Will US Catholics vote for pro-abortion Obama?

US Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama has not yet managed to capture the Catholic vote. In a number of states the majority of Catholics preferred to vote for Hillary Clinton during the hotly disputed campaign for the Democratic Party nomination.

The main reason for this anti-Obama stance seems to be his unequivocal support for abortion which has prompted the Catholic Archbishop of Denver to declare that "an Obama vote cannot be squared with a Catholic conscience".

However, although four years ago the same argument was used with devastating effect against the Democratic Party presidential candidate John Kerry, the abortion issue does not seem to be as strong now as it was in 2004. Under Republican pro-life President George W. Bush, abortion is still popular and legal at every stage of pregnancy. One commentator writing in a Catholic UK weekly has stated that Catholics will probably finally prefer Obama to McCain. With the country facing an economic recession, he wrote, working class swing voters will prefer the Democratic Party's "emphasis on social justice to four more years of Republicanism".

Meanwhile, with the contest for the US Presidency fast approaching - the election will be held in November - the direct involvement of Catholic priests in US politics has become a hot issue. Some well known priests have been accused of publicly taking politically partisan stands.

Although apparently Canon Law does not prohibit clergy from endorsing candidates or political parties, bishops can tell members of their diocese not to do so. A spokesman for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops referred to the guidelines which have been issued by the bishops which stated, among other things that "priests should not endorse candidates or political parties".