Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 19, 2021 / 11:00 am (CNA).- President-elect Joe Biden is expected to promptly roll back pro-life policies the Trump administration put in place, NBC News reported on Monday.
Biden, who will become the second Roman Catholic president when he is sworn in to office on Jan. 20, is believed to be seeking to repeal the Trump administration’s Protect Life Rule and the expanded Mexico City Policy.
The Protect Life Rule prevents organizations which perform or refer for abortions from receiving Title X family planning funds. It effectively stripped Planned Parenthood of approximately $60 million annually in federal funding.
The Mexico City Policy prohibits federal funding of international non-governmental organizations which promote abortion as a method of family planning.
Biden is also expected to address the contraceptive mandate, and he has previously pledged to repeal the Hyde Amendment and codify Roe v. Wade into law; the Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funding for elective abortions in Medicaid.
Those actions, however, would depend upon Congress passing legislation.
Biden had previously supported the Hyde Amendment during his time in the Senate. Over the course of a 24-hour period in June 2019, however, he changed course amid pressure from pro-abortion groups and announced that he favored repealing the policy.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris took credit for Biden’s abrupt about-face on the Hyde Amendment.
Newly sworn-in presidents traditionally either rescind or reinstate some form of the Mexico City Policy. The first iteration of the policy was in 1984. It was rescinded in Jan., 1993 by President Bill Clinton, reinstated in Jan., 2001 by President George W. Bush, rescinded again in Jan., 2009 by President Barack Obama, and reinstated by President Donald Trump in 2017.
Shortly after he reinstated the policy, the Trump administration expanded it to encompass more than $8 billion in global health assistance and not just funds earmarked for family planning programs.
Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States, said it was “tremendously exciting” that her organization has “champions (in the administration) who understand what needs to happen in the first 100 days.”
Biden, who invited leaders in Congress to church on the morning of his inauguration, expressed dismay when the Supreme Court sided with the Little Sisters of the Poor in their court battle against the contraceptive mandate.
He pledged to reinstate Obama-era policies requiring the sisters to ensure access to birth control in their employee health plans, in violation of their religious beliefs.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Is anybody surprised? Catholic Democrats are cheering everywhere. He’ll probably be invited for tea with Cardinal Gregory immediately after the inauguration. Weep for our church, our shepherds have led us astray.
And this is news?
.
Seriously, if he kept the pro-life policies, THAT would be news.
I’m sick of photos showing Biden with a halo around his head. They did that crap with Obama too.
The bishops will issue a statement of concern in response.
Exactly Tony. Thank you.
The Bishops response…censored by the Vatican due to Blaze Cupich and others…
January 22, 2021
Statement on the Inauguration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., as 46th President of the United States of America
Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles,
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
My prayers are with our new President and his family today.
I am praying that God grant him wisdom and courage to lead this great nation and that God help him to meet the tests of these times, to heal the wounds caused by this pandemic, to ease our intense political and cultural divisions, and to bring people together with renewed dedication to America’s founding purposes, to be one nation under God committed to liberty and equality for all.
Catholic bishops are not partisan players in our nation’s politics. We are pastors responsible for the souls of millions of Americans and we are advocates for the needs of all our neighbors. In every community across the country, Catholic parishes, schools, hospitals, and ministries form an essential culture of compassion and care, serving women, children, and the elderly, the poor and sick, the imprisoned, the migrant, and the marginalized, no matter what their race or religion.
When we speak on issues in American public life, we try to guide consciences, and we offer principles. These principles are rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the social teachings of his Church. Jesus Christ revealed God’s plan of love for creation and revealed the truth about the human person, who is created in God’s image, endowed with God-given dignity, rights and responsibilities, and called to a transcendent destiny.
Based on these truths, which are reflected in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, the bishops and Catholic faithful carry out Christ’s commandment to love God and love our neighbors by working for an America that protects human dignity, expands equality and opportunities for every person, and is open-hearted towards the suffering and weak.
For many years now, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has tried to help Catholics and others of good will in their reflections on political issues through a publication we call Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. The most recent edition addresses a wide range of concerns. Among them: abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, immigration, racism, poverty, care for the environment, criminal justice reform, economic development, and international peace.
On these and other issues, our duty to love and our moral principles lead us to prudential judgments and positions that do not align neatly with the political categories of left or right or the platforms of our two major political parties. We work with every President and every Congress. On some issues we find ourselves more on the side of Democrats, while on others we find ourselves standing with Republicans. Our priorities are never partisan. We are Catholics first, seeking only to follow Jesus Christ faithfully and to advance his vision for human fraternity and community.
I look forward to working with President Biden and his administration, and the new Congress. As with every administration, there will be areas where we agree and work closely together and areas where we will have principled disagreement and strong opposition.
Working with President Biden will be unique, however, as he is our first president in 60 years to profess the Catholic faith. In a time of growing and aggressive secularism in American culture, when religious believers face many challenges, it will be refreshing to engage with a President who clearly understands, in a deep and personal way, the importance of religious faith and institutions. Mr. Biden’s piety and personal story, his moving witness to how his faith has brought him solace in times of darkness and tragedy, his longstanding commitment to the Gospel’s priority for the poor — all of this I find hopeful and inspiring.
At the same time, as pastors, 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. 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.
Our commitments on issues of human sexuality and the family, as with our commitments in every other area — such as abolishing the death penalty or seeking a health care system and economy that truly serves the human person — are guided by Christ’s great commandment to love and to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, especially the most vulnerable.
For the nation’s bishops, the continued injustice of abortion remains the “preeminent priority.” Preeminent does not mean “only.” We have deep concerns about many threats to human life and dignity in our society. But 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.
Abortion is a direct attack on life that also wounds the woman and undermines the family. It is not only a private matter, it raises troubling and fundamental questions of fraternity, solidarity, and inclusion in the human community. It is also a matter of social justice. We cannot ignore the reality that abortion rates are much higher among the poor and minorities, and that the procedure is regularly used to eliminate children who would be born with disabilities.
Rather than impose further expansions of abortion and contraception, as he has promised, I am hopeful that the new President and his administration will work with the Church and others of good will. My hope is that we can begin a dialogue to address the complicated cultural and economic factors that are driving abortion and discouraging families. My hope, too, is that we can work together to finally put in place a coherent family policy in this country, one that acknowledges the crucial importance of strong marriages and parenting to the well-being of children and the stability of communities. If the President, with full respect for the Church’s religious freedom, were to engage in this conversation, it would go a long way toward restoring the civil balance and healing our country’s needs.
President Biden’s call for national healing and unity is welcome on all levels. It is urgently needed as we confront the trauma in our country caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the social isolation that has only worsened the intense and long-simmering divisions among our fellow citizens.
As believers, we understand that healing is a gift that we can only receive from the hand of God. We know, too, that real reconciliation requires patient listening to those who disagree with us and a willingness to forgive and move beyond desires for reprisal. Christian love calls us to love our enemies and bless those who oppose us, and to treat others with the same compassion that we want for ourselves.
We are all under the watchful eye of God, who alone knows and can judge the intentions of our hearts. I pray that God will give our new President, and all of us, the grace to seek the common good with all sincerity.
I entrust all our hopes and anxieties in this new moment to the tender heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ and the patroness of this exceptional nation. May she guide us in the ways of peace and obtain for us wisdom and the grace of a true patriotism and love of country.
So many fine words! Where is the effective action from the Catholic leadership. The 1959 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child made it very clear that the Unborn Child is a human child to be legally protected before and after birth. Principle 4. special care and protection shall be provided both to him and to his/her mother, including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care. The UN Convention of 1989 reafirmed Article 6 (1) That every child has the inherent Right to Life and that ((2) Stated Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent the survival and development of the child. Church teaching goes back to Christ’s establishment of the Church. Joe Biden has long ignored this teaching and the UN Convention statements.As VP to Obama he supported abortion that killed close to six million American children. He continues this agenda of abortion child killing breaching Human Rights & Childrens Rights. He is continuing to thumb his nose at Church teaching while piously claiming Catholic faith. It is a scandal for the Church that should not be allowed to continue. Strong action is required; the withdrawal of Biden’s Catholic status,sending a strong message to other abortion supporting politicians and to the world.
Congratulations and platitudes will only encourage the killing to continue.
I feel like a Christian behind the gates of Rome or Constantinople the night before barbarians sack the city and change history forever.
What part of ” Thou shalt not kill ” is not clear ?
Let’s all cheer for the likes of Cardinals Tobin, Cupich and Gregory and Bishop McElroy. The Church is now officially nothing more than a prop for democrats. Can you imagine a more cynical display of public catholicism than what we have seen in this election and inauguration? Thank you, Shepherds. The faithful that might have been left after sexual abuse scandals and covid, the bishops have made sure will whither and die. Well done, Shepherds. You will have to answer for this.
The US Bishops have the responsibility not to obey these Vatican orders. These orders are an insult to Christ. Coming from the Vatican right at the point of the Modernist heresy takeover of the Church, these orders must be ignored. After all, these Modernists have betrayed Christ and are leading His flock astray. We owe those Modernists no obedience, obeying them is to become a follower of satan, a betrayal of The All Powerful Savior. The Bishops have the responsibility to excommunicate Biden or we will all suffer the consequences of this Devil incarnate.
“A little less conversation, and a lot more action, please.” -Elvis Presley
Biden signed the Family Planning Bill which allows abortion. It truly hurt my heart.
He sat there with a picture behind him of the Pope with him as he signed it. He stood up and laughed at questions. I suggest you research the church he attends. I saw nothing
on display for pro life.
I pray daily for Our Mother the holy church wake up to the evil it promotes in the name
of acceptance and feelings.
How can the Catholic church I so love have a set of rules for the powerful and one for
the Holy. I pray the church, popes, cardinals, bishops and priests have to answer one
day to God.