohibition and returned a multi-million dollar annual fund to Planned Parenthood.
On October 5, Vance said in an interview with RealClearPolitics that Trump’s view on defunding Planned Parenthood has not changed.
“On the question of defunding Planned Parenthood, look, I mean, our view is we don’t think that taxpayers should fund late term abortions,” Vance said. “That has been a consistent view of the Trump campaign the first time around. It will remain a consistent view.”
