New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s bid for the nomination of the Republican Party has drawn attention to his pro-abortion views.

In Associated Press report Giuliani reaffirmed his personal opposition to abortion as well as his “passionate” support for abortion rights and argued against picking Supreme Court nominees based on their stance on Roe vs. Wade.

“I oppose [abortion]. That’s a principle I’ve held forever, and I’ll hold it forever. That’s not going to change. But I also believe that in a society like ours, where people have very, very different consciences about this, it’s best to respect each others’ differences and allow for choice,” he told the AP.

Giuliani’s position on abortion resembles that of John Kerry during the 2004 presidential elections. It is one seemed to be designed to win over at least some centrist Democrats. But as politically expedient as that position may be, it is shameful for a Catholic to openly support taking the life of the most innocent among us: the unborn.

Giuliani, like Kerry and others before him, is following in the footsteps of New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, who first introduced the concept of being “personally opposed to abortion” at a 1984 Notre Dame University speech. Since that time the American bishops have authoritatively rejected that view and reaffirmed as recently as 2004 that “if those who perform an abortion and those who cooperate willingly in the action are fully aware of the objective evil of what they do, they are guilty of grave sin and thereby separate themselves from God’s grace.”

It is too soon to know if Giuliani will win the Republican nomination but if he does, we could easily be faced with choosing between two pro-abortion candidates, one of whom is a Catholic. In our view, a sad prospect.