President Biden told a crowd that he is personally not a supporter of abortion and that termination procedures in the last three months are not clear-cut.
Biden, speaking to a crowd in Maryland on Tuesday, claimed that his relationship to Catholicism makes him personally uncomfortable with abortion — but that Roe v. Wade "got it right."
"So I’m, you know, I happen to be a practicing Catholic. I’m not big on abortion. But guess what? Roe v. Wade got it right," Biden said.
"Roe v. Wade cut in a place where the vast majority of religions have reached an agreement. Historically, the first three months or thereabouts, in all major religions, was: That’s between a woman and her doctor," Biden said.
However, the president strayed from the hard-line pro-choice movement with a rare assertion that the woman's right to terminate the unborn child ends in "the last three months."
"The next three months is between, I mean, just a woman and her family," Biden continued. "Next three months is between a woman and her doctor. The last three months have to be negotiated, because you can’t — unless you are in a position where your physical health is at stake you can’t do it."
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Biden has repeatedly tried to square the circle of his Catholic faith and political endorsement of abortion rights.
The president has claimed for years that his political support for legalized abortion, coupled with his personal disagreement with the practice, is in line with Catholic moral teaching.
He has been refuted by Catholic laity and leadership at every rung of the hierarchy — including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and even the pontiff himself.
Last year, Pope Francis was interviewed by Univision and was questioned about Biden's seemingly contradictory beliefs.
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When asked about Biden's abortion policy, the Pope dismissed the president as incomprehensible.
"I leave it to [President Biden's] conscience and that he speaks to his bishop, his pastor, his parish priest about that incoherence," the pope said in the 2022 interview.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life."
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The church's doctrine continues, "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law."
Biden picked up endorsements from three major abortion rights groups last week, a day before the anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice America and EMILY'S List are throwing their support behind Biden, as Democrats nationally have claimed several victories for abortion rights on ballot referendums or in courts and will press forward on the issue into the 2024 election.
"There is so much at stake," Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement to media outlets. "We know, clear as day, that if anti-abortion politicians gain control of the White House, they will exploit their power toward their ultimate goal: a national abortion ban."
Among the top four contenders thus far in the 2024 presidential election, three claim to follow the Catholic faith — Biden, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
