White House press secretary Jen Psaki said it was time to “remind” reporters that President Biden is Catholic when she was asked about his possible deviations from former President Trump on abortion issues.
At issue Wednesday was a question by Owen Jensen, a correspondent for The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), regarding taxpayer dollars possibly funding abortions at home and in foreign nations.
“Two big concerns for pro-life Americans,” he said. “The Hyde amendment, which of course keeps taxpayer dollars, as you know, from paying for abortions. Medicaid abortions. And the Mexico City policy, which under the previous administration, they expanded to keep the tax dollars overseas from paying for abortions. So, what is President Biden planning on doing in those two items right now?”
“Well, I think we’ll have more to say on the Mexico City policy in the coming days,” Ms. Psaki replied. “But I will just take the opportunity to remind all of you that he [Biden] is a devout Catholic, and somebody who attends church regularly,” Psaki digressed. “He started his day attending church with his family this morning, but I don’t have anything more for you on that.”
The exchange came hours after the Vatican intervened to halt the publication of a letter by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to the incoming Biden administration.
Conference President Archbishop José Gomez’s letter, which was briefly posted online, warned Mr. Biden that Catholics would not stay silent on the issue of abortion.
“The nation’s bishops are given the duty of proclaiming the Gospel in all its truth and power, in season and out of season, even when that teaching is inconvenient or when the Gospel’s truths run contrary to the directions of the wider society and culture,” the archbishop’s letter read. “So, I must point out that 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. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.”
Mr. Biden’s stance on abortion was also targeted by Catholic groups during his campaign.
CatholicVote launched a $9.7 million ad campaign blasting him for his recent reversal on the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortion except in cases of rape, incest and risks to a woman’s life.
“I made a commitment that I would not ever attempt to impose my religious views on anyone else in terms of how it relates to this most unique question in all of humanity: When does the human life begin? When does that occur,” Mr. Biden said in June 2019 regarding the issue. “And so I’m not going to do that, and conversely I find myself in a position, how do you say to now the women who are in poverty that increasingly have no access to women’s health care?”
Jen Psaki spins out of Hyde Amdt. & Mexico City question by saying Pres. Biden is a “devout Catholic”.
— Cassie Smedile (@CMSmedile) January 21, 2021
Either Pres. Biden is about to be a very pro-Life President or Jen Psaki (and basically everyone else) needs to stop referring to him as a “devout Catholic”…! pic.twitter.com/Tvy9qVvUnW
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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