At Politico, Douglas W. Kmiec wonders whether Obama will “seize the moment” at Notre Dame to discuss the diverse attitudes toward abortion politics that exist within the Catholic Church:
Will Obama talk about these differences at ND? He is courageous enough to do so, and he is overdue for a Catholic moment. Unlike his masterful dominance of the rest of the national conversation, Obama has let the right wing frame his post-election ties to the Catholic constituency. For example, when Obama suspended George W. Bush’s hastily drafted eleventh-hour conscience clause regulations, the word went out that this was the end of Catholic hospitals. Not so, but to make the point, the Obama team needed to highlight well-established federal and state laws that already permit medical personnel with moral and religious objection to refrain from abortion practice.
Of equal importance is reminding America of how his administration has already assumed the mantle of Catholicism in winding down the war in Iraq, establishing a greater social safety net for the poor, setting out a bold plan for eliminating nuclear weapons and jump-starting a serious interfaith conversation with Islam, long sought by the Holy Father himself.
At Notre Dame, Obama might remind all of us not to make the perfect the enemy of the good.
Read the full piece at Politico.