This Is What A Catholic Politician Sounds Like

And he's from Louisiana. Naturally, I've had a tough time finding this story on a mainstream news outlet.

Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, (R-New Orleans), the first Vietnamese-American congressman and a Catholic, announced this past weekend that, because of the “stealth mandate” for abortion still present in the Health Care bill, he prefers to “save his soul” rather than vote in favor of it. . .

“At the end of the day if the health care reform bill does not have strong language prohibiting the use of federal funding for abortion, then the bill is really a no-go for me,” said Cao, who spent time in formation to be a Jesuit priest.

“Being a Jesuit, I very much adhere to the notion of social justice,” Cao said. “I do fully understand the need of providing everyone with access to health care, but to me personally, I cannot be privy to a law that will allow the potential of destroying thousands of innocent lives,” he explained to the Louisiana newspaper.

Holy smokes. What is more shocking: an apparently orthodox Catholic politician or an apparently orthodox Catholic who spent time in formation to be a Jesuit?

“I know that voting against the health care bill will probably be the death of my political career,” Cao said, “but I have to live with myself, and I always reflect on the phrase of the New Testament, ‘How does it profit a man's life to gain the world but to lose his soul.’”

Contrast this fortitude with guys like Kmiec.

On a somewhat side note, this whole thing reminds me of a great bit from Man For All Seasons. You'll need to go to the 3:50 mark or so:



How many these days are opting for not even so much as Wales?