<p>Ms Rice is not Catholic so she shouldn’t be expected to hold to any Catholic teachings. And, she isn’t there to speak about anything that is against Church teachings. Although she may be privately “pro-choice,” she doesn’t have a history of actively supporting it (i.e. lobbying for pro-abortion legislation, lobbying against pro-life legislation).</p>
<p>As for such things as war, death penalty, and abortion: The Catholic church teaches that abortion is ALWAYS wrong - no matter WHAT the circumstances (intrinsically evil). The church does not have such stances against war or the death penalty. People can actively support the war (and PARTICIPATE in the war and buy things for the war) and support the death penalty (and even work on death row!) and still be Catholics in “good standing.” Catholics can even support legalized divorce without fear of “sinning.” The same can’t be said about those who perform abortions or actively support abortion. </p>
<p>Those who equate the Iraq war, nuclear weapons, the death penalty and abortion (when speaking about Catholic teaching) are just plain wrong. If the four were equally wrong in the eyes of the church, Catholic soldiers would be told to use “religious objections” to get placed elsewhere, Catholics wouldn’t be allowed to work on death row, and Catholic engineers would not be allowed to design nuclear weapons. However, Catholic doctors are forbidden from performing abortions; the fact that a few do it anyway is irrelevant.</p>