The U.S. bishops have urged President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, to abandon his “single-minded” abortion radicalism and recognize the humanity in unborn infants.
They spoke to the sad effects of abortion and pleaded for the president to stand up for mothers.
Instead of using his authority to improve support and care for mothers facing difficult circumstances, the president is gravely wrong, according to Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who made the statement on October 25.
President Biden is urged to acknowledge the humanity of unborn children and the actual life-giving care that women in our nation need. “This single-minded fanaticism must cease,” he stated.
In their statement, the U.S. bishops noted that Biden had said last week that codifying a national right to abortion would be his top legislative goal after the November elections.
At a DNC rally on October 18 at the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., Biden announced, “Here’s the pledge I make to you and the American people: The first measure that I will present to Congress will be to codify Roe v. Wade.”
And 50 years after Roe was originally made the law of the country, I will sign it in January once Congress adopts it, he said. In addition, the president promised to veto a Republican-backed plan that would have prohibited abortions under federal law at 15 weeks of pregnancy other than in situations involving rape, incest, or a danger to the mother’s life.
Pro-choice campaigners and women carrying placards that read “Defend Choice” and “Restore Roe” surrounded Biden. The outcome of the next elections might determine who controls the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, and many Democrats are hoping that voters who support abortion rights will be more motivated to cast their ballots.
Lori underscored the harm that abortion creates when addressing on behalf of the American bishops.
According to Lori’s statement, “as pastors who deal with the sad effects of abortion on a daily basis, we know that abortion is a violent act which terminates the lives of preborn infants and scars countless numbers of women.” The Catholic Church wants to keep working with our leaders and government to defend everyone’s right to life and make sure that expectant and nursing mothers have complete assistance for raising their children both before and after delivery.
While abortion legislation was given back to the states by the Supreme Court in the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health ruling, some states have outright restrictions on abortion while others acknowledge it as a constitutional right.
The Guttmacher Institute, a research group previously affiliated with Planned Parenthood, estimates that 930,160 abortions will be carried out in the United States year 2020. In that year, abortion was the result of around one in five pregnancies. In 2020, there were 14.4 abortions for per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44.
Pro-abortion advocates claim that the Women’s Health Protection Act will reinstate the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling. However, detractors claim that the law goes well beyond Roe. It would deem abortion a human right, invalidate current state pro-life legislation, and compel medical professionals and facilities with religious objections to conduct abortions. The U.S. Senate has consistently voted along mostly party lines to block the bill’s advancement.