Heading into the election, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that requires medical providers to administer emergency medical care to any infant born alive, including those born living during an abortion procedure.
According to coverage by the Associated Press, the move was widely regarded as an effort to reaffirm Trump’s pro-life credentials, especially with Catholic voters.
But with so many issues surrounding the presidential election, the question remains whether single topics such as abortion will be significant enough to sway voters.
Joan Brenk, a parishioner at Saint Monica’s in Milwaukee, told the Milwaukee North News that she feels everybody, not just Catholics, has a duty to vote. But for Catholics, there is the added responsibility of upholding their faith.
“The Church has taught that abortion is a sin for centuries,” Brenk told the Milwaukee North News. “Sin alienates us from God, so if you’re a Catholic, how do you justify voting for Joe Biden? I don’t think you can justify it.”
Brenk said that she holds to the Catholic belief that life begins at conception and ends at natural death, making not only abortion but euthanasia a sin as well.
“We are not the authors of life,” Brenk told the Milwaukee North News. “That comes from the creator. We have to protect it.”
Brenk told the Milwaukee North News that she could never support a politician who was stood for either abortion or euthanasia, both of which are murder.
All Catholics should be considering the sanctity of life in their voting choices, Brenk said.
“It certainly is, but a lot of them aren’t paying any attention,” she told the Milwaukee North News. “It’s at the hub of our faith, and it goes back to Genesis."
Humans are created in God’s image and likeness, which is the source of the belief in the sanctity of life, she said.
“It comes from almighty God,” Brenk told the Milwaukee North News. “We are blessed to have life. We can’t do that on our own.
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