Analysis
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out At Reporter for Asking How Biden Reconciles Catholicism With Support For Abortion
- White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki lashed out at a reporter on Thursday (Sep 2) after he questioned how President Joe Biden reconciled his Catholicism with his support for abortion.
- Biden is a devout catholic. He uses religious imagery at public events, and his Catholicism is woven into his speeches and policies. He is known to attend mass every Sunday. Jesuit Father Leo O’Donovan – a former president of Georgetown University – delivered the invocation at Biden’s inauguration. More than a third of Biden's Cabinet also share his Catholic faith.
Whitehouse Archives
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki lashed out at a reporter on Thursday after he questioned how President Joe Biden reconciled his Catholicism with his support for abortion.
Biden has earlier condemned the Supreme Court’s majority decision not to review the Texas law and claiming it will unleash “unconstitutional chaos.” The Texas law bans abortions at six weeks and allows private citizens to bring legal action against anyone who assisted in terminating the pregnancy, including those who drive a woman to the abortion appointment.
Owen Jensen, a Washington DC based reporter for Eternal Word Television Network, known for its Catholic-centric programming asked at the presser "Why does [Biden] support abortion when his own Catholic faith teaches abortion is morally wrong?”
Biden is a devout catholic. He uses religious imagery at public events, and his Catholicism is woven into his speeches and policies. He is known to attend mass every Sunday. Jesuit Father Leo O’Donovan – a former president of Georgetown University – delivered the invocation at Biden’s inauguration. More than a third of Biden's Cabinet also share his Catholic faith.
Psaki initially responded by saying it’s the president’s belief that “it’s a woman’s right, it’s a woman’s body and it’s her choice.”
Jensen pressed further, asking, “Who does he believe then should look out for the unborn child?”
Psaki then dismissed the question on the grounds that Jensen lacked the authority to comment on a “women’s rights issue.”
“I know you’ve never faced that choice,” Psaki said. “I know you’ve never been pregnant,” she added.
Biden is the second Catholic president of the United States. Before Biden, John F. Kennedy was the only Catholic to be elected to the president of United States.
Democratic party has often been at loggerheads with a section of Catholic clergy especially over the issue of abortion.
While Kennedy won over 80 percent of their vote; Biden won Catholics by a narrow majority in the US Presidential election.
Catholics constitute around 23% of the US population.
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