As faithful Catholics, it is our duty and obligation to shape the moral character of our community, state and country through voting.
Catholic Moral and Social Teaching, drawn from human reason and illuminated by Scripture, offers a consistent moral framework to guide our actions in the voting booth and hold our leaders accountable, especially Catholic leaders.
Our faith allows us to maintain a hierarchy of values when voting on candidates and issues during an election. All of the listed values in the hierarchy are important; however, some are more foundational and therefore require more priority.
It is the duty of each person’s conscience to adhere to objective truth, which is reflected in these values, to guide your vote.
Hierarchy of Values to Guide Voting as a Catholic
- Sanctity of Life: Human life must be protected at all stages from conception until natural death.
- Marriage and Family: Marriage is the union of a man and a woman who together as husband and wife may become father and mother to any children they produce.
- Religious Liberty: Religious liberty is rooted in the dignity of the human person, including freedom of conscience and expression, and is central to the U.S. Constitution.
- Economic Justice, Poverty & Welfare: Economic decisions should respect human dignity and express a preferential option for helping the poor and vulnerable through safety nets and opportunities for upward mobility.
- Healthcare: Healthcare should be patient-centered, respect human dignity, protect life, promote the principle of subsidiarity, be affordable and assure conscience rights.
- Immigration & Promoting Foreign Peace: Immigration policy should provide immigrants with basic human needs, including the ability to work, and should encourage pathways to citizenship. Promoting peace is essential in international relations.
- Education: Parents are the primary educators of their children; therefore, education policy should empower parents with education decision-making authority to choose best learning options for their children.
- Restorative Justice: Criminal justice reform should focus on preventing crime and caring for survivors of crime, while also offering those who commit a crime an opportunity to rehabilitate and effectively return to society.
- Energy & Environment: Care for the environment and responsible use of energy resources come from our duty to steward creation and provide for future generations.
- Technology: Technology must respect human dignity and protect children.
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Top Catholic Issues on the Ballot
1. Vote NO on Amendment 79 “Constitutional Right to Abortion”
This amendment creates a constitutional “right” to unrestricted, unregulated abortion for all 40 weeks of pregnancy – even on healthy mothers and babies— and allows for taxpayer-funded abortion by repealing the constitutional ban on public funding. This ballot proposal also bans parental notification laws in Colorado, so underaged girls could be coerced into an abortion by their boyfriend or school counselor and her parents are not required to be notified. This amendment also bans any future laws protecting the life of preborn children at all stages of development, even late abortion, when preborn babies can feel pain and survive outside the womb. Pro-abortion lawmakers and the pro-abortion lobby are sponsoring this amendment to make Colorado a national “safe haven” for abortion and to allow the Colorado legislature to allocate millions of dollars annually for late abortion for in-state and out-of-state women, paid for by Colorado taxpayers. Visit RightToKnowCO.com to learn more.
2. Vote NO on Amendment J “Protecting the Freedom to Marry”
This amendment will remove the constitutional definition of marriage as the “union of one man and one woman.” While Obergefell made same-sex marriage status quo, there are still important considerations concerning a ballot measure to remove the definition of marriage from the constitution. Marriage is based on the truth that men and women are complementary, the biological fact that reproduction depends on a man and a woman, and the social science that supports the reality that children need both a mother and a father to flourish. This amendment rejects the truth of what marriage is.
3. Vote YES on Amendment 80 “Right to School Choice”
This amendment would create a constitutional “right to school choice” for every K-12 child and a right for parents “to direct the education of their children.” School choice allows parents to choose the schooling option that best fits their children’s learning needs. This gives all children the opportunity to have a great education, regardless of their income level or zip code. Visit VoteYesOn80.com to learn more.
