Who knew that Lousiana Congressman Joseph Cao's last name was short for cao-ward. Time and time again, Cao has sided with the Republican leadership and voted against programs and policies that he knows are popular with his own constituency in LA-02.

First it was the stimulus package and then Obama's budget. This time, it's health care reform and the public option. The difference is, this time, Cao's hiding behind his religion:

Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, (R-New Orleans), the first Vietnamese-American congressman and a Catholic,  announced this past weekend that, because of the “stealth mandate” for abortion still present in the Health Care bill, he prefers to “save his soul” rather than  vote in favor of it.

Cao, the only member of the Louisiana House delegation who had not weighed in on where he stands on the health reform bill, told the Times-Picayune on Saturday that he cannot support any bill that permits public money to be spent on abortion.

“At the end of the day if the health care reform bill does not have strong language prohibiting the use of federal funding for abortion, then the bill is really a no-go for me,” said Cao, who spent time in formation to be a Jesuit priest.

“Being a Jesuit, I very much adhere to the notion of social justice,” Cao said. “I do fully understand the need of providing everyone with access to health care, but to me personally, I cannot be privy to a law that will allow the potential of destroying thousands of innocent lives,” he explained to the Louisiana newspaper.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that Cao will be one of seven Republican members of Congress targeted with radio ads that will play on radio stations with largely African-American audiences, urging him to support Obama's health reform efforts.

“I know that voting against the health care bill will probably be the death of my political career,” Cao said, “but I have to live with myself, and I always reflect on the phrase of the New Testament, ‘How does it profit a man's life to gain the world but to lose his soul.’”

This bill has nothing to do with abortion. So despite the futile pleadings of President Obama, Cao will vote just like his fellow Republicans.

Of course, once this bill passes and his constituents start to see the positive effects, Cao will still go out and tout his support for providing health care for them, just like he's doing with the stimulus package that he voted down.