In an article published on Nov. 1, Jeannie Gaffigan, a comedian, writer and Catholic mother of five, explained why, “[a]s a Catholic, I simply cannot in good conscience vote for Donald Trump.” She argues that while many Catholics consider Mr. Trump to be the pro-life candidate, “his so-called anti-abortion position falls apart after about five seconds of scrutiny.”
As for Kamala Harris, Ms. Gaffigan acknowledges that the vice president’s position on abortion is a “morally problematic position for those of us who believe every baby is a unique human being with a right to life, but her economic policies are likely to help people feel more secure in dealing with an unplanned pregnancy.”
Ms. Gaffigan’s article generated over 100 comments from readers, who shared their own approaches to voting in the 2024 presidential election.
[Jeannie Gaffigan: Harris isn’t perfect. But as a Catholic and a mom, I cannot vote for Trump.]
As a Catholic, I feel I do not have a home in either party. I do vote on measures and propositions, and here in California, where we have a Democratic super-majority, I often vote for Republicans at a state level because I believe our state is in dire need of a bit of balance. However, I will not vote for president this year. I cannot in good conscience vote for Donald Trump, for many reasons.
However, Kamala Harris’s stance on abortion makes her a no-go for me, as well. Also, as a lifelong California resident and having lived in San Francisco for many years, I am pretty well-acquainted with Ms. Harris and have not been pleased with many of her actions in the various jobs she’s held. If I lived in a swing state, I probably would choose one or the other, but California will go overwhelmingly for Harris. Because of this, I do not feel I need to hold my nose and vote for someone who holds stances that are fundamentally opposed to church teaching (I am talking about both candidates here). – Monica Brent
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I, too, could not possibly vote for Donald Trump. Ms. Gaffigan could have written my thoughts about these two candidates, particularly in her analysis of who is pro-life.
Mr. Trump likes to take credit for the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, but that’s as far as his pro-life activity goes. Now he happily says, “I turned the issue back to the states, where everyone wanted it to be.” That means, as president, he has washed his hands of the issue.
It is telling that abortions have not decreased since the Dobbs decision. Could it be that the strategy of making abortion illegal was the wrong tack to take if reducing and/or eliminating abortions was the goal? Maybe the strategy of trying to eliminate the reasons women have abortions would reduce abortions more than making them illegal. And that’s where the Democratic Party policies of increasing child tax credits, assisting with child care, making health care more affordable and otherwise making it easier to raise children in this country would help.
And we haven’t even gotten to whether Donald Trump’s “concepts of a plan” are consistent with Catholic teaching on other issues, but it is clear that mass deportation and a revenge tour are not. – Mary Gallagher
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This verse from Jeremiah provides the pattern that guides my vote:
“I will console them and guide them; I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble.”
Which candidate is more likely to make as their special concern the blind, the lame, parents with small children, pregnant women and anyone else who is struggling to make their way? Which is more likely to offer them consolation and guidance, lead them to basic resources and promote policies that make the road more level for everyone?
Neither candidate will fit this pattern perfectly, but the one who comes closest must get my vote. Because the steeper and more bumpy the path is, the more people will trip up and either don’t make it or become a heavy burden for others to carry. – Laura Fratus
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Great points! But I certainly fear a Harris/Walz administration will persecute the church’s institutions—schools, hospitals, charities—for traditional Catholic teachings on abortion, gender and marriage, among other issues. It will get ugly. The modern Democratic Party has so little respect for Christianity as a faith tradition, and it shows in the little ways like the Al Smith Dinner or in the examples given by a Minnesota mom in an article recently published by America on Tim Walz. I am leaving the top of my ballot blank. I don’t play the game of choosing between a lesser of two evils. We are just trying to focus on our kids and our neighborhood instead. – Chris Ray
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I agree with Ms. Gaffigan’s assessment of both candidates. As a Catholic, a mom and a grandmother, and as an African American, I am grateful for her fearless voice of reason. As a chaplain in a children’s hospital with a special delivery unit for high-risk pregnancies, my theological education didn’t give me the courage to speak as honestly as Ms. Gaffigan. The overarching theme of the biblical narrative is freedom. Without freedom, love cannot exist, let alone flourish. I choose Kamala Harris. I choose working to fund and support pregnancy resource centers. I choose love. – Verna Hutchinson
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I could not in conscience vote for either Mr. Trump or Ms. Harris. Pope Francis says, “Vote for the lesser evil,” which implies both are evil. At least some of their policies are. For the third presidential election in a row, I wrote in a candidate whose policies are consistent with Catholic social teachings—in 2020 and this year, the American Solidarity Party—both a protest and a hope, somehow, to send a message to both major parties that they need to do better by the American people. – Mike Mendl
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As a conservative Catholic from the Midwest, I agree with what you are saying. The abortion ads hurt, but as you correctly stated, at least with Ms. Harris as president, I would have the ability to discuss with others and hope to persuade them to change their votes. – Brian Cummings
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I agree with most of the article’s points, though I believe that Mr. Trump never should have been invited to the Al Smith Dinner. Kamala Harris was right not to attend this function and be the focus of disrespectful behavior. Mr. Trump’s comments were rude, dehumanizing and vulgar. He used profanity that cannot be used on this forum. The cardinal and others were simply laughing along and thus normalizing this behavior. The real loser was the Al Smith Dinner. – Anthony Noble
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Mr. Trump’s remarks and threats to Americans from all walks of life are not in alignment with the “fruits of the spirit” outlined in the New Testament, namely, “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). His words and behavior, in fact, are the direct opposite of core Christian teachings. Of great concern politically, Mr. Trump is a well-documented, serial liar—heaps of lies, every day, piled on top of thousands of lies.
In 2006, Pope Benedict explicitly and profoundly spoke of the danger of lying:
Lying is linked to the tragedy of sin and its perverse consequences…. We need but think of the events of the past century, when aberrant ideological and political systems willfully twisted the truth and brought about the exploitation and murder of an appalling number of men and women, wiping out entire families and communities.
“How can we fail to be seriously concerned about lies in our own time?” he wrote.
As an older Maine woman and Catholic who was first drawn to Catholicism by Pope Benedict, I see nothing but danger posed by Donald Trump and the MAGA takeover of the Republican Party. This is not the time to sit out an election. Vote. The defeat of the Trump-Vance ticket must be resounding. – Jennifer Kierstead
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I voted for Kamala Harris because I could not vote for Donald Trump. I could not vote for Trump for many reasons. From the time he descended the stairs at Trump Tower to announce his first candidacy and said that he was going to build a wall and Mexico would pay for it, I knew I could not vote for him, perhaps because I arrived in this country as a refugee 63 years ago but also because I am a life-long Catholic.
I, too, am lifelong pro-life, so in 2016, I mentioned to a dear person that I was not going to vote in the presidential election. My dear person told me that the stakes were too high to not vote. That convinced me. That was my first vote for a Democrat after several elections of voting Republican because then I voted strictly for what was considered to be “pro-life.”
I did the same in 2020, that is, I voted for Joe Biden. In this election, I had even more reasons to not only not vote for Mr. Trump (mainly, the Jan. 6 insurrection and the inability of our legal system and our Supreme Court to bring him to justice) but to vote against him, and the only way was voting for Ms. Harris. I respect Ms. Harris, but I disagree with her “abortion is health care” stance. I trust she will keep her promise to be president for all Americans no matter their political leanings. – Elena Garcia
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I want to sincerely thank you for expressing your reasons for deciding to vote for Kamala Harris. I share many of your views. I firmly believe that anyone who states they are pro-life should support policies that extend beyond the womb. The alternative to Kamala Harris is someone in my opinion who will do anything that promotes his personal agenda. He denigrated John McCain, a prisoner of war survivor, and Serge Kovaleski, a reporter with a disability. The former president uses vile crude language when referring to women. He disparages immigrants. He is a convicted felon. He praises Vladimir Putin, an autocratic murderer. He allows the Bible to be sold to support his campaign. He will do anything to achieve his personal goals. His message is one of hate.
I vote for someone that is not perfect. She is human, and she is humane. She promotes unity. I vote for Kamala Harris. – Peggy Callahan
