What happens in America has a profound impact—for good or for ill—around the world. The upcoming American election will be no different. And the choices Americans make will have ramification around the world. While members of the International Organization of the Family, which produces ifamnews.com, represent different faiths, cultures, and political parties, in order to continue our commitment to human life (from conception to natural death), the natural family, religious freedom and education, it is crucial that we speak up on how the election of Joe Biden would undermine all of these values. Indeed, any one who believes in these values can not in good faith vote for Joe Biden. Christians, in particular, can not in good faith support a Joe Biden presidency.
Every person is valuable simply by virtue of having been individually made by the Creator. For Catholics in particular, both the Social Doctrine of the Church and the “Doctrinal Note” (on “Participation of Catholics in Political Life“) of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of 24 November 2002, both apply.
Any Catholic, be he a secular or ecclesiastical person, who claims that the Democratic candidate Joe Biden should or could be voted for to be President of the United States, perjures himself and commits a grave error. Here’s why:
Most importantly, Joe Biden unequivocally supports abortion on demand. What is even worse, Biden at one time realized the evils of abortion. From 1976 to 1983 he was pro-life. However, as soon as his party started to embrace the Culture of Death, Joe Biden abandoned principle and embraced an anti-life agenda. The commitments that he has announced he will implement, in the event of victory next November, are in favour of the worst abortive policies in the United States. Biden’s victory risks expanding the Culture of Death throughout the world.
The protection of human life, from conception to natural death, is the fundamental principle of every Christian religion and of my own faith, the Catholic faith, and is the cornerstone on which the coherence of every Christian’s commitment to public life is based and depends. There is no foundation whatsoever for solidarity for migrants, for the dignity of the poor, or for social justice without the unshakable defense of the absolute dignity of human life.
As Vice-President, Biden enthusiastically supported the Obama administration’s explicitly pro-abortion policies around the world. The facts unfortunately demonstrate Biden’s continued commitment to encourage and promote abortion. After all, it is significant that Planned Parenthood supports Biden. The most powerful pro-abortion group in the world officially declared its support for Biden on June 15 and Planned Parenthood is planning on donating 45 million to support his candidacy. Is this mere generosity?
No. On Wednesday, July 27th candidate Biden made a pledge to reward, with the money of all American citizens, Planned Parenthood’s effort on his behalf, promising to reintroduce, as soon as he took office as president, federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which in the year 2018 alone (before the abolition of such funding by Trump) had been $60 million. A ‘win-win’ for Planned Parenthood and Biden would be built upon the lost lives of aborted children and payed for with American tax-payers’ hard-earned money.
From this and other solemn and public pro-abortion commitments made by Biden, the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL)—another powerful multinational pro-abortion group—would also benefit. NARAL announced its support for Biden as well, and Biden responded with more promises to the abortion lobby. He presented his “Agenda for Women” on July 27 and placed at the center of his agenda public and unconditional funding for abortion (abolition of the Hyde amendment). Not only would Biden abolish the Hyde amendment: he also advocates the abolition of the “Mexico City Policy” (which prohibits funding to multinationals and institutions promoting abortion abroad), as well as the reintroduction of an obligation for all social and health facilities to provide contraceptive services, without exception for faith-based institutions.
This is exactly the opposite of what President Trump has done so far and exactly the opposite of Biden’s own political commitment in the 1970s and 1980s. Biden has changed radically. All people of faith must take note of this and can not vote for him or for the Democratic Party. The situation is so serious that as many as 100 leaders of churches, Christian congregations and other religions, who are supporters of the Democratic Party, have sent a public letter to the Party in recent days, asking Biden to “radically rectify his declarations in favour of the extreme liberalisation of abortion.” The facts, public commitments and every credible clue, show that Biden cannot and must not be voted for or supported by any religious authority of Abrahamic religions, Christian churches nor any American Catholic. As Pope Francis has said, no one can judge the heart of a person, only God knows the heart of each one. The Church and the faithful, however, have a duty to judge the facts and actions of a person. The candidate’s actions and public statements impose an obvious duty on us: no believer can support Joe Biden.