Alexandra DeSanctis, Staff Writer

With the recent election cycles behind them, pro-life Notre Dame students face tremendous challenges in defending and promoting their beliefs. Father Bill Miscamble, CSC, encouraged students to pursue their pro-life convictions at a small seminar on February 18 sponsored by the Notre Dame Right to Life Club. Centered on the subject “Being Pro-life in a Contentious Democracy,” the seminar motivated students to pursue the pro-life fight despite modern trials.

Fr. Miscamble—who has been a tenured faculty member in the Notre Dame History Department since 1988—was quick to assure students that democracy is necessarily contentious.  “It is in the nature of a properly-functioning democracy to cause conflict,” he said, “and such tension should not cause pro-life people to shy away from politics.”

Abortion is a heated issue and certainly one that causes a fair amount of contention within the American political sphere. Both in government and on the private level, abortion sparks passionate debate and has attracted immense attention in recent elections.

This public contention was reflected particularly in the 2012 presidential election. While Republican candidate Mitt Romney took a pro-life stance during the primary to garner the support of the party, his campaign was focused on the economic and fiscal issues facing the country.
President Obama, on the other hand, decisively made social issues an essential facet of his campaign. His ads and debate rhetoric frequently referenced the “War on Women” which was allegedly perpetrated by religious and conservative leaders against the women of America.
Fr. Miscamble highlighted Obama’s campaign tactic, pointing to the stark contrast between the two campaigns. The lack of clarity from the Republican candidate, Fr. Miscamble suggested, may have led to the lack of Catholic support for the Romney-Ryan ticket. The Catholic vote in the 2012 election was split 50 percent to 48 percent in favor of President Obama.

Focusing on the Catholic vote, Fr. Miscamble elaborated that American Catholics fall into  three main voting groups. First, there are those who are governed by their views on social issues and tend to vote conservatively as a result of their pro-life and pro-family beliefs.  Next, there is a group of Catholics considered “social justice” Catholics, whose concern of the poor is the highest priority and thus vote liberally.

Fr. Miscamble stated, however, that the vast majority of American Catholics fall into the final group: Catholics whose religion does not inform their voting pattern.  Perhaps, he suggested, they vote based on advertising, socioeconomic background or family tradition; subsequently, their self-reported Catholic denomination plays no role in their voting decisions.

“As Catholics,” Fr. Miscamble urged, “We must reverse this trend.”  He presented the Catholic obligation to take social teaching into account when voting and help turn the Catholic vote in a pro-life direction.

Fr. Miscamble’s tone regarding the pro-life political cause was hopeful.  “Politics is an honorable vocation,” he insisted. In short, Fr. Miscamble encouraged students to pursue political careers with the determination to stay true to Catholic values.

He urged against the typical mindset that politics is a corrupt, self-interested business; instead, he claimed that politics is about pursuing a worthy goal, “Notre Dame football doesn’t say ‘Oh well, we tried,’ after a loss,” Fr. Miscamble exclaimed.  “We want to win every game.  Politics is about going in with the hope and the perseverance to win the day.”

Fr. Miscamble concluded his lecture with inspiring words.  “You have survived the Russian roulette of abortion,” he told students.  “But 50 million children in the past 40 years have not.  It is our responsibility to stand up for them.”  At an institution like Notre Dame, students receive the education and inspiration to pursue pro-life goals and defend the dignity of all human life.

Alexandra DeSanctis is a freshman who enjoyed attending the Right to Life March. Tell her your opinions on abortion or general comments at adesanct@nd.edu.