Abortion politics key in Catholic vote

SCRANTON, Pa., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- The votes of U.S. Roman Catholics, once a reliable Democratic bloc, are up for grabs because of splits over candidates' stands on abortion, churchgoers say.

With Democratic U.S. vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware banned by the local bishop from taking communion because of support of abortion rights, disagreements over the issue are peeling some Democratic votes away, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The theocratic disagreements are turning into a costly distraction, contend progressive Catholics seeking to emphasize the church's stances on economic and other social issues, which closely mirror those of the Democratic Party.

"I think that one of the teachings of God is to take care of the less fortunate," Susan Tighe, a Scranton, Pa., insurance lawyer who identified herself as "a folk Catholic, from the guitar-strumming social-justice side" of the church, told the Times.

But the newspaper said its interviews with Catholic voters in Scranton, Biden's hometown, revealed most who once supported former presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., have switched allegiance not to Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, but to his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, partly because of running mate Sarah Palin's opposition to abortion rights.