Though I am a bit late coming to this story, Dionne has a column on the denial of Communion to Prof. Kmiec on account of his endorsement of Obama that deserves some comment.  I have discussed Kmiec’s endorsement and his arguments before, and while I have not found them persuasive it seems clear that he has maintained a recognisably pro-life view throughout.  He has gone out of his way to propose that Obama adopt a measure advanced by Democrats for Life that could, in theory, reduce the number of abortions significantly in the near term, and he has certainly wrestled with the problem of Obama’s support for legal abortion.  The most unfortunate thing is that Prof. Kmiec has consistently taken Obama at his word that he respects pro-life views, which has given Kmiec the false hope that Obama will take pro-life arguments seriously to the point of embracing them or implementing pro-lifers’ proposals in the context of retaining legal abortion.  What matters in Kmiec’s case is his intent, and clearly he is not supporting Obama in order to promote a grave evil.  The mistake that Kmiec has made, which is the same mistake that many pro-life Obama supporters are making, is to believe that Obama has any intention of following through as a matter of policy on his rhetoric of listening to all sides and building consensus.   

Even so, if Kmiec has participated in a grave moral evil simply by endorsing Obama, how much more have all those tens and hundreds of thousands of Catholic Democrats across the Rust Belt and elsewhere who have actually cast votes for Hillary Clinton?  The question answers itself–obviously he has not so participated.

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