Catholic Bishop to Joe Biden: “If Life at its Beginning is Not Protected, None of Us are Safe”

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jan 21, 2021   |   12:37PM   |   Washington, DC

The Catholic archbishop of San Francisco emphasized the importance of working to end the “injustice of abortion” Wednesday in a statement about President Joe Biden.

The new president, a pro-abortion Democrat, has stirred debate among Catholic leaders because he professes to be a devout Catholic while touting policies that contradict the church on the sanctity of life, the family and religious freedom.

The National Catholic Register reports Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone thanked the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for acknowledging this conflict in its statement about Biden.

He said Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the bishops’ conference, gave a “timely call for healing as a country as the new administration assumes office” in his statement on behalf of the bishops.

“In particular, I am grateful to him for stating clearly once again that opposing the injustice of abortion remains our ‘preeminent priority,’ while acknowledging that ‘preeminent’ does not mean ‘only,’” Cordileone said.

Many Americans, not just Catholics, make protecting unborn babies a priority because abortion destroys more human lives than any other cause. Since 1973, more than 62 million unborn babies have been legally aborted in the U.S.

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“Catholics must and do speak out on many issues affecting the equal dignity of us all, but if life at its most vulnerable beginnings is not protected, then none of us is safe,” Cordileone continued. “Affirming this equal human dignity at every stage and in every condition is the path to healing and unity.”

Before the election, the U.S. bishops’ conference urged Catholics to make ending abortions a “preeminent priority” when they vote. Then, after Biden was elected, they formed a committee to discuss how to to work with the pro-abortion president.

On Wednesday, Gomez said the bishops are offering prayers of hope and wisdom for Biden as he begins to lead the country. He also brought up concerns about Biden’s plans for abortion and religious liberty.

“… our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender,” Gomez said. “Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.”

The archbishop said protecting unborn babies from abortion will continue to be a “preeminent priority” for Catholics.

“… as Pope Francis teaches, we cannot stay silent when nearly a million unborn lives are being cast aside in our country year after year through abortion,” Gomez continued. “Abortion is a direct attack on life that also wounds the woman and undermines the family.”

Among other things, Biden and Democrat leaders want to end the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding for elective abortions in Medicaid and other federal programs. Without it, taxpayers could be forced to pay for tens of thousands of unborn babies’ abortion deaths every year.

Last year, Biden even called abortion an “essential medical service” during the coronavirus pandemic. His health care plan would expand abortions as well by forcing insurance companies to cover abortions as “essential” health care under Obamacare.

He also promised to undo all of President Donald Trump’s progress for life, including restoring funding to the billion-dollar abortion chain Planned Parenthood.

Additionally, Biden has endorsed anti-religious freedom policies that would force nuns, religious charities and hospitals to violate their deeply-held beliefs by funding the killing of unborn babies in abortions and potentially even by helping to facilitate their deaths. He promised to restore an Obama-era mandate that would force the nuns with Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious employers to fund contraception, including types that may cause abortions, in their employee health insurance plans.