Prudence, Proportionality, and Giuliani

In response to my post that the prudential status of an issue does not alone entail that it's less important than an issue on which the Church clearly speaks, Rob Driscoll at Notre Dame writes:

Is that then an argument for why Catholics who are pro-life could vote for Rudy Giuliani and not be violating Church teaching?  That, in addition to, what Professor Garnett referred to as the prudential decision regarding electability?  In other words, a Catholic who really believes that Giuliani’s leadership will save millions of American lives could vote for him despite his pro-abortion positions (and disregarding his promise to point originalist judges who likely would uphold restrictions on abortion “rights”)?

Yes in theory, although I don't buy it empirically.  If one believes -- and, I would add, has good reason to believe -- that Giuliani's approach to homeland security would be that much better than the pro-life candidate at protecting America from catastrophic likely losses of life, then the simple fact that the Church does take a position on abortion but doesn't take a position on the details of homeland security policy shouldn't logically preclude someone from finding the reasons to vote for Giuliani proportionate.  I seriously doubt as a matter of fact that Giuliani is that much better, and moreover he's endorsed waterboarding and other interrogation tactics that are deeply problematic morally and also, I think, of little value compared with the serious wound they inflict on America's standing in the world (a crucial part of reducing the appeal of terrorism).

Someone certainly should weigh Giuliani's promise to appoint strict constructionists to the Court, which points toward appointments who are more likely to limit or overrule Roe, although that prediction should be tempered by his own pro-choice views (which make him less likely to expend political capital for an anti-Roe nominee) and by his statement that being a strict constructionist does not necessarily mean overturning Roe.  The other consideration for me, though, is that because of the very difficult situations that many pregnant women face, I believe the provision of stronger social supports for them and their children is both (i) called for morally to accompany criminal abortion restrictions and (ii) crucial in strategic terms if such restrictions are to maintain public support in the long run.  Republicans tend to oppose those supports (often for far less than proportionate reasons, in my view), while Democrats tend to back them.  This is why, although I regard the overturning of Roe as very important, I cannot give Republicans -- including Giuliani -- the total nod with respect to abortion policy.  I participate in pro-life organizations that call for such supports (Democrats for Life) and also those that don't (the Christian Legal Society); but as a matter of my own voting I weigh such safety-net policies as an important consideration.

But all of this goes beyond the modest point of my first post, which was not about how to answer these issues, but just about how to analyze them: the fact that an issue is prudential in nature at the level of policy, as opposed to one on which the Church specifically teaches, does not entail that the issue is less important in the weighing process of proportionality.

Tom