It’s time to set aside the fight over which candidate has conformed to the full seamless garment of pro-life morality, because no one on the field has the right to claim that victory. We do not have a truly pro-life candidate anywhere on the ballot — nor, frankly, have I known of one on any ballot in my lifetime. That is not an excuse for Catholics to throw up our hands and abdicate the moral responsibility to vote. Instead, Catholics in every political party need to take responsibility for making their respective leadership hear our legitimate concerns.

We need to use those well-developed faith consciences (which the bishops keep talking about and getting ignored from the right and the left). We can’t just cling to the purity of the pro-life unicorn president (or senator or city council member) while representative democracy crumbles around us. Instead, let’s apply our moral principles to each unique elective office. (Remembering ethics classes, anyone?)

I understand the tendency to look at electoral politics from the top of the ticket on down, but if we Catholics are sincerely interested in making pro-life choices — and are holy enough to accept the humility that it takes to step away from the talking points being thrust on us via social media, family and even other Christians — we all have a lot to learn. I know I do!

I will start easy. It does not matter to me (on a practical, voting level) what my Minneapolis City Council representative’s legal analysis is of Roe v. Wade, because they won’t have the opportunity to vote for or against it if it comes before the Supreme Court, or even draft individual state restrictions that could come into play. So, when I need to assess whether my city council rep is “pro-life,” a well-informed conscience compels me to look at the myriad of other pro-life issues that the city council can impact — and there are plenty!

Looming large in my day-to-day life are pro-life issues of homelessness in my neighborhood; the realistic fear of police violence felt by my neighbors of color. I must also acknowledge the honest fear faced by undocumented residents who are afraid to come out from under the radar for a COVID test. You better believe that is a life-and-death issue when these are the very Minnesotans who are performing essential services, including providing childcare and preparing food. Not only is this a health risk to my loved ones, but, more importantly, it is a threat to human dignity (which, for those who actually read encyclicals instead of just proof-texting for talking points, is clearly included by the pope and a great many bishops a grave pro-life concern).

So, if I start at the bottom of my ballot and ask candidates where they stand on the pro-life areas that would actually be under their purview, the city council, mayor, attorneys general and other local officials can be vetted largely through their responses to variations of the paragraph above. Once we have made some prudent local choices and can see the results of how a politician’s promises translate in measurable local progress (or lack thereof), we can take those well-formed consciences in hand to apply these same principals one step further up the ballot to assessing key area of the pro-life worldview of those elected officials who will actually have some influence in their respective areas.

A warning though: If you follow this plan with conviction and the aforementioned Christian humility, you will probably have to let go of voting a straight party-line ticket in the November general election. Crossing those party lines (even on a ballot that no one will see) may seem painful for our loyal midwestern hearts, but I promise, embracing faithful citizenship gets more rewarding each time.

Adams Blume completed her theological studies this spring through the Murray Institute at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, along with a cohort of other lay ecclesial ministers. She is involved in volunteer ministry at her home parish, St. Cecilia in St. Paul, in addition to her professional parish work at St. Richard in Richfield. The Local Church is an occasional column featuring guest writers in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.