c. 1998 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Leaders of the nation’s largest church are urging their 60-million-member flock to make”defending life”their No. 1 concern at the ballot box. And Roman Catholic politicians are being warned they endanger their eternal salvation by supporting laws permitting abortion.

In a proposed policy statement, a powerful committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops says Catholics must address issues of racism, poverty, hunger, education, housing and health care.”But being `right’ on these latter concerns can never excuse a wrong choice” on issues such as abortion and euthanasia, says the proposed policy statement from the bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities.”Defending the life of every human being, and especially protecting those who are unborn, disabled or vulnerable, must be the central priority whenever and wherever the ballot allows,”according to the statement,”Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics.” Seven of the eight U.S. cardinals helped develop the statement, which will be presented to the full National Conference of Catholic Bishops at its meeting Nov. 16-19 in Washington. The nation’s approximately 300 bishops received the document this month.

The November election is seen as pivotal by activists on the abortion issue since the Senate fell only three votes short of overriding President Clinton’s veto of a ban on a controversial medical procedure used in late-term abortions.

In its stress on the political priority of abortion and euthanasia, the proposed statement appears to back away from the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s notion of a”seamless garment”in which the volatile and divisive abortion issue was one part of a broader”consistent ethic”that included opposition to capital punishment and strong support for anti-poverty efforts that were also considered”pro-life.” And unlike some past statements on abortion, the document does not specifically condemn violence against abortion providers.

But the statement _ which was written before the Oct. 23 murder of a doctor in his suburban Buffalo, N.Y., home _ does ask Catholics to humbly listen to”pro-choice”advocates and to love”those who oppose us.” Prominent Catholic politicians who support abortion rights have long been a thorn in the side of church leaders. Many still adhere to the policy articulated in 1984 by former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo in defense of vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro: that public morality is a matter of prudential political judgment.

In their proposed policy statement, Catholic prelates harken back to Thomas More’s final words before losing his life holding up Catholic principles before the threats of King Henry VIII: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.”

The bishops say Catholic politicians may pay a political penalty for opposing abortion, but”we assure them their cause is just, they save lives through their witness, and God and history will not forget them.” On the other hand, the bishops said, Catholic officials support abortion rights at their own spiritual peril.

“Catholic public officials who disregard church teaching on the dignity of the human person indirectly collude in the taking of innocent life. In doing so, they jeopardize their own salvation, erode the community of faith and give scandal to the faithful,” the proposed statement says.

It goes on to challenge all Americans, Catholics in particular, to view their vote “as a creative act of participation in building the culture of life.”

Church leaders felt they needed to make a statement on abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide “with some force and some precision in the current political climate,” said Richard Doerflinger of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Catholic Conference, the action arm of the bishops’ conference.

“The idea that society can take classes of humanity and expose their lives to direct attack threatens all issues of human life across the spectrum,” Doerflinger said.

Carrie Carpenter Peer, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, said Catholic politicians should not have to follow the bishops’ stand on abortion.

“Requiring someone to abide by all those perspectives would be too exclusive,” she said. “They’re not encompassing a variety of perspectives.”

DEA END RNS