Cardinal Timothy Dolan: Democrat Party Has “Slammed the Door” on Catholics By Worshiping Abortion

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Mar 26, 2018   |   12:55PM   |   Washington, DC

Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan criticized the Democratic Party for “slamming the door” on Catholics and their values.

In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Friday, Dolan said the political party has abandoned the most vulnerable members of society by embracing abortion on demand.

“… it saddens me, and weakens the democracy millions of Americans cherish, when the party that once embraced Catholics now slams the door on us,” wrote Dolan, leader of the Archdiocese of New York.

The Catholic Church is one of the strongest advocates for unborn babies in the world; it teaches that every human life, from conception to natural death, is valuable and worthy of protection.

Democrat leaders once championed themselves as advocates for the most vulnerable in society and welcomed pro-life candidates. However, the party increasingly has adopted a radical pro-abortion stance and pushed out elected officials who do not toe the party line.

Dolan criticized Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez for insisting “that pro-life candidates have no place in the modern Democratic Party.”

He slammed the party, not just for abandoning unborn babies but also for openly celebrating those who destroy babies’ lives.

As CNA reports:

He pointed to the party’s recent refusal to support incumbent Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), who is one of the few remaining pro-life Democrats in Congress, in a tight primary race. …

Dolan was particularly critical of a proposed New York law titled the “Reproductive Health Act,” which he says would “morbidly expand” the “most radical abortion license in the country.” The New York State Assembly is overwhelmingly Democrat.

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“For instance, under the proposed Reproductive Health Act, doctors would not be required to care for a baby who survives an abortion. The newborn simply would be allowed to die without any legal implications,” wrote Dolan. …

Dolan said believes that the Democrats of today have abandoned many of the tenets that made the party attractive to Catholics generations ago.

Dolan also pointed to other issues, including school choice programs and tax credits for education, where the Democratic Party and Catholics now differ.

As was evident in the recent Illinois election, abortion on demand has become a key issue for the party. In 2016, the DNC approved a platform calling for full support of abortions for any reason up to birth and taxpayer funding of abortions. Both are widely unpopular positions among the general public.

Many pro-lifers are leaving the Democratic Party because it has stopped supporting pro-life laws and advocates for life like Lipinski. A Massachusetts mayor recently announced his decision to leave, disgusted by the party’s demand that unborn babies be sacrificed and their deaths celebrated.

“The dignity and sanctity of human life, the importance of Catholic schools, the defense of a baby’s civil rights” are “widely embraced by Catholics,” Dolan said. “This often led Catholics to become loyal Democrats. I remember my own grandmother whispering to me, ‘We Catholics don’t trust those Republicans.’”

Now, however, Dolan said the DNC has rejected “the needs of poor and middle-class children in Catholic schools, and the right to life of the baby in the womb.”