The same confused rhetoric from a professed Catholic politician

At my mother's Catholic funeral last fall a priest denied me communion. No warning, no comments, just a refusal to give me the sacrament as I stood in line next to my mother's coffin. He needed no direction from a bishop to put himself in the place of God in making earthly judgment on me.

I am -- and will remain -- a prochoice, Catholic elected official. I don't advocate for abortion. I believe it should be rare and safe and that alternatives should be available. But I fully support a woman's right to make that decision herself, without government -- or my -- interference. And, for some women, there is no realistic alternative.

There are alternatives, but they require that one do what is right. The baby's father gets no choice. The only person so-called "pro-choicers" want to have anything resembling a choice is the mother. And that choice is murder.

Because of the panoply of Catholic moral issues, it is a mistake to choose one issue as the sole guideline for Catholics or their leaders to judge an elected official. Not only abortion, but economic justice and other concerns make up the menu in deciding where a public official or candidate stands on "moral" issues.

The effort to use a political litmus test in providing communion is wrong, and the tie to abortion-related issues alone is misguided.

John Hottinger, DFL-St. Peter, is a member of the Minnesota Senate.

The all-knowing, professed Catholic politician who believes that that one may live two separate and distinct lives - one of faith and one of politics.

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