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PAGE 6—The Southern Cross, September 6,1984
ELECTION FOCUS
The Republican Party Platform And The Bishops'
WASHINGTON (NC) - The following is a comparison of the
1984 Republican Party platform and the U.S. Catholic
Conference’s 1984 recommendations to the party’s platform
committee. The USCC is the public policy arm of the U.S.
bishops. Its recommendations were presented in testimony to the
Republican platform committee by Auxiliary Bishop John E.
McCarthy of Galveston-Houston, Texas.
The USCC earlier submitted identical testimony to the
Democratic Party platform committee and that comparison
appeared in the Aug. 16 issue of the Southern Cross.
Excerpts from the two documents, listed in alphabetical order
as presented in the USCC recommendations, were prepared by Liz
S. Armstrong, National Catholic News Service national affairs
writer.
ABORTION
-- U.S. Catholic Conference:
“Abortion directly destroys an unborn human being
and thus violates the right to life. A legal system which
permits abortion contradicts the principle that human
rights are inherent and inalienable. Thus the 1973
Supreme Court decisions on abortion, and subsequent
decisions which rely on them, should be reversed, while
society’s resources should be directed to solving the
problems for which abortion is mistakenly proposed as a
solution.
“Restoration of legal protection to the lives of the
unborn requires an amendment to the Constitution.
“ . . . Public funding policies should encourage
childbirth over abortion. Specifically, we oppose all public
funding of abortion in programs for medical care and
other services. . . .
“We support legal equity for women and reject efforts
to link abortion ‘rights’ to this objective.
“Women’s equity measures should be scrutinized and,
where necessary, amended so that their legitimate and
important goals are not exploited as vehicles for abortion
and abortion funding.”
- Republican Platform:
“The unborn child has a fundamental individual right
to life which cannot be infringed. We therefore reaffirm
our support for a human life amendment to the
Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear
that the 14th Amendment’s protections apply to unborn
children. We oppose the use of public revenues for
abortion and will eliminate funding for organizations
GOP BABY - Wearing an “I’m a Reagan
Woman” button, 6-month-old Miranda Musfeldt
is fed by her father, Dr. Chuck Musfeldt, on the
floor of the Republican National Convention in
Dallas. The father is a convention delegate from
Florida. (NC photo from UP!)
which advocate or support abortion. We commend the
efforts of those individual and religious and private
organizations that are providing positive alternatives to
abortion by meeting the physical, emotional and financial
needs of pregnant women and offering adoption services
where needed.”
“We applaud President Reagan’s fine record of judicial
appointments, and we reaffirm our support for the
appointment of judges at all levels of the judiciary who
respect traditional family values and the sanctity of
innocent human life.
“As part of our commitment to the family and our
opposition to abortion, we will eliminate all U.S. funding
for organizations which in any way support abortion or
research on abortion methods. ”
“The Republican Party has an historic commitment to
equal rights for women. Republicans pioneered the right
of women to vote, and our party was the first major party
to advocate equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex.”
ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT
-- U.S. Catholic Conference:
“Our pastoral letter, ‘The Challenge of Peace: God’s
Promise and Our Response,” condemns the counter-city
or counter-population use of nuclear weapons; rejects the
notion of waging limited nuclear war, because of the risk
of escalation to all-out nuclear war; and questions the
moral acceptability of policies that contemplate the
inititiation of nuclear war to repel a conventional attack,
as is the case in NATO strategy.
“Our judgment of ‘strictly conditional moral
acceptance of nuclear deterrence’ means that the
deployment of certain kinds of new weapons systems not
clearly essential to deterrence should be avoided.
Moreover, we recommend a bilateral, verifiable and
negotiated halt to all new nuclear weapons deployment,
while urging intensified negotiations to achieve reductions
in the nuclear arsenals of the superpowers and a
comprehensive test ban treaty.”
- Republican Platform:
“We seek to deflect Soviet policy away from aggression
and toward peaceful international conduct. To that end,
we will seek substantial reductions in nuclear weapons,
rather than merely freezing nuclear weapons at their
present dangerous level.”
“To keep the peace, the Reagan-Bush administration is
offsetting the Soviet military threat with the defensive
power of the (NATO) alliance. We are deploying Pershing
II and cruise missiles.”
“Our military strength exists for the high moral
purpose of deterring conflict, not initiating war. The
deterrence of aggression is ethically imperative.”
“Maintaining a technological superiority, the historical
foundation of our policy of deterrence, remains
essential.”
“We will continue to modernize our deterrent
capability, while negotiating for verifiable arms control.”
“Americans, while caring deeply about arms control,
realize it is not an end in itself. .. .”
“The first duty of government is to provide for the
common defense.”
“Our nuclear arms are a vital element of the free
world’s security system.”
“We enthusiastically support the development of
non-nuclear, space-based defensive systems to protect the
United States by destroying incoming missiles.”
CRIME
-- U.S. Catholic Conference:
“Crime and violence are major and legitimate concerns
for many. We support strong and effective action to
control handguns, leading to their eventual elimination
from society.
“We oppose the use of capital punishment. A return to
the death penalty can only lead to further erosion of
respect for life.”
- Republican Platform:
“We have advanced such reforms as restitution by
convicted criminals to their victims. ...”
“We concur with the American people’s approval of
capital punishment where appropriate and will ensure that
it is carried out humanely.”
“Republicans will continue to defend the constitutional
right to keep and bear arms.”
ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE
TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
- U.S. Catholic Conference: *
“We have called on the Congress and the (Reagan)
administration to increase substantially the United States’
contribution to (the International Development
Association of the World Bank) ...
“We also support emergency food relief to sub-Saharan
Africa. While Congress and the administration have
responded to this need for emergency food relief, it is
likely that further assistance will be essential.”
1
-- Republican Platform:
“Our bilateral economic assistance program should be
directed at promoting economic growth and prosperity in
developing nations.
“We strongly support President Reagan’s decision not
to increase funding for the International Development
Association because of its predeliction for nations with
state-dominated economic systems.”
“We will continue to provide necessary security and
economic assistance to African nations with which we
maintain good relations to help them develop tl|
infrastructure of democratic capitalism so essential to
economic growth and individual accomplishment.”
EDUCATION
-- U.S. Catholic Conference:
“ .. . We advocate policies to improve the educational
opportunities available to economically disadvantaged
persons and minorities, including bilingual education....
‘ ‘We also support . . . constitutionally acceptable
means of providing tax assistance for the education of
children in non-public schools, in order to guarantee tl®
free exercise of parental rights in choosing educational
opportunities for their children.”
-- Republican Platform:
“Mindful of our religious diversity, we reaffirm our
commitment to the freedoms of religion and speech
guaranteed by the Constitution . .. and firmly support the
rights of students to openly practice the same, including
the right to engage in voluntary prayer in schools.”
“We are committed to excellence in education for all
our children within their own communities and
neighborhoods. No child should be assigned to, or barrs'’
from, a school because of race.” *
“In education, as in other activities, competition fosters
excellence. We therefore support the president’s proposal
for tuition tax credits. ”
EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME
- U.S. Catholic Conference:
“Our nation should provide jobs for those who can
work and a decent income for those who cannot. Current
policies fall short of these goals.
“Present levels of unemployment, although down fro®
the extreme levels of two years ago, are still too high.
“Full employment should be a basic element of just
economic policy; we call for efforts to achieve this
essential goal. This will entail a national guarantee that no
one seeking work will be denied the opportunity to earn a
livelihood.
“We reaffirm our support for the right of workers to
join together to bargain collectively with their employers
and ask that protection of this right be extended to those
whose rights are currently unprotected, especially farm
laborers.
“.. . We support a comprehensive reform of til'
welfare system, which will provide an adequate income
base for all Americans and replace the present system of
fragmented programs. Current federal policy, which
permits states to discriminate against married couples with
children, is anti-family and should be abandoned.
“ . . . Mandatory workfare programs are an
unacceptable alternative to training and real jobs with fair
compensation.”
- Republican Platform:
“Our society provides both a ladder of opportunity*on
which all can climb to success and a safety net of