Excerpts from that document, along with excerpts from the platforms of the two major political parties, have been published twice in The Catholic Key (Oct. 1 and Oct. 22). It is evident that the bishops are inviting Catholics to consider a wide range of issues in exercising their political responsibility.

One of the issues is abortion, "the deliberate killing of a human being before birth," which "is never morally acceptable" (See also Bishop Raymond J. Boland's editorial in the Peace and Justice newsletter on page 12 of this issue). There are voices that say Catholics should look no further, but make their political decisions on that issue alone. They have a right to advocate that position.

However, the U.S. bishops do not stop with abortion. They invite us to consider other issues: assisted suicide, euthanasia, the death penalty, debt relief and global poverty, economic justice, education, the environment, health care, housing, immigration, the proliferation of weapons, violence and war, social security, welfare reform, and solidarity with other countries through the United Nations.

Neither presidential candidate is pro-life as our Church defines that term. Nevertheless, the appeals to Catholics to become single-issue voters are based on the assumption that the Republican candidate for president will appoint justices who will overturn Roe versus Wade. The record does not support that assumption.

The last real test of Roe versus Wade was Planned Parenthood versus Casey. On June 29, 1992, the Supreme Court in that case reaffirmed by a 5-4 vote the essential holding of Roe versus Wade - that in the early months of pregnancy a woman has a right to an abortion without undue interference from the state.

The five justices voting to uphold Roe versus Wade were Harry Blackmun (Richard Nixon, 1970), John Paul Stevens (Gerald Ford, 1975), Sandra Day O'Connor (Ronald Reagan, 1981), Anthony Kennedy (Reagan, 1988), and David H. Souter (George Bush, 1990). Thus, all of the justices upholding the ruling were appointed by Republican presidents. In fact, Blackmun authored the Roe versus Wade decision.

Those opposing the decision were Justices Byron White (John F. Kennedy, 1962), William H. Rehnquist (Nixon, 1971), Anthony Scalia (Reagan, 1986), and Clarence Thomas (Bush, 1991). The only justice on the court at the time who was appointed by a Democratic president voted against the majority, as did three justices appointed by Republicans.

The number of legal abortions in the United States has been declining. It peaked at 1.43 million in 1990. The Center for Disease Control figure for 1997 is 1.18 million, a reduction of 17 percent. That reduction is clearly due to factors other than who sits on the U.S. Supreme Court.

A president has many tasks equally as important as appointing Supreme Court justices. Catholics would be wise to follow the lead of the U.S. bishops and weigh the candidates and parties in terms of their potential effect on all the major issues that affect the common good. That course may, in the long run, have the best outcome for the pro-life cause.