The Catholic News Agency (CNA) has published an analysis of the names on Joe Biden’s short list for running mate and found that all the candidates are — unsurprisingly — staunch supporters of abortion-on-demand.
Mr. Biden has publicly committed to selecting a woman for his running mate, CNA notes in an essay Tuesday by Christine Rousselle, and if elected would be the oldest first-term president in American history. This means that Biden’s hypothetical vice-president would almost certainly run for president in four years if Biden wins in 2020.
Biden himself has swung ever further toward the pro-abortion position and now not only supports abortion-on-demand but also repealing the Hyde Amendment, meaning he favors forcing U.S. taxpayers to fund abortion even if they find it morally repugnant.
Catholics played a significant role in propelling Mr. Trump to the White House in 2016, in large part because Hillary Clinton had chosen the nominally Catholic Tim Kaine — who supports abortion rights — as her running mate.
Given the gravity of the abortion question, a series of bishops issued public statements prior to November 2016 urging Catholics to vote for candidates who support the right to life. Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann went so far as to call Kaine a “cafeteria Catholic” and questioned why he claimed to be “personally pro-life” while supporting Roe v. Wade and voting to keep abortion-on-demand legal.
For his part, Bishop William Murphy, head of the Diocese of Rockville Centre in Long Island, insisted that support for abortion “should disqualify any and every such candidate from receiving our vote.”
In Tuesday’s essay, CNA examined the voting histories and public policy stances of some of the names touted to be on Mr. Biden’s short list for vice president and found that all of them seem fully committed to abortion rights, which presents a serious obstacle for Catholic Democrats.
Catholics believe that abortion is murder, since it intentionally takes the life of an unborn human being, whose dignity is equal to that of any other person. The killing of the unborn is so reprehensible — in Catholics’ eyes — that its performance results in the automatic and immediate excommunication of the persons involved, singling it out as a uniquely evil action.
One of the VP hopefuls is Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), who sits on the House Judiciary Committee and serves as chair of the Congressional Black Congress.
CNA notes that Bass has a 100% rating from NARAL (originally the National Abortion Rights Action League) as well as a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood Action Fund, meaning that she opposes any and all restrictions on abortion.
Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) similarly has a flawless 100% ratings from Planned Parenthood Federation of America and NARAL, and urged her followers in January to “redouble our resistance against attempts” to pass pro-life legislation.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), better known than some of the other short-listers for the VP role, is not only a fierce defender of abortion rights, she has also called out Biden himself for not being “pro-choice” enough for the Democrat party, a measure that seems to have contributed to Biden’s shift to the left on the abortion question.
As would be expected, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) also enjoys a 100% ratings from both Planned Parenthood Federation of America and NARAL and even wore a Planned Parenthood scarf to President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
If Mr. Biden chooses any of these obvious frontrunners as his vice-presidential running mate, Catholic Democrats will face a difficult decision: either vote for the most pro-abortion ticket in the history of the nation — one captained by a pro-abortion Catholic, no less — or abandon political allegiance for the sake of moral integrity.
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